I found this *s* posted on the web....I think it is from a Major
Newspaper.
(Page C-1 )
Investors get big lift from Cymer
Bruce V. Bigelow
STAFF WRITER
24-Oct-1997 Friday
Call it a $600 million misunderstanding.
In financial results released yesterday, Cymer Inc. indicated Wall Street
overreacted when it sent shares of the San Diego-based laser manufacturer
into a tailspin last month.
The company reported net income of slightly more than $7 million, or 23
cents a share, for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts surveyed by
Zacks Investment Research had predicted Cymer would post earnings of 21
cents a share.
The result was more than three times Cymer's net income for the same
quarter last year, when the company posted net income of slightly more than
$2 million, or 10 cents a share.
Based on the company's backlog and orders received since Sept. 30, Chief
Executive Robert Akins said Cymer expects "continued sequential revenue
growth for at least the next two quarters."
Cymer reported third-quarter revenue of almost $57.5 million, about three
times the company's sales of $18.2 million in the same period last year.
The financial results, which were posted after the market closed, seem
likely to ease investor fears and rampant speculation that Cymer's major
customers were suffering technical problems related to its lasers.
"Yeah, we had a pushout, and we had increased operating risks. But the
results speak for themselves," said William A. Angus, Cymer's chief
financial officer.
Bud Leedom, editor of the San Diego Stock Report, was more forthright about
the impact of yesterday's results. Cymer's stock price "is just going to
rocket," Leedom predicted.
Cymer's stock closed yesterday at $26.40625, down $1.15625 in moderate
Nasdaq trading.
Investors were alarmed last month, after Cymer disclosed that a key
customer was delaying its orders.
A selloff during the ensuing seven weeks sent Cymer's market valuation from
roughly $1.4 billion to slightly more than $800 million. The company's
stock price, adjusted for a stock split on Sept. 12, went from a record
high of $48.75 on Aug. 22 to a low of $25.50 on Sept. 26.
Cymer makes a special type of laser, which is being introduced to the
semiconductor industry to make the next generation of computer chips. The
lasers enable chip makers such as Intel to squeeze more microcircuitry onto
each integrated circuit.
In a statement that alluded to last month's dustup over its orders, Akins
said Cymer "continues to work with its customers to better manage delivery
schedules going forward." |
