Hollywood, you left out an important context to one of
your excerpts:from
techstocks.com
--Cymer's recent orders, its backlog, and six month forecast from its customers suggest= that our thesis is incorrect. In fact, the company fully expects to grow sequentially in each of the next two quarters (i.e., 130+ and 135+ units in F4Q97 and F1Q98, respectively versus our estimates of 110 units in each quarter). Based on Cymer's outstanding manufacturing execution over the past year, we believe the cdompany can easily execute its plan. <... However, we believe circumstances beyond the company's control could create a situation in which it would have to react by slowing its quarterly shipment rate. This, in turn, could create a short-term quarterly earnings decline. >
...
--Other notables, Cymer now has capacity to produce 1000 lasers in 1998 with 46 test bays worldwide. Additionally, the company now has a new, and highly automated manufacturing facility. As its relatively immature work force matures ove r the next year, combined with the companies (sic) increased automation and metrology capabilities, we expect Cymer's gross margin to expand from the 38% range in F3Q97 to the 45% range in late 1998.
Greg |
