Tom,
Here's some more gems from Dan the man Niles:
...''People know it's pretty bad,'' said analyst Dan Niles at
BancAmerica Robertson Stephens, who rates the shares ''market
outperform.'' ''I don't see it having any negative impact on the
tech sector because they (Micron Technology) didn't say anything
anybody didn't know.''
The U.S.'s largest maker of DRAMs -- the most widely used
memory chips in personal computers -- was expected to earn 9
cents a share, the average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by
IBES International Inc. Analyst Niles expected the company to
earn 6 cents.
Micron Technology, based in Boise, Idaho, said in its fiscal
fourth quarter ended in August that it was selling 16-megabit
DRAMs for just below $7. That's now plunged to about $3.50, Niles
said, adding that Micron's cost to produce the 16-megabit chips
is about $3.00.
''It's pretty obvious that it's going to be a loss'' for the
year, Niles said. ''Now it's a question of how big a loss that's
going to be.''
.... Yet at least one investor said prices for DRAMs may be close
to touching bottom. In the past, when DRAM prices fall to below
cost, they start to rebound, said analyst Duane Eatherly at Banc
One Investment Advisors, which owns Micron Technology shares.
''When you get below cost, you've got to be a quarter or two
away from things rebounding,'' Eatherly said, adding that his
firm is ''taking a very close look'' at buying more Micron
Technology.
Kathleen |
