Semi related news.
Silicon Valley Firms Plan Layoffs
.c The Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Two Silicon Valley companies Monday announced layoffs totaling more than 500 workers.
Cypress Semiconductor Corp. of San Jose announced a plan to eliminate 320 jobs in Texas and Asia, while Spectrian Corp. said it will lay off 200 workers in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Officials at Cypress Semiconductor said they will reorganize manufacturing operations in Texas in an effort to trim costs and end a prolonged financial slump. In addition, the company will close a testing facility in Thailand, folding that operation into a new facility in Manila. Overall, Cypress employs some 2,700 people worldwide.
''We have taken these steps - particularly the restructuring of the Texas plant - because we wanted to move to the next level and to return to solid profitability,'' said Cypress chief executive T.J. Rodgers.
Spectrian, based in Sunnyvale, said it anticipates an operating loss for its fourth quarter. The company said revenues will be between $25 million and $30 million, compared with $47 million in the third quarter.
The company, which makes amplifiers for wireless communication, has blamed the poor results on weakness in demand for its products and recent delays in orders.
The 200 layoffs - primarily in manufacturing - represent 25 percent of Spectrian's work force.
AP-NY-03-10-98 0949EST
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.
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Aseco<ASEC.O> sees Q4 earnings below expectations
MARLBORO, Mass., March 10 (Reuters) - Aseco Corp said Tuesday it expects fiscal fourth quarter earnings to be "well below" company expectations as softness in the semiconductor market causes a shortfall in revenues.
The First Call consensus earnings estimate for the company's fourth quarter, ending March 29, is $0.12 per share. Aseco officials were not immediately available to comment on the company's earnings expectations for the quarter.
The Company said it expects fourth quarter revenue to be less than third quarter 1998 revenue of $13.6 million.
"Lower than expected revenues and the shift in our product mix will have a significant impact on our bottom line in the fourth quarter, although we currently expect earnings to remain above break-even." Carl Archer, Aseco's chief executive officer said in a statement.
The company said lower demand in its core product areas, which primarily serve the telecommunications and computer industries, has led to a slowdown in bookings.
"Lower than expected revenues in these higher margin product lines has led to a shift in the company's mix forecast, with earnings in the fiscal fourth quarter expected to fall significantly below earlier company estimates," Archer said.
He said Aseco has seen orders booked much earlier in the past two quarters compared to the current quarter.
Aseco makes products used to automate the testing of integrated circuits, integrated circuit lead inspection equipment and wafer handling and wafer inspection equipment.
09:38 03-10-98
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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Intel, Motorola Can't Hurt Wall St.
By BRUCE MEYERSON
.c The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street took the one-two punch from Intel and Motorola with poise, jumping right up from the canvas, just in time for another glancing blow from Compaq Computer.
To withstand three straight days of profit warnings from three titans of technology, investors will need to rely again on the reasoning behind Friday's record-setting rebound: The economy seems healthy enough to endure Asia's financial woes, which were supposed to hurt technology companies most anyway.
The economic data of the past week has lent credence to that argument. In the earliest readings on February's business activity, a manufacturing trade group reported brisk factory production and the government reported that robust job creation sent unemployment back to a 24-year low.
The factory data was strong enough to unsettle the bond market, where long-term interest rates pushed back above 6 percent for the first time this year amid concerns that manufacturers will boost wages as they try to meet demand and keep their workers happy. Wages and benefits typically account for two-thirds of a product's price, and inflation makes fixed-income investments such as bonds less attractive.
Even with the move higher, though, bond-market yields - a key determinant of long-term borrowing costs - remain well below where they were just months ago, before bonds rallied in a global flight to safety as the Asian crisis unfolded. Less than a year ago, yields were above 7 percent.
''Housing construction, new homes sales, mortgage refinancing are all shooting up, which means the decline in interest rates over the past year is having a significant offsetting benefit for the U.S. economy,'' said Peter Canelo, a strategist at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, noting how strong housing demand can ripple through the economy by boosting demand for building supplies and furnishings. ''I certainly don't think (the Intel warning) is a sign of some bad trend in the economy.''
Late Wednesday, Intel cautioned that its semiconductor sales have been disappointing this quarter, spurring worries about weak demand for the computer industry and a slowdown in a key engine of the U.S. economy. Motorola, also citing weak chip sales as well as the economic mess in Asia, warned a day later that its first-quarter profits will be at least 25 percent below Wall Street forecasts.
The market bristled at Intel's announcement, with stocks posting the sharpest drop since early January, but bounced back on Friday despite the news from Motorola, perhaps in a sigh of relief over the robust employment report.
Some market observers found the news from Intel and Motorola more telling that the latest economic readings, and that was before Compaq's warning, after Friday's close, that it may only break even in the first quarter due to weak demand in North America.
''The notable thing about Intel was that they said Asian sales were flat. It was North America and Europe that were down,'' said Dan Ascani, president and research director at Global Market Strategists in Gainesville, Ga. ''So many people have been focusing on Asia, that they've lost track of Europe and North America, where the economies are slowing. The (economic) reports we're seeing are already past history.''
''If a trend develops that will show earnings growth is slowing - if Intel is the beginning of a trend rather than an isolated case - investors will hesitate to buy stocks (with the Dow) at 8,500,'' said Ascani. ''When investors buy stocks, they're paying for earnings, and if earnings are slowing, investors can't buy stocks at 8,500 and expect them to move higher. That's compounded by the fact that the Asia contagion hasn't really hit us yet, and that's major.''
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average posted its biggest point-gain in a month, rising 125.06 to 8,569.39, about 15 points shy of Tuesday's record close of 8,584.83. The rally wiped out Thursday's 95-point slide and left the Dow with a gain of 23.67 for the week.
The Standard & Poor's 50 0-stock index rose 20.64, or 2 percent, to 1,055.69 on Friday, blowing past Tuesday's record high of 1,052.02. For the week, the S&P 500 rose 6.35.
The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 9.33 to 549.64 on Friday, beating Tuesday's record of 546.89 and giving it a gain of 5.38 for the week.
The Nasdaq composite index, which tumbled nearly 48 points on Thursday, rebounded 41.57 to 1,753.49 on Friday, but finished the week 17.02 lower.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 6.90 to 463.72 on Friday, up 1.89 for the week and less than 2 points from its first record high since before October's selloff.
The small-company dominated American Stock Exchange composite index rose 8.57 to 712.91 on Friday, gaining 6.79 for the week and moving within 10 points of a complete recovery from October's slide.
The Wilshire Associates Equity Index - which represents the combined market value of all NYSE, American and Nasdaq issues - ended the week at $10.066 trillion, up $59.51 billion from last week. A year ago, the index stood at $7.687 trillion.
End adv for weekend editions March 7-8
(PROFILE (CO:Intel Corp; TS:INTC; IG:SEM;) (CO:Motorola Inc; TS:MOT; IG:CMT;) (CO:Compaq Computer; TS:CPQ; IG:CPR;) (CAT:Business;) (CAT:HiTech;) (CAT:Utilities;)
AP-NY-03-06-98 2330EST
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press.
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FY '97 listed companies' pretax profit predicted to fall
.c Kyodo News Service
TOKYO, March 9 (Kyodo) - Combined pretax profits for fiscal 1997 of companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange will drop for the first time in four years, according to projections released by Japan's three major brokerage-affiliated think tanks by Monday.
In a report released Monday, Nomura Research Institute Ltd., affiliated with Nomura Securities Co., predicted a 0.5% fall in combined pretax profit in fiscal 1997, which ends March 31, from the previous year, although sales are expected to grow 1.0%.
Nomura had forecast a 4.6% pretax profit increase for the current business year in December.
The downward revision is due largely to factors such as global falls in semiconductor prices, dampened consumer and investor sentiment following failures of major financial institutions including Yamaichi Securities Co., one of the nation's Big Four brokerage houses, and Asia's economic turmoil, Nomura said.
Daiwa Research Institute Ltd., affiliated with Daiwa Securities Co., predicted a pretax profit fall of 0.4% in its report Wednesday, while Nikko Research Center Ltd., affiliated with Nikko Securities Co., forecast a 0.5% drop Thursday.
Corporate earnings are much weaker than expected in the second half of fiscal 1997, Nikko said.
Nomura predicted combined earnings of 373 companies, while forecasts by Daiwa and Nikko covered 381 and 461 firms, respectively.
All companies in the projections are listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and exclude financial concerns.
For fiscal 1998, which begins in April, Daiwa foresees a profit fall of 0.8%, while Nomura and Nikko expect respective gains of 1.6% and 2.4%.
AP-NY-03-09-98 0522EST
Copyright 1998 The Kyodo News Service.
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AMD, Fujitsu Joint Venture Substantially Increases Flash Memory Production; Fab 2 is World's Largest Dedicated Flash Fab
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 1998--The AMD and
Fujitsu joint venture, Fujitsu-AMD Semiconductor Ltd. (FASL), has
commenced shipments of flash memory from its second wafer fabrication
factory. This additional capacity will allow AMD to meet the growing
demand for its extensive offering of flash memory devices.
Fab 2, which broke ground in March 1996, is located adjacent to
Fab 1 in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan. The facility includes over 80,000
square feet of Class 1 cleanroom space which, at full capacity, will
be producing approximately 6,500 8-inch wafers a week. Initial
shipments were 16-Megabit flash devices, executed on a 0.35-micron
process technology. By the end of the year the facility plans to ship
the first sub-0.25 micron flash devices.
"Our continuing investments in manufacturing are driven by our
customers' preference for AMD's single voltage flash memories and show
our commitment to the growing flash memory market," said Walid
Maghribi, general manager and group vice president of AMD's Memory
Group. "We are dedicated to providing our customers with market
driven, value-added products."
Fujitsu AMD Semiconductor Ltd. (FASL)
FASL was formally launched in April 1993 to manufacture jointly
developed non-volatile memory products. The FASL facilities represent
more than $2 billion in investments by the two companies.
About AMD
AMD is a global supplier of integrated circuits for the personal
and networked computer and communications markets. AMD produces
processors, flash memories, programmable logic devices, and products
for communications and networking applications. Founded in 1969 and
based in Sunnyvale, California, AMD had revenues of $2.4 billion in
1997. (NYSE: AMD).
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, including the timely completion of
the new production line, the effect of changing economic conditions,
and such risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the
company's SEC reports.
-0-
WORLD WIDE WEB: Press announcements and other information about
AMD are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web. Type
amd.com at the URL prompt.
NOTE TO EDITOR: Readers may obtain additional information by
calling 1 (800) 222-9323 or (408) 749-5703.
-0-
AMD, the AMD logo and combinations thereof are trademarks of
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
GENERAL NOTICE: Other product names used in this publication are
for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their
respective companies.
CONTACT:
AMD
Kerry Elliott, 408/749-2920 (PR)
Internet: kerry.elliott@amd.com
or
Toni Beckham, 408/749-3127 (IR)
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