I moved into Semitool when it was around the 21/share mark. It had moved down significantly from the 30's and I thought it seemed a good buying opportunity at that time. Needless to say, it hasn't seen that mark since.
Funny thing though, I took many factors into consideration when I purchased the shares. The recent downward price movement, the little or no debt situation the company had, and a growing order backlog (at the time it hovered around 50 million in back orders).
What puzzles me is why they can't seem to bite away at this order backlog. It keeps growing. Last I heard it was at around 100 million dollars. Then they go and lay off 1,000 employees. I mean, isn't that the wrong direction to be heading in when you're trying to catch up on something? I tried to contact someone at the company, but I was told the gentlemen that I wished to speak to was going to be out for some time (a few weeks). That didn't leave me with a good feeling (kind of like not having someone at the wheel). Another little thing that bothers me is they don't seem to be reachable electronically. Really, would it hurt much to set up a tiny server or some address where investors could get in touch with them?
I did have several questions to ask them when I phoned up, but after getting the "he'll be out for several weeks" response I sort of lost the steam I had built up. I think I'll go gather it up again and see what they have to say.
I'll report back with the results when I have them. I'm still very positive on the company, just that some things don't seem to make sense at times (growing order backlog... dump some employees, for instance).
Any other thoughts on SMTL? I'm still holding, it would be kind of silly to get out now. :)
- Osiris G. Martinez
geronimo@shadow.net |
