Over the past 3 weeks, the group average of the 41 semi-equip stocks
has increased by 51 percent. Many of the individual stocks within
the group have done much better. The number one leader in the group,
AFLX is up by 190 percent, and 10 of the stocks are up by greater
than 80 percent.
As impressive as this performance has been, all of the stocks have a
long way to go to reach their 1997 highs. The Table 1 below shows
just how far each individual stock has to go in price and percentage
terms to reach their 1997 highs. The table is sorted by the gain of
each individual stock for the last 3 weeks. The first column shows
the high obtained by each stock in 1997. Then the last column shows
the percent gain required by each stock to just equal the high they
obtained in 1997.
As Table 1 shows, all of the stocks have a long way to go to equal
their 1997 high. None of the stocks are even close to their former
high. The closest one to reaching its 1997 high is PLAB, needing a
44 percent gain from Friday's close. The ranking of the stocks by
percentage gain necessary to reach their 1997 high from Friday's
close is shown in Table 2. Thirty two of the stocks have to gain 100
percent or more to reach their previous high. ASEC, at the bottom of
Table 2, gained 92 percent in the last 3 weeks, but still has to gain
1211 percent just to reach its 1997 high! The bottom 10 stocks in
the table have to increase by over 300 percent to reach their old
high.
Finally, the group average needs to gain 166 percent to reach its
1997 high. The group is also compared to the Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index, SOX-X. As a group, the semi-equips are more
volatile than the SOX-X. In the last three weeks, the semi-equips
gained 51 percent compared to the 31 percent gain of the SOX-X, and
the semi-equips group has to gain 166 percent to reach its high of
1997 while the SOX-X only has to gain 54 percent to reach its high.
Table 1
10/30/98
1997 10/09/98 10/30/98 3 WEEK TO 1997
HIGHEST CLOSE CLOSE PERCENT PERCENT
SYMBOL PRICE PRICE PRICE CHANGE CHANGE
AFLX 28.50 2.50 7.25 190 293
PLAB 31.38 11.00 21.81 98 44
WFR 38.75 3.50 6.88 97 463
ASYT 47.25 6.19 11.94 93 296
ASEC 18.88 0.75 1.44 92 1211
MTSN 16.00 2.75 5.19 89 208
DPMI 72.00 19.31 36.25 88 99
ASMLF 52.88 13.63 25.50 87 107
SVGI 37.75 6.88 12.81 86 195
TER 58.75 18.00 32.50 81 81
TGAL 11.25 1.50 2.69 79 318
NVLS 64.69 23.06 38.81 68 67
ETEC 67.13 20.25 33.88 67 98
PRIA 58.50 10.63 17.31 63 238
SFAM 60.38 10.13 16.13 59 274
LTXX 8.19 1.28 2.00 56 310
MASK 24.00 8.88 13.69 54 75
CYMI 48.75 8.00 12.25 53 298
CMOS 54.13 10.06 14.88 48 264
KLAC 75.63 25.00 36.88 48 105
AMAT 54.00 23.63 34.69 47 56
LRCX 66.31 9.91 14.44 46 359
IPEC 37.19 6.19 8.94 44 316
NANO 13.63 4.81 6.88 43 98
BRKS 39.69 8.63 12.25 42 224
GSNX 23.06 3.63 5.13 41 350
KLIC 57.25 11.56 16.31 41 251
FSII 23.19 4.63 6.50 40 257
EGLS 35.25 9.25 12.56 36 181
CFMT 40.50 6.63 9.00 36 350
HELX 32.19 8.63 11.44 33 181
PHTN 8.38 2.38 3.13 32 168
IMSC 20.00 5.75 7.50 30 167
SMTL 26.88 5.00 6.44 29 317
SFLX 17.50 5.94 7.25 22 141
ATMI 41.75 11.38 13.75 21 204
VECO 72.50 24.75 29.69 20 144
UTEK 34.38 15.38 18.00 17 91
WJ 37.25 16.50 18.63 13 100
COHU 56.00 15.38 17.19 12 226
MICN 27.50 5.38 5.75 7 378
TOTAL 1639.18 408.63 615.56 51 166
SOX-X 403.64 200.80 262.62 31 54
Table 2
10/30/98
1997 10/09/98 10/30/98 3 WEEK TO 1997
HIGHEST CLOSE CLOSE PERCENT PERCENT
SYMBOL PRICE PRICE PRICE CHANGE CHANGE
PLAB 31.38 11.00 21.81 98 44
AMAT 54.00 23.63 34.69 47 56
NVLS 64.69 23.06 38.81 68 67
MASK 24.00 8.88 13.69 54 75
TER 58.75 18.00 32.50 81 81
UTEK 34.38 15.38 18.00 17 91
NANO 13.63 4.81 6.88 43 98
ETEC 67.13 20.25 33.88 67 98
DPMI 72.00 19.31 36.25 88 99
WJ 37.25 16.50 18.63 13 100
KLAC 75.63 25.00 36.88 48 105
ASMLF 52.88 13.63 25.50 87 107
SFLX 17.50 5.94 7.25 22 141
VECO 72.50 24.75 29.69 20 144
IMSC 20.00 5.75 7.50 30 167
PHTN 8.38 2.38 3.13 32 168
EGLS 35.25 9.25 12.56 36 181
HELX 32.19 8.63 11.44 33 181
SVGI 37.75 6.88 12.81 86 195
ATMI 41.75 11.38 13.75 21 204
MTSN 16.00 2.75 5.19 89 208
BRKS 39.69 8.63 12.25 42 224
COHU 56.00 15.38 17.19 12 226
PRIA 58.50 10.63 17.31 63 238
KLIC 57.25 11.56 16.31 41 251
FSII 23.19 4.63 6.50 40 257
CMOS 54.13 10.06 14.88 48 264
SFAM 60.38 10.13 16.13 59 274
AFLX 28.50 2.50 7.25 190 293
ASYT 47.25 6.19 11.94 93 296
CYMI 48.75 8.00 12.25 53 298
LTXX 8.19 1.28 2.00 56 310
IPEC 37.19 6.19 8.94 44 316
SMTL 26.88 5.00 6.44 29 317
TGAL 11.25 1.50 2.69 79 318
GSNX 23.06 3.63 5.13 41 350
CFMT 40.50 6.63 9.00 36 350
LRCX 66.31 9.91 14.44 46 359
MICN 27.50 5.38 5.75 7 378
WFR 38.75 3.50 6.88 97 463
ASEC 18.88 0.75 1.44 92 1211
TOTAL 1639.18 408.63 615.56 51 166
SOX-X 403.64 200.80 262.62 31 54 |
