Hey this sector is hot!
Thursday December 3, 1:59 pm Eastern
Time
Chip equipment stocks rise
on positive outlook
NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Shares of
Lam Research Corp. (Nasdaq:LRCX - news)
and other companies that supply equipment
to the semiconductor industry rose on
Thursday, boosted by analysts' positive
comments on the outlook for the industry.
Shares of Lam Research jumped 1-5/8 to
22-1/2 in early trade before settling back
to 21-1/2, up 5/8, near midday.
Views that overall chip industry fundamentals are improving
bolstered stocks in the sector. Credit Suisse First Boston
analyst Elliott Rogers, in a research brief, said Lam had
confirmed that its orders rose in early November, mirroring
trends evident among leading chip equipment companies.
''A broader-based industry upturn is forecast for the
March/June (1999) time frame, led by DRAM and foundry
shrinks,'' Rogers said. Lam Research plans to hold
discretionary spending flat, suggesting that $100 million of
incremental sales can generate $0.75 in incremental earnings
per share, he said.
Among other semiconductor equipment companies, industry
leader Applied Materials Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT - news) rose 3/4
to 44-9/16 and hit a 52-week high of 45-3/16 at one point.
Novellus Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:NVLS - news) rose 5-1/2 to
58, while Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:KLIC -
news) rose 2-3/16 to 20-3/16. KLA-Tencor Corp.
(Nasdaq:KLAC - news) climbed 2-7/8 to 44-1/8 and National
Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:NSM - news) gained 1-14/16, or
about 12 percent, to 17-5/16.
ASM Lithography Holdings NV (Nasdaq:ASMLF - news) gained
3-1/4 to 31-1/2, Etec Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:ETEC - news)
climbed to 38-1/2, up 3-25/32, and DuPont Photomasks Inc.
(Nasdaq:DPMI - news) rose 3 to 41-3/4. Veeco Instrument
Inc. (Nasdaq:VECO - news) rose 2-1/8 to 40-3/4, while
Electro Scientific Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:ESIO - news)
gained 3-5/8 to 34-7/8/
Micrion Corp. (Nasdaq:MICN - news) rose 3-1/4 to 10-1/2
after it said one of its units will merge with FEI Co.
(Nasdaq:FEIC - news).
Other companies related to the chip industry were also strong,
including chip component makers Micrel Inc. (Nasdaq:MCRL -
news), up 5-13/16 to 48-11/16, and Lattice Semiconductor
Corp. (Nasdaq:LSCC - news), up 8-5/16 to 44-1/4. |
