Barron's Cover Story on IPOs Calls AMKR a "Fallen Angel"
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Oddly, the IPO market's strong first quarter finish might have hurt some second-quarter deals, as success bred excess, or oversupply. With investor interest swelling, a number of less-than-stellar entrants quickly came to market, performed predictably poorly, and cast a shadow over more deserving supplicants.
This may have been a sign of trouble to come for the broader stock market. As that trouble arrived, the effects of the Asian flu infected the new-issues market as well. Any deal tinged with Asian exposure got beaten up. But one such fallen angel that's worth a look is Amkor Technology, based in West Chester, Pennsylvania. A semiconductor tester and packager, the company is likely to benefit from Fujitsu's plan to restructure its Singapore operations, relying more on contractors like Amkor. Amkor netted 49 cents per diluted share in the nine months ended September, and could earn almost $1 by the year 2000. Yet the shares trade at only 7 11/16, down about 30% from their April offering price of $11.
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