Just found some tidbits for why NVLS is rocketing today. Sorry POS.
November chip equipment bookings show new gains- report
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec 18 (Reuters) - The North American semiconductor equipment industry
posted a further recovery in sales bookings during November but computer-chip equipment purchasing
remains half where it was a year ago, a trade group said.
In a statement posted on its Web site Thursday, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said November book-to-bill
ratio climbed to 0.84 from 0.73 in October.
A book-to-bill of 0.84 means $84 in orders were received for each $100 worth of products shipped.
The monthly indicator of industry financial health bottomed in September, when the book-to-bill was 0.57.
''Technology buys are certainly going ahead as planned in the semiconductor industry,'' Stanley Myers, president of SEMI, said in the
statement.
''However, keep in mind that current business levels for the equipment industry are running about half of 1997,'' he said.
Myers noted that the industry is unlikely to see healthy profits return until computer chipmakers begin adding additional fabrication plant
capacity, which he does not expect before the year 2000.
Three-month average shipments in November 1998 were $963 million, 15 percent above October 1998's level, yet 41 percent below the
November 1997 level, the trade group said.
Three-month average bookings rose last month to $805 million, 29 percent above the October level, but 51 percent below the level in
November of last year.
The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving average bookings to three-month moving average shipments and is based on data sales
supplied by chip equipment making companies.
Leading companies in the industry include Applied Materials Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT - news), Novellus Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:NVLS - news),
KLA-Tencor Corp. (Nasdaq:KLAC - news).
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