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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ausdauer who wrote (11866)	6/8/2000 7:40:00 PM
From: Red Heeler	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 60323

"Chip Sales Soar To Record Heights In April" techweb.com Old news, but article links lead to display of SanDisk products. CC

To: Ausdauer who wrote (11866)	6/8/2000 8:12:00 PM
From: Craig Freeman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 60323

Aus, I can't help but comment that the NASD was down 0.4% today while SNDK recorded a 5.8% improvement. If this trend were to continue for the next 100 trading days, the NASD would be at 2,561 (bad news ... but not entirely impossible) and SNDK shares would be trading at $274,174 each (pleasant news ... to say the least!) Craig

To: Ausdauer who wrote (11866)	6/8/2000 8:35:00 PM
From: TREND1	Respond to of 60323

aus You are not going to like this one. Percent Year to date of 20 stocks in SMH geocities.com Larry Dudash PS:Hey, TA had nothing to do with this one(g)

To: Ausdauer who wrote (11866)	6/9/2000 8:12:00 AM
From: Road Walker	Respond to of 60323

Thursday June 8, 6:07 pm Eastern Time Morningstar.com Chip Sales Now Expected to Get Even Hotter By Jeremy Lopez Given the stellar performance of semiconductor stocks over the last year, it's no mystery that chips are en vogue. Semiconductors have outperformed all other Morningstar industry groups by far over the last year, averaging a return of 240%. Investors are excited, and rightly so, because the semiconductor sector is currently at the foothills of what is expected to be one of the most favorable industry upturns in recent history. And it doesn't hurt that the projections keep getting more and more favorable. On Wednesday, for example, the Semiconductor Industry Association in its midyear growth projections for the next few years revised even higher the already-favorable numbers it released just a few months ago. Unlike past semiconductor cycles, which have largely been computer-driven, the current upswing is due to the rapid buildout of communications products and infrastructure. This isn't too surprising, as tech stocks like Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO - news) and Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU - news) have become familiar names. But what might not be as obvious is that every piece of communications equipment contains chips, chips, and more chips. The industry association projects that semiconductor revenue will grow at an average annual rate of 20% through 2003. The industry as a whole has not grown even close to this rate since the early 1990s. Again, the expected rapid growth in chips isn't news, but the association continues to raise its projections. For example, in October, it projected that chip sales would reach $234 billion by 2002. In the report just released, however, it has boosted the figure to $279 billion, an aggregate increase of about 20%. While it's uncertain what will happen in six months, let alone several years, it's worth noting that the growth story keeps getting better. All chips are not created equal, however, as only chip niches directly related to the communications sector will prosper from the current cycle. According to the trade group's method of slicing up the industry, the hot growth is likely to come from the following areas. Microcontrollers: This area includes digital signal processors, which function as the brains inside most cell phones. Also included are the chips inside digital entertainment products such as cable set-top boxes. The association projects growth of more than 30% for such products. Key players are Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN - news) in digital signal processors and Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM - news) in cable modems and set-top boxes. Analog: Growth in this area is driven largely by the expansion in wireless communications and the development of high-speed Internet access. Analog-chip sales are slated to more than double to almost $50 billion by 2003, according to the trade group. Texas Instruments is also a key player in analog; other well-positioned firms are Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI - news) and National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM - news). Logic: The most attractive growth in this hodgepodge segment will probably come from makers of programmable-logic-devices. The 30%-plus growth projections are largely based on the use of these chips in communications infrastructure equipment; their programmability allows end users to get their products to market quickly. The two best firms in this niche by far are Xilinx (Nasdaq: XLNX - news) and Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR - news). Flash memory: Perhaps the greatest raw growth in the industry will come from flash memory. The market for flash is projected to grow about 40% annually to $15 billion by 2003. Flash is emerging in such a big way because of its use in consumer electronics such as cell phones, digital cameras, and digital music players. The market leaders in this area are fairly large and diversified firms such as Intel (Nasdaq: INTC - news) and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD - news). More-direct plays include Sandisk (Nasdaq: SNDK - news) and SSTI (Nasdaq: SSTI - news). Before assuming everything is just rosy, however, there are some concerns for investors to consider, not the least of which are already-optimistic stock valuations. Whereas historically chip stocks have commanded a price multiple of 20 times forward earnings, valuations are currently double those levels on average. The most obvious result of this has been the extreme volatility of chip stocks in recent months, with 10% price swings on a daily basis commonplace. More important, with valuations as high as they are, having a long time horizon and picking a long-term winner are all the more important for those investors willing to stomach the volatility of chip stocks in the meantime. Jeremy Lopez can be reached at jeremy_lopez@morningstar.com. Visit www.morningstar.com daily for in-depth analysis of stocks, funds, and sectors in the news.