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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cluka who wrote (36378)	8/9/2000 12:23:26 PM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

FROM RAGING BULL THREAD Minbari I don't know where you got the info (re: prudential cautionary remarks as well as Lehman), but this is what I saw on briefing.com: 10:53 ET ****** Applied Materials (AMAT) 72 13/16 +2 1/4: There is one down, and now there are two to go. Last night, Cisco (CSCO +3 1/4) provided tech investors with a needed sentiment boost, and over the next two days, Applied Materials and Dell Computer (DELL +1/16) will have the opportunity to do the same. Today, the leading chip equipment maker, Applied Materials, steps to the plate as it is scheduled to release its fiscal Q3 earnings after the close. To say there is a good deal of anticipation ahead of AMAT's report would be an understatement as chip equipment investors are in desparate need of a sign that the chip equipment cycle still has plenty of staying power. In large part, that desparation stems from last week's warning from Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC +7/16) of customer order deferrals and a recent report that the chip equipment book-to-bill ratio fell to 1.26 in June from 1.28 in May. Suffice it to say, neither played out well for the semiconductor-related stocks which got pummeled last week. AMAT, however, has the ability to stop the bleeding. Judging by the manner in which AMAT and many of its peers are trading today, and in the wake of CSCO's report, the market seems to think it will. The First Call consensus EPS estimate for Q3 is $0.68 with a high estimate of $0.74 and a low estimate of $0.65. In the yr-ago period, AMAT earned $0.31 per share. Revenues are projected to be about $2.70 bln which is up considerably from $1.48 bln last year. Consistent with AMAT's guidance for 10% sequential order growth, most analysts have forecasted bookings to be in the neighborhood of $3.20 bln with expectations that the growth will be driven by strong demand in AMAT's U.S., Korean, and Japanese markets. Of course, like other tech leaders, AMAT's guidance in its conference call will be of the utmost importance. Investors will be listening for AMAT to re-affirm its own growth prospects and to provide some insight as to the sustainability of the chip equipment cycle with positive statements on strengthening equipment orders for new technology processes such as 300mm and copper.-- Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com Firm EPS Revs. Bookings Wiliam Blair & Co. $0.68 $2.73B $3B+ Salomon Smith Barney $0.67 $2.68B $3.23B-$3.35B Merrill Lynch $0.68 $2.70B $3.2B-$3.3B Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette $0.66 $2.65B $3.20B-$3.25B SG Cowen $0.69 $2.70B NA

To: cluka who wrote (36378)	8/9/2000 1:01:31 PM
From: Dale Knipschield	Respond to of 70976

"Prudential making cautionary comments ahead of earnings report this afternoon. Expects October guidance from company to be revised to flat-to-down" I beg to differ with the experts from Prudential. Like many others here, I spend many hours reading tea leaves, and analyzing semi-equip and chip data from various sources, and will take a humble guess that AMAT will NOT provide guidance calling for a flat-to-down next quarter, at least not for cyclical reasons. If there is any hint toward such guidance, I believe it would have to be related to component shortages, rather than an "end of cycle" driver. But then, what do I know? I'm not paid 6 figures to predict the future. Any other opinions? Regards, Knip