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Technology Stocks : Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (ACLS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (64)	8/15/2000 5:12:52 PM
From: Big Dog	Respond to of 195

Financial Times -- COMPANIES & MARKETS: The chips aren't down yet: Semiconductor industry dismisses talk of a slowdown By TOM FOREMSKI Doug Andrey, the semiconductor industry's chief economist, laughs when he hears financial analysts warning of a slowdown hitting the chip sector. He occupies a lofty vantage point as the chief analyst for the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which represents more than 70 chipmakers. This gives him access to a wealth of data on companies' sales, orders and capital spending levels. In recent weeks many investors have cut their holdings in chip companies, fearing that the next bust cycle is looming. Their anxiety has been fed by negative comment from analysts. For example, Ashok Kumar, of US Bancorp Piper Jaffray, issued a research note that stated: "Fundamentally and technically the (semiconductor) group has peaked." Boom and bust cycles are part of the chip industry, appearing with almost clock-like precision. Big increases in capital expenditure this year have prompted fears that the industry will add too much manufacturing capacity too quickly, ending shortages and forcing down prices. Mr Andrey says that such fears are premature. "We are just past the first year in a four-year cycle, it won't be until 2003 that a slowdown will hit. These cycles are like the laws of physics, you can't mess with them." For the first time in 12 years, the industry's recovery is not dependent on PC makers. The range of applications has been multiplied by booming sales of communications devices, such as cellphones and networking equipment. "I was getting bored with the PC industry, now I can talk for hours about broadband, optical networking and so on," Mr Andrey says. In 1994, PCs accounted for 49 per cent of semiconductor revenues. By 1999 that had shrunk to about 25 per cent. Communications increased from 15 per cent of the total to 21 per cent over the same period, while servers and large corporate computer systems grew from virtually nothing to 25 per cent. But looking at the chip sector, which is about 17 per cent down on its March peak, it would seem that the good times are over. Nothing could be further from the truth, say the makers. Worldwide sales hit a record high in June at Dollars 16.6bn, a jump of 48 per cent compared with June 1999, according to the latest SIA report. Asia/Pacific and Japan grew 53 and 51 per cent respectively, the Americas 43 per cent and Europe 48 per cent. Although this growth rate is considered unsustainable, the SIA predicts healthy growth of 31 per cent for the global chip market for the whole of 2000. The resurgence in Europe has meant that, for the first time in 10 years, three European chipmakers - STMicroelectronics, Infineon and Philips Semiconductors - are now in the global top 10 by revenue. The list is led by Intel. Mergers and acquisitions have been another important aspect of this boom. The level of M&A activity is 10 times what it was at the same stage in the previous cycle. Last month saw the industry's biggest deal: Texas Instruments' Dollars 7.6bn all-stock acquisition of Burr-Brown. Yesterday Broadcom continued the trend with a Dollars 1.24bn purchase. If companies buy existing capacity rather than rushing to build new plant, this should lessen the risk of excess. The outlook for demand may also be stronger than some analysts believe because of the tantalising opportunities in China. Motorola says: "China will be the single largest chip market within the next few years and we are awaiting final go-ahead on a huge manufacturing complex in China." Although investments in chip factories are at record levels in absolute terms, viewed as a percentage of sales they are nowhere near the levels that heralded the bust in the previous cycle. For the companies, issues such as supply chain logistics are the challenge. "It's unbelievable how complex the supply chain has become," says National Semiconductor, of the US. While the cycle cannot be abolished, there is a good chance this time that the swing from boom to bust will be less pronounced.

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (64)	8/15/2000 5:26:02 PM
From: Big Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 195

Baird Soule: Use Hoovers to get your answer. Here's a start: ACLS supply products to 19 of the 20 largest semiconductor makers in the world. 40% of sales go to STMicroelectronics, Motorola, and Texas Instruments. U.S. customers account for about 85% of sales. hoovers.com

To: Czechsinthemail who wrote (64)	9/28/2000 9:18:28 AM
From: treefrog_1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 195

VSEA has the mid current market (over 80%), ACLS holds the High Current market. VSEA has a new line of High Current machines developed during the recent 2 yrs of downturn that are now being delivered and making moves into this market. ACLS also has FA interface advantages that are attractive as a whole package delivery. Very comparable from the bottom line fundamentals. Both are booked out 6-10 months, if no more are ordered, implanters will still roll out for 10 months to fill current orders. The indicators seem to point to 2-4 more strong years ahead for new machine procurments and new Fabs opening up in Asia, China and now Japan is in the process of coming back into procurment phase. This is to keep the Asian edge, but they have been slow to update their Fabs and now must be playing catch up based on increased interest in the new products. Hope this helps. I own stock in both companies.