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

To: Gary Burton who wrote (41571)	1/17/2001 11:51:44 PM
From: Ian@SI	Respond to of 70976

Gary, CMOS is backend which has had a BTB below 1 for the last couple months; NVLS is Front end and still growing backlog. Frontend has longer leadtime than back end. Good luck in getting back in at a lower price should you so desire.

To: Gary Burton who wrote (41571)	1/18/2001 12:36:03 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

ASML tops forecasts, seen sold-out in 2001 (UPDATE: Adds closing share price, para 6) By Philip Blenkinsop AMSTERDAM, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASM Lithography on Thursday reported full year results that exceeded even buoyant expectations and said demand, though weaker, should still exceed its production capacity this year. Net profits at ASML, one of the first European semiconductor companies to report full-year results, more than quadrupled as the company benefited from a sectoral boom and rapid expansion among its customers -- the world's leading chip makers. The Dutch firm is one of the two leading makers of steppers and scanners, machines that map out chip circuitry on silicon wafers. The market was worth more than $5 billion last year. ASML posted a 2000 net profit of 347 million euros ($327 million), equivalent to a diluted 0.80 euros per share. Ten analysts polled by Reuters forecast a net profit of 318 million euros with estimates ranging from 307 to 330 million euros. ``Profits, bookings, cashflow -- every element is a record,'' said Chief Executive Officer Doug Dunn. ASML shares surged to 32.20 euros in early trading, up 7.4 percent, but steadily fell as the firm cautioned about a first quarter slowdown. They closed down 2.1 percent at 29.36 euros, although they had climbed 9.4 percent on Wednesday. ``The average selling price, number of sold units and operational and gross margin were all better than expected,'' said analyst Marco Schram at Delta Lloyd Bank. Fund managers also applauded the results and outlook for ASML, which is set to become the world's largest scanner and stepper maker after the purchase of California-based Silicon Valley Group (SVG) (NasdaqNM:SVGI - news), expected to take place in March. ``The figures were good, as was order flow,'' said Hans Slomp, a fund manager for SNS Securities. ``The best companies in the business do well in bad times...ASML is number one in lithography (with the SVG buy)...they will come out very well.'' Deutsche Bank added the stock to its list of 19 top European picks, saying ASML was the best way to play an expected soft landing for semiconductors in the first quarter. ASML, a market favourite in previous years, has been volatile over the past 12 months amid semiconductor jitters. The shares rose to a high of 52.00 last March, but lost over half their value in the remainder of the year, resulting in a 34 percent loss in 2000. They are up 26 percent this year. DEMAND SLACKENS RECENTLY ASML saw its order backlog rise to 255 machines at the end of 2000, up from 207 units at the end June. ASML said customer demand had, nonetheless, softened over the last two months and it saw nervousness continuing into the first quarter of 2001. Three to four customers have pushed back orders, Dunn said. Now 55 percent of the backlog was for the first half rather than the 65 percent earlier envisaged. ``However, the current situation is that customer demand still exceeds ASML's capacity for 2001, which is higher than the output for the year 2000,'' said Dunn. Developments of its customers' business in coming months might give a clearer indication of the direction of the trend and on its expectations for the full year. ``We're coming down to normal levels... There are some clouds around, but it should still be a pretty good year,'' Dunn said. EXPANSION PLANS First half shipments should be roughly the same as the 180 new systems delivered in the second half of 2000, but ASML hopes then to crank up production to an annual level of 500 units. ASML is building an extension to its facilities, but suppliers were likely to be the main cap on capacity. ASML had previously said it expected to sell between 400 and 440 units in 2001 with a gross margin in the low 40s. Dunn said demand for its leading edge 300 millimetre Twinscan system and its 193 and 248 nanometre technology was at unchanged strong levels. Their growth and the falling sales of used systems should lead to overall price rises. ASML also intends to push deeper into Japan after securing its first customer there late last year. Japan represents about a fifth of the world's lithography market and is dominated by ASML's main rival Nikon , and Canon . ASML's results come on the heels of fourth quarter figures from the world's leading chip makers, Intel (NasdaqNM:INTC - news) and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD - news). Intel, the world number one, reported fourth-quarter results that squeaked past lowered Wall Street estimates on Tuesday and forecast first-quarter sales would fall 15 percent from the fourth quarter. Fourth quarter figures of Intel's main rival AMD, released on Wednesday, trailed forecasts. (additional reporting by Tjarkine van den Berg, Jana Sanchez) Subject 50522