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Strategies & Market Trends : MDA - Market Direction Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Digitom who wrote (75462)	4/19/2001 8:33:53 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 99985

All what he wrote is right. I am sorry that he did not elaborate one the margin requirements I discussed with him and the fudiciary duty of analysts. Haim

To: Digitom who wrote (75462)	4/19/2001 9:29:31 AM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99985

Well may be I am right after all Chartered Semiconductor May Report First-Quarter Loss as Chip Sales Slide By Linus Chua Singapore, April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., the No. 3 maker of chips to other's designs, will probably report a first-quarter loss as its customers ordered fewer chips amid a slowing economy worldwide. Chartered is likely to report it lost $33 million, or 24 cents for every American depositary receipt, in the three months ended March, from a profit of $37.8 million, or 29 cents, a year ago, according to the average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Estimates ranged from a loss of 22.4 cents to 25 cents. The results are expected after U.S. markets close today. The Singapore-based company said two months ago it expected a first-quarter loss of between 22 cents and 24 cents, citing weak economic performance and slack demand. Analysts say Chartered will struggle to recover from its first quarterly loss in six quarters as conditions are unlikely to soon improve. ``We are looking at a recovery nearer to the end of the third quarter -- the second quarter will be worse than the first,'' said Chua Wee Thia, an analyst at Vickers Ballas Investment Research Pte. in Singapore, who rates the stock ``neutral.'' ``The overall industry hasn't picked up.'' Chartered's biggest customers are suffering from weaker orders for their products. Analysts, in turn, are expecting them to slash orders from Chartered. Customers Chartered's five biggest customers by sales -- Ericsson AB, Broadcom Corp., Conexant Systems Inc., Agilent Technologies Inc. and STMicroelectronics NV -- have this year either revised their sales or profit estimates, or fired workers. ``We still have a long way to go,'' said Bhavin Shah, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston in Hong Kong. ``Foundries will continue to see lower wafer shipments and as a result, lower utilization.'' Chartered's utilization, or how efficiently it uses its production equipment, stands at about 40 percent, analysts estimate. That means more than half its equipment isn't being used. The company also said in February first quarter sales would fall 35 percent from the fourth quarter to $207 million. The company, which is building a $3.5 billion plant in Singapore, is also expected to cut its planned $1.5 billion in spending this year. Analysts estimate a cut of between $300 million and $400 million. Technology Less spending may hurt plans for the new plant, which will make 300-millimeter, or 12-inch, wafers instead of the eight-inch standard. Chips are cut out of wafers, and are used to power electronics devices such as cell phones. Larger wafers mean more chips can be cut, making the chipmaking process more efficient. Any delay in spending will also widen the gap between Chartered and its two biggest rivals, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and United Microelectronics Corp. in Taiwan. The two Taiwanese companies are expected to be profitable. ``What bothers me about Chartered is it's behind TSMC and UMC in terms of technology, most particularly in its migration to 300- millimeter,'' said Russell Tan, an analyst at Net Research Asia in Singapore. ``They're one-and-a-half years behind.'' Chartered's shares traded in Singapore rose as much as 11 percent today to S$4.82. Chartered's American depositary receipts, which are traded in the U.S., are blocks of 10 shares each. bloomberg.com