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Technology Stocks : Semi Equipment Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (4147)	7/19/2002 1:23:51 AM
From: The Ox	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95420

Chartered expects slower second half growth By Mike Clendenin EE Times July 18, 2002 (10:16 p.m. EST) TAIPEI, Taiwan — With the world's top three foundries reporting results over the next two weeks, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing was the first to note that things picked up nicely during the first half of the year. Yet it also warned that growth would slow considerably in the second half of 2002 as its PC-oriented customers shift into conservative mode. Chartered lost 90.7 million in the second quarter, an improvement over the $128 million it lost in the first quarter. Stronger demand for PC and communications chips helped it narrow losses, as utilization rose to 42 percent and the company earned more from its .18-micron process. The company said sales in communications, mostly from wireless customers, doubled sequentially, and computer revenues reached their highest point since the fourth quarter of 2000. Overall, Chartered expects revenues to grow by 5 percent in the third quarter, much slower than first-half growth. "We've got good growth in the last three quarter in that (computer) space so we are seeing some weakness in that area now. Wireless has been stronger than wire line and we continue to see that in the third quarter," said Chia Song Hwee, president and CEO of Chartered. Chartered's results represented a 51 percent sequential increase. That was spurred by more customers using .18-micron processes, which rose from 10 percent of revenues in the first quarter to 24 percent in the second quarter. That portion will rise to 35 percent in the third quarter, as wireless communication demand remains more healthy than the consumer and computing sectors. On its .13-micron process, the company said it is making steady progress in catching up with competitors in Taiwan. Currently, the foundry is working with four customers on tape-outs of five different products, based on an FSG flavor of its process. The company has so far completed about 40 different test chips and prototypes on its .13-micron process. "Low-k material development is ongoing and we expect to achieve production status in the fourth quarter," Hwee said. Even though the company is seeing "mixed signals" in end demand, it still expects modest overall growth in the second half and a return to "robust" growth in 2003 and 2004. At this point, Hwee acknowledged that he doesn't have much visibility beyond six to eight weeks, or about one manufacturing cycle. The company has no firm orders beyond that so its guidance is based mostly on customer forecasts, which could change, for better or worse, as the fall and winter high seasons approach in America. Chartered expects utilization to hover in the low 40s for the third quarter, which includes a 4 percent increase in capacity, and losses should narrow slightly, to between $87 million and $90 million.

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (4147)	7/19/2002 10:42:53 AM
From: Return to Sender	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95420

From Briefing.com: Nasdaq holds above recent lows -- Technical -- The index is still in the bearish camp but it has thus far held above the lows of the last two weeks (1323 and 1315). Initial resistance is in the 1348/1350 area with the top of today's gap at 1356. It will, however, take sustained follow through beyond the 1360/1370 area to improve the current bias. A reversal back through 1336 and 1330 argues for a run at the recent lows. 9:59AM SOX edges into positive territory -- +0.6% 9:36AM Semi Equip maker DPMI gaps down 22% on downgrade, guidance 21.20 -5.98: 9:28AM Atmel downgraded at Prudential (ATML) 5.02: -- Update -- Prudential downgrades to HOLD from Buy after the co reported a weaker-than-expected Q2; firm is concerned about how late ATML has been to adjust its costs, and believes it is prudent to remain on the sidelines until the co is able to reduce its costs; cuts price target to $6 from $12. 8:13AM Sun Microsystems downgraded at CSFB (SUNW) 5.80: CSFB downgrades to HOLD from Buy due to cautious guidance, lingering concerns with Unix server mkt fundamentals, and inconsistent global IT spending patterns; cuts FY03 rev/EPS ests to $13.5 bln/$0.08 from $14.4 bln/$0.16, and cuts 12-month fair value est to $5 from $20. 8:08AM DuPont Photomasks, Photronics downgraded at CIBC : CIBC downgrades DPMI and PLAB to UNDERPERFORM from Buy and Strong Buy, respectively, due to pricing pressure and softness in demand for photomasks; present concern is that price wars in photomask markets are notoriously difficult to quantify, both in their duration and magnitude. 8:07AM Dupont Photomask raises Q4 guidance; Q1 outlook below consensus (DPMI) 27.18: Expects to posts Q4 net of about break even (before items) on revenues of approx. $94.5 mln. DPMI had provided guidance of a $0.02-$0.10 loss on revs of $87-$92 mln. Multex consensus is -$0.04 and $89.98 mln. For Q1, co sees EPS ranging from ($0.20) to $0.02 on revs of $87-$94 mln (consensus $0.08 and $96.57 mln. 8:02AM Infineon reports smaller quarterly loss (IFX) 17.10: Chip maker advances 2.5% in Germany after reporting a Q3 loss of Euro 0.11 compared with a loss per share of Euro 0.16 in the previous qtr. Revs rose 1% sequentially and 10% yr/yr to Euro 1.4 bln. Sees signs of moderate improvement in demand for 2nd-half, but expects strong pricing pressure in most of its business groups. 7:59AM McDATA upgraded at Merrill Lynch (MCDT) 8.30: Merrill Lynch upgrades to BUY from Neutral after the co beat Q2 expectations; firm is satisfied that MCDT is 1) able to deliver 2Gb product, 2) sell into the high-end in this tough economic environment with some sustainability, and 3) compete vs BRCD's SilkWorm 12000; raises 2002 rev/EPS ests to $318 mln/($0.08) from $285 mln/($0.17) and 2003 to $445 mln/$0.14 from $395 mln/$0.06; sees upside to $10. 6:42AM Plexus Corp matches EPS consensus; guides below Q4 mean (PLXS) 15.05: Posts Q3 net of $0.07 a share, in line with the Multex consensus. Revenue declined 7.3% to $234.75 mln (consensus $236.39 mln). For Q4, co sees EPS of $0.05-$0.08 on revs of $225-$235 mln (consensus $0.09 and $246.3 mln). finance.yahoo.com That was a big change in guidance from the usually positive SEMI. Thanks, RtS