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

To: Gottfried who wrote (7978)	1/7/2003 11:32:26 PM
From: Return to Sender	Respond to of 95463

Semiconductors . . . Powerwave Technologies had a loss of 4 cents to 5 cents a share in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 29. It was expected to have break-even results. Altera and Xilinx are rallying after Prudential upgraded the programmable logic device makers to "buy" from "hold" due to expectations of strength in the enterprise storage market following a positive pre-announcement from EMC, a large customer of both companies. Analyst Hans Mosesmann also noted that the March quarter is typically the strongest for PLD makers. RF Micro Device's presentation at the Needham Growth conference told investors that the company said the March quarter is "shaping up to be a good quarter" based on their backlog. Ibis Technology inked a joint development agreement with IBM. The companies plan to develop an enhanced, modified low-dose process for making SIMOX-SOI wafers, the starting material for advanced integrated circuits. UBS Warburg upgraded International Rectifier to Buy from Hold and raises price target to $27 from $23 based on an improved cost structure. The firm believes there is further potential earnings leverage above their model and there is also potential for revenue and gross margin improvement if the company is successful in the shift toward proprietary products. The firm raised 2003-04 estimates. Rambus announced new agreements with Sony Computer Entertainment and Toshiba for the license and utilization of two new high-speed interfaces, codenamed "Yellowstone" and "Redwood." Rambus expects the impact on earnings to be neutral to slightly favorable for the next three years, with significant royalties only beginning to accrue once Sony and Toshiba begin shipping their own products. MPU pricing summary. List pricing was unchanged and street pricing remained stable during the holidays. With little microprocessor news we take the opportunity to frame Intel and Advanced Micro’s 4th quarter ahead of earnings next week. With the distribution channel essentially worked down in 3rd quarter 2002, AMD stands to deliver revenues of $688 million, up 35% Quarter over Quarter and EPS of - $0.40 in 4th quarter. Analysts recognize AMD’s efforts to return to profitability, and the product roadmap looks promising. However, there is much to be done before the company can be profitable again, and continue to be neutral on the stock. Analysts believe Intel will meet our $6.912 billion revenue estimate, up 6% Quarter over Quarter and proforma EPS of $0.13 up from $0.11 in the September quarter. Gross margins will improve 160 basis points to 50.4% from the higher run rate. Checks indicate that notebook-related demand in the fourth quarter held up well, which would tend to benefit Intel as a result the company’s relatively greater strength in mobile platforms. DRAM pricing summary. The DDR premium to SDRAM eased down to just above the 100% level over the holidays, from 180% in early December. With DDR supply now sufficient to meet the seasonally weaker PC market in 1st quarter calendar year, believe pricing between the two part types will continue to converge. In the spot market, synchronous parts now average $3.32 worldwide, up 6% from December, and DDR parts average $6.75 worldwide, down 8% from December. In the contract market, our checks also indicate a tightened range although at a higher level - synchronous parts are $4 per 256Mb and DDR parts are $7 per 256Mb. The recent $4 billion bailout of Hynix by its creditors raises renewed concerns about excess capacity in the DRAM industry. The debt/equity swap and debt rollover that Hynix received won’t necessarily help the company generate positive operating cashflow, but it takes some of the immediate pressure off, and increases the likelihood that Hynix will remain in the industry as a “disruptive” force. 2020insight.com The one and only everlastingly ignorant... RtS