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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BWAC who wrote (5030)	1/18/2003 5:30:12 PM
From: Sarmad Y. Hermiz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 25522

Well, we're allowed to discuss the nasdaq chart, I hope. the index value failed to top the old high of December, even after the improved earnings reports. In fact the nasdaq index headed down in a most violent manner when those $billions were reported. So I guess the shorters think that all the rise from October through November will be retraced, and new lows below 1100 are coming. Personally, I'll just hold. As long as the surviving companies are increasing their lead, that's good enough for me.

To: BWAC who wrote (5030)	1/20/2003 8:22:19 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

UPDATE - Infineon narrows loss sharply, still cautious Monday January 20, 6:56 am ET By James Mackenzie (Adds fresh analyst comment, detail, updates share) FRANKFURT, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Infineon Technologies AG beat market forecasts with a reduced first-quarter loss on Monday as exceptional items helped its key memory-chip unit to a profit, but it cautioned that market conditions were still difficult. Infineon (XETRA:IFXGn.DE - News), Europe's second-biggest semiconductor maker, posted a loss before interest and tax (EBIT) of 31 million euros ($33 million) in the three months to the end of December against a loss of 564 million a year earlier and against average analyst forecasts of a loss of 69 million euros. Net losses came to 40 million euros against a loss of 331 million a year earlier. The Munich-based company said sales were up 47 percent from a year earlier at 1.52 billion euros as demand rose in key segments including memory chips, automotive and industrial electronics and mobile handsets. But analysts noted that earnings were also helped by a number of one-off effects, including a revaluation of chip inventories, suggesting that the operating business still faced a very tough environment. "Although we see first signs of a positive market trend, it is too early to speak of a sustained overall market improvement," Chief Executive Ulrich Schumacher said in a statement. He said he expected stable demand in most segments but difficult conditions in the first half of calendar 2003 with continuing price pressure in the wireline and secure mobile communications segments. WARY TONE Infineon shares, which lost more than two thirds of their value last year, were down 0.6 percent by 1135 GMT, underperforming a one percent rise on the DJ Stoxx European technology index (Zurich:^SX8P - News) as the uncertain outlook outweighed the stronger quarterly results. "As with Intel and others, the outlook is poor and not at all optimistic. It indicates the downturn in the industry and shows they are very cautious," said Friedrich Diel, fund manager at Frankfurt Trust. Infineon's reserved outlook matches the wary tone of many other leading chip companies, including the world's two biggest microprocessor makers Intel Corp (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD - News), which have both cut 2003 investment budgets. With few solid signs of firmer demand, companies have been reluctant to forecast an end to the chip sector's unprecedented two-year slump after being forced repeatedly to push back over-optimistic forecasts as the downturn has dragged on. MEMORY BACK IN PROFIT Infineon's key memory segment, which accounts for around a third of group sales, returned to profit, with EBIT of 29 million euros, compared with a loss of 375 million a year earlier as the group's cost-cutting programme bore fruit. The stronger results in the division reflect both the recent rise in demand for faster and higher-priced double data rate (DDR) chips and Infineon's drive to cut production costs. But they were also boosted by a 40 million euro revaluation of inventories sparked by higher chip prices and a 30 million euro gain related to the end of the ProMOS joint venture with Mosel Vitelic (Taiwan:2342.TW - News) in Taiwan. "At first sight, the headline numbers sounded OK, but looking deeper, they've been helped by a few one-time items and that has taken some of the gloss off the figures," said Merrill Lynch analyst Andrew Griffin, who rates the stock 'Neutral'. Average selling prices for 256 megabit dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip stood at $5.80 during the quarter, still marginally below fully loaded production costs of $6.10. But the company said it aimed to cut costs below $6.00 this quarter and said the division was expected to remain in profit in the current quarter if prices remained roughly stable. After an initial start-up phase, Infineon's advanced new plant in Dresden, which uses the latest 300 mm wafer technology to squeeze more chips out of each sheet of silicon, has begun to produce at yields superior to standard 200 mm technology. The automobile and industrial division also did better, more than doubling operating profit to 44 million euros, while wireline communications and secure mobile solutions, the two divisions hit by the slump in the telecoms sector, halved losses to 42 million euros and 28 million euros respectively. Secure mobile solutions, which includes both the smart-cards business and the mobile-handset operations, was lifted by strong handset sales at Christmas, while smart-card sales fell by some 20-30 percent, the group said. (Additional reporting by Jess Smee)