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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (7059)	9/5/2003 6:23:12 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Axcelis Shares Up; Recent Co. Speeches More Optimistic Friday September 5, 5:01 pm ET By Roger Cheng NEW YORK -- Axcelis Technologies Inc. (NasdaqNM:ACLS - News) shares hit a 52-week high Friday after optimistic presentations by its chief executive at two technology conferences. Chief Executive Mary Puma touted the company at the Smith Barney Citigroup Technology Conference Thursday and at the SG Cowen Fall Technology Conference earlier Friday. While no new information was provided, Ms. Puma's speech exhibited a more encouraging tone, said company spokesman Mark Namaroff in an interview following Friday's conference. "The market is starting to turn," Mr. Namaroff said. "Our tone (at the conference) was a little different than our earnings call back in July." During that second-quarter call, Axcelis said it was struggling to cut costs while issuing a disappointing third-quarter estimate of a loss of 16 cents to 18 cents a share. The company didn't provide new guidance at either conferences. Axcelis expects the semiconductor industry to grow about 8% to 12% a year for the next few years, Ms. Puma said during her presentation at the SG Cowen conference. She also pointed to the strength in Asia and market share gains during her speech. Also bolstering the stock are positive statements by other semiconductor companies, said Steven Pelayo, an analyst with Morgan Stanley. Most notably, Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) provided a positive midquarter update, fueling hopes of a broad-based technology sector recovery. "Axcelis tends to fall harder in a downturn and snap harder off the bottom," Mr. Pelayo said, adding it's a natural investment for people looking for a play on the economic recovery. Mr. Pelayo added Axcelis is a thinly traded stock, and it doesn't take much for it to make a substantial move. The combination of further cost cuts and improving fundamentals should improve earnings, he said. Mr. Pelayo doesn't own shares in Axcelis, but Morgan Stanley does have an investment-banking relationship with the company. In 4 p.m. EDT trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market (News - Websites), Axcelis shares were up 88 cents, or 9.9%, to $9.73, on volume of 3.1 million, compared with average daily volume of 1.3 million. Shares hit an intraday high of $9.95, a 52-week high. The previous high of $ 9.38 occurred on July 24.

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (7059)	9/8/2003 8:38:50 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

RF Micro Raises Outlook on Strong Demand Monday September 8, 7:47 am ET CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wireless-chip maker RF Micro Devices Inc. (NasdaqNM:RFMD - News) on Monday boosted its quarterly forecast, providing another signal that the telecommunications industry may be nearing a recovery. Chief Financial Officer Dean Priddy raised the company's fiscal second-quarter outlook, citing rising customer demand, an improved mix of high-profit products and cost-reduction efforts that are starting to bear fruit. "We definitely think the handset industry is picking up steam and we certainly hope that's sustainable," Priddy told Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of a trip to California to visit investors. "We're seeing the effect of both market share gains along with an improvement in the handset market." He said orders in the quarter will hit an all-time high, and demand has increased across all wireless standards and regions as well. Priddy is optimistic the strength will carry into the December quarter, which is currently ahead of normal in terms of orders. He declined to provide an outlook for that quarter. RF Micro, A Greensboro, North Carolina-based maker of components that allow wireless devices to transmit and receive signals, posted a first-quarter net loss in July due to weak demand for its more profitable products. The slowdown may be easing, however. Priddy said RF Micro now expects to post a slight net profit in the second quarter instead of the loss of 4 cents to 5 cents a share it had forecast in July. On a per-share basis, that could mean break-even results. The company previously said it would take a charge of a penny a share for a convertible bond buyback in the quarter, which ends in September. Priddy also sees sales rising at least 10 percent to the middle $140-million range from $131.5 million in the first quarter. RF Micro previously had forecast flat revenue in the low $130-million range. Analysts were expecting RF Micro to post a second-quarter loss of 3 cents a share, before one-time items, on sales of $135.5 million, according to Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc. Shares of RF Micro closed at $9.01 on Friday on Nasdaq.