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

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (8597)	1/26/2004 6:28:32 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

UPDATE - Agilent raises outlook, citing semiconductors Monday January 26, 5:47 pm ET By Duncan Martell (Adds analyst comments, after-hours stock move, details, adds byline) SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A - News), an electronics and testing equipment maker, on Monday said quarterly results would top its previous guidance and handily trump average Wall Street forecasts, citing strong demand from the semiconductor and chip-equipment industries. Shares of Agilent rose 10 percent in after-hours trade. "We have not seen the normal seasonal decline in first-quarter activity," Ned Barnholt, Agilent chief executive, said. "Both semiconductors and semiconductor capital equipment have been particularly strong." Agilent said it now sees earnings before items of 20 cents to 24 cents per share for the first quarter ending Jan. 31, far above the prior guidance of 5 cents to 15 cents per share. Revenue is now forecast to be in the $1.63 billion to $1.68 billion range, up from its earlier revenue forecast in the range of $1.55 billion to $1.65 billion. Analysts polled by Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc, expect Palo Alto, California-based Agilent to post a per-share profit before items of 12 cents, within a range of 10 cents to 16 cents. Revenue is pegged at $1.55 billion to $1.65 billion, and the average forecast is for $1.61 billion. Barnholt said when the company reported fourth-quarter results in November that there was then no doubt the long-malingering semiconductor had begun to recover, paced by demand for cellular phones, DVD players, set-top boxes and other digital consumer products. "The automated test group is typically down sequentially and I think this year sequentially it's going to be up," said Ajit Pai, an analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners, who on Jan. 15 raised his per-share estimate for Agilent to 16 cents a share from 13 cents, which was then the highest estimate among Wall Street analysts. "We're seeing strength in their markets," Pai said. The company also said second-quarter revenue and profit will be higher than current average Wall Street estimates. Agilent said it now sees second-quarter earnings per share before items of 20 cents to 25 cents a share on revenue of $1.65 billion to $1.70 billion. Analysts expect Agilent to post a second-quarter profit before items of 17 cents a share on average, within a range of 14 cents to 20 cents. Revenue is pegged at $1.58 billion to $1.69 billion, with an average estimate of $1.65 billion. Agilent's raised forecast seemed to contradict the conservative outlook from chip-equipment maker Novellus Systems Inc. given on Monday. Novellus' Chief Executive Officer Richard Hill told analysts that customers have been "trying to be more conservative on capital expenditures, so we're taking a conservative approach on what orders would be during the first quarter." Richard Chu, an analyst at SG Cowen, said that Agilent has been successfully cutting overall operating costs and has committed to continue to do so even when business improves, and that many of its businesses are highly leveraged, meaning that when demand returns, a good portion of sales drop through to the company's bottom-line profitability. "The thing that had really been missing was a significant slope on (revenue)," Chu said. "Now we see it getting better at an accelerated rate." Shares of Agilent rose 47 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close at $33.91 on the New York Stock Exchange (News - Websites) . In trading after the close the stock climbed to $37.14. The company's shares have gained 16 percent so far this year.