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

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (23028)	4/28/2005 9:04:36 PM
From: Donald Wennerstrom	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95738

Here is another one for today. WFR missed EPS mark by 0.01(0.23 instead of 0.24) and the stock is being "hammered". <<MEMC Electronic Shares Drop on 1Q Report Thursday April 28, 6:36 pm ET MEMC Electronic Materials Stock Drops As First-Quarter Earnings Miss Analysts' Target ST. PETERS, Mo. (AP) -- Shares of wafer maker MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. dropped in late trading on Thursday after the company said first-quarter earnings more than doubled, but fell short of Wall Street's target due to weak demand. MEMC Electronic shares fell 55 cents, or 4.5 percent, to close at $11.62 on the New York Stock Exchange, and then slid another 62 cents, or 5.3 percent to $11 in after-hours activity. Net income more than doubled to $77.2 million, or 34 cents per share, from $35.9 million, or 16 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding favorable tax adjustments, which added 11 cents per share to the current quarter's results, the company earned 23 cents per share in the latest period. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected the company to earn 24 cents per share on revenue of $267.2 million. Net sales rose 13 percent to $257.9 million from $228.7 million last year, while the cost of sales grew to $164.5 million. Gross margin rose to $93.3 million from $73.3 million in 2004. "A slower-than-anticipated market recovery had an impact on our first quarter results. In addition to the market weakness, two specific customer related issues caused a temporary slowdown in our growth in March. However, we have implemented the appropriate actions and are in the process of increasing volumes again," said CEO Nabeel Gareeb in a statement. The company anticipates second-quarter sales will rise 2 percent to 5 percent from the current quarter, citing increased cost reductions which it expects to help offset price weakness. Analysts have pegged second-quarter earnings at 26 cents per share on revenue of $277.3 million.>>

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (23028)	4/29/2005 12:36:12 AM
From: etchmeister	Respond to of 95738

Geographic distribution JAN 2005 KLA-Tencor ended the quarter with approximately 9 months of product related shipment and revenue backlog. On a geographic basis, Japan posted strong bookings growth. Japan was 36 percent of orders, higher than its historical average of 20 percent; Korea, China and Singapore combined were 24 percent of orders, above their combined historical average of 20 percent; U.S. was 17 percent of orders, below its historical average of 25 percent; Taiwan was 13 percent, below its historical average of 20 percent; and Europe was 10 percent, lower than its historical average of 15 percent. APRIL 2005 KLA-Tencor reported ending the quarter with approximately 9 months of product related shipment and revenue backlog. On a geographic basis, Japan continued to post strong bookings. Japan was 31 percent of orders, higher than its historical average of 20 percent; Taiwan was 27 percent, above its historical average of 20 percent; Korea, China and Singapore combined were 18 percent of orders, below their combined historical average of 20 percent; U.S. was 17 percent of orders, below its historical average of 25 percent; and Europe was 7 percent, lower than its historical average of 15 percent. Surprise #1 Out of the top 10 capex spenders (2005 ranking) Toshiba was #10 and supposedly capex projection for 2005 are down -26% but for two quarters Japan had the highest bookings level above historical level; actually none of the Japanese IC makers with exception of Fujitsu is projecting an increase in capex for 2005 Surprise #2 On the other hand bookings for NorthAmerica were below the historical average for the last two quarters There are three top spender in the US: INTC +46%, AMD +4% and MU flat The two top ten IC maker from Korea are projecting an increase of +20% (Samsung) respectively +28% (Hynix); the large increase is offset by SMIC (-46%) but still according to projected budgets capex in that region to increase by 7% or so. However that region was is either 4% above respectively 2% below its historical average The only region that seems to behave somewhat "as projected" seems to be Europe (ST -27% and IFX -5%). and Europe was 7 percent, lower than its historical average of 15 percent. Though it's hard to make conclusions I don't see that it would support the claim that capex would be frontend loaded nor that INTC or that Samsung already blew the majority of its capex in Q1. i.cmpnet.com

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (23028)	4/29/2005 8:25:46 AM
From: sixty2nds	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95738

It is indeed a treacherous market. Skip to the end if you don't want to go OT...Off The deep end. Remember to keep a hand on your wallet. IMO this market will continue at least the next few months. North Korea spewing a bit of venom stopped a nice rally cold about 10 days ago. Yesterday there was a statement that N.Korea had the ability to hit the West Coast with a missile. A missile with a nuke tip. Within hours the military author was on the backpedal. Spies you say? Iran will soon return to the headlines with their "need to be energy independent". Surely you jest! ;^) Real Estate Bubble...Isn't it about time for China to make noise about some close in Real Estate surrounded by water. Speaking of the joust...errr...JEST....cash on hand? How about the trial balloon floated last night. SUNW going private in a LBO. Details on the SUNW thread. Whether you believe it is ALL FUD or Real is irrelevant. I am NOT talking politics and will not discuss that. My friends, the cards are dealt. The game is being played. Decide the rules you play by. Our friends in the A. Rithm family do. Up or Down they make some of the $$ stick. After all regardless of the smell it is green. We all know vegetables are good for you! Don't say I didn't warn you back at the top. ___ON TOPIC___>>> 18:01 KLAC KLA-Tencor earnings call update (40.02 ) Some notable highlights from the Q&A portion of the KLA-Tencor call includes the following: 1) co notes swing projects did happen, just happened at a lower level than expected; 2) co notes "people have not stopped, they are ordering it at a lower level, with management providing the example of 'if an order was for 10, now its for 5"; 3) co notes budgets have gotten tighter; 4) seeing alot of strength in process control of capex; 5) co has a number of venture investments at this time, continuing to look outside of process control. The stock is trading at $38.22 in after hours.

To: Donald Wennerstrom who wrote (23028)	4/29/2005 11:54:25 AM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95738

Hi Don, It has become too embarrassing for the bulls to be bullish anymore. The bears have eaten our lunch at a time where many of the stocks we follow should have risen to new highs much less make new lows. So the bears get the press. They are the new geniuses and we sit back like folks did in 1999 not bothering to warn them of their excesses for fear of being ridiculed. Y2K redux/reversed. For me KLAC is very painful. When i first saw it, along with msft, i thought that tech would lead the rebound today. Instead tech leads the decline except for google and yahoo which are reasonably valued according to the analysts. I hope this doesnt make sense to you because it certainly doesnt make any sense to me. Mike