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

To: niek who wrote (17053)	1/10/2006 8:20:08 AM
From: matt dillabough	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Susquehanna downgrades KLA-Tencor (KLAC 53.01) and Novellus (NVLS 25.80) to Neutral from Positive due to three concerns that make 2006 outperformance less likely: 1) potentially disappointing equipment spending cycle in 2006; 2) validation of their thesis of semiconductor IC ASP degradation despite robust unit growth, potentially dampening cash flow generation in the semiconductor industry; and 3) conflicting reports on equipment order rates that point to a non-uniform order trajectory...

To: niek who wrote (17053)	1/10/2006 8:31:25 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Opinion survey sees improved outlook for 2006 Peter Clarke EE Times (01/10/2006 7:13 AM EST) LONDON — Fab utilization is tight and getting tighter, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. are likely to pick up market share and consumer electronics will drive the semiconductor industry, according to a survey conducted by ChangeWave Research LLC. AMD and TI are seen as the chip manufacturers most likely to pick-up market share over the next six months, while Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. and foundry United Microelectronics Corp. are seen as most likely to lose market share. At the same time Applied Materials Inc. is seen as the company best-positioned to outperform the semiconductor equipment industry over the next 12 months even though LCD manufacturing is seen as the top performing sub-segment. ChangeWave (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) relies on a group of 6000 people working across numerous technology and medical industries to help it take opinion soundings. A total of 104 industry members participated in the latest semiconductor survey, ChangeWave said. This group thinks things are getting better for the chip companies. Some 38 percent ticked double-digit growth for the industry in the first half of 2006, compared with 33 percent of a similar set of respondents in October 2005. In terms of types of chips driving that growth NAND flash memory and communication chips for cell phones are seen as the strongest sub-segments over the next six months, although ChangeWave said it also sees that these segments have the greatest signs of a shortage of inventory. Standard products in the analog, logic and programmable logic are predicted to be the weakest performing segments over the next six months, ChangeWave said. And it is consumer electronics rather than communications that is pushing things along — although as computers and cell phones are both consumer items now the definitions are somewhat hazy. Nonetheless some 49 percent of the ChangeWave respondents said consumer electronics would be the most important driver of the semiconductor industry over the next six months key driver, compared with 38 percent in the October survey. Another 20 percent said communications would be the most important driver, down nine points from October. For the third survey in a row, respondents are reporting tighter fab capacity utilization, with 34 percent now saying fab capacity is tight (90 percent manufacturing capacity utilization or higher), up from 20 percent of respondents in October 2005. Moreover, 75 percent said they expect to see increased capital spending on IC manufacturing capacity over the next 12 months.