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

To: etchmeister who wrote (18973)	5/17/2006 4:16:33 PM
From: Return to Sender	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 25522

Applied Materials schaeffersresearch.com Hoover's tells me that Applied Materials (AMAT: sentiment, chart, options) is the world's largest maker of semiconductor production equipment. AMAT's customers include Intel (INTC: sentiment, chart, options), Samsung Electronics (which is Korean and does not trade on any U.S. exchanges), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: sentiment, chart, options), and Freescale (FSL: sentiment, chart, options). I chose AMAT as my featured stock today because its June 18 calls (ANQ FS) were trading very actively this morning. Open interest at the start of the day was a little less than 40,000 contracts, but 44,710 contracts had crossed the tape by the time I grabbed numbers for this observation. Late yesterday, AMAT announced that it earned 26 cents per share in the second quarter on sales of $2.25 billion. The consensus expected earnings of 23 cents per share on sales of $2.1 billion. AMAT also forecast stronger-than-expected growth. The company forecasts financial targets that exceed the Street's expectations. AMAT stated that it will invest more on machines in 2007 as new factories making consumer electronic goods begin production. The company tagged sales in the range of $2.36 billion to $2.475 billion with per-share earnings between 28 and 30 cents. The Street currently expects earnings of 27 cents per share with sales of $2.33 billion. Today, AG Edwards reiterated the stock at "buy" and RBC Capital Markets reiterated it at "sector perform." Nevertheless, at last check, the stock was down more than five percent at $16.92. From a technical perspective, AMAT is sputtering along, with no clear uptrend to be seen. Last month it slipped below the support of its 160-week moving average, and this month we saw the 160-week trendline set in as resistance, pushing the stock below its 80-week moving average for the first time this year. Let's take a fresh look at AMAT's sentiment backdrop: Percent of analysts tracked by Zacks who rate the stock with a "hold" or worse: 54% Number of analysts tracked by Zacks: 22 Short-interest ratio: 1.04 Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR): 0.33 SOIR percent rank: 1 Overall Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard rating: 4.0 I see a big risk of downgrades here. There are 11 "strong buy" ratings listed on Zack's, and that seems to be too optimistic. If the brokerages are yelling "buy" and the stock is still declining, how much money can be waiting on the sidelines? Short interest is modest, and there isn't a great deal of fuel for any short-covering action. Meanwhile, sentiment in the options pits is close to an optimistic extreme. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) is almost at an annual low. On our Schaeffer's Equity Scorecard, the stock earns 4.0 out of 10, suggesting that the path of least resistance still lies to the downside. There is a little good news to be seen, though. I think AMAT is in a (very) gently uptrending channel, and it's just about hitting the lower rail. For conservative buy-and-hold investors, it might be one to watch.

To: etchmeister who wrote (18973)	5/17/2006 8:23:39 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

TSMC speeds up 45-nm intro Mark LaPedus EE Times (05/17/2006 3:43 PM EDT) SAN JOSE, Calif. — Seeking to take the lead in foundry technology, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) on Wednesday (May 17) disclosed some of the first details of its new and advanced 45-nm process, with plans to accelerate the introduction of the offering in 2007. But at the same time, the silicon foundry giant appears to have hit a brick wall with certain elements of the 45-nm technology. The company will most likely push out the adoption of high-k gate dielectrics and metal gates from the 45-nm node to the 32-nm node, according to an executive from TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan). Initially, the company plans to release a low-power version of its 45-nm process, followed by other variations of the technology. Originally, TSMC planned to move into “risk production” for the low-power, 45-nm technology in the fourth quarter of 2007. Now, the company has pulled in its introduction date and plans to move into “risk production” in the third quarter of 2007, said Shang-Yi Chiang, senior vice president of research and development, during a presentation at the company’s technology forum here. TSMC’s 45-nm process is a 10-metal-layer technology, with gate lengths said to be down to 26-nm, according to Chiang. The process itself is equipped with copper interconnects, strained silicon, triple-gate oxide and a second-generation low-k dielectric film. As expected, TSMC is expected to insert 193-nm immersion lithography tools for production at 45-nm, Chiang said. The company is reportedly using 193-nm immersion scanners from ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands. At 45-nm, the silicon foundry giant plans to deploy a low-k film with a “k factor” of 2.5-to-2.6, Chiang said. The company is using low-k films with a rating of 2.9-to-3.0 for its 90- to 65-nm processes — based on Applied Materials Inc.’s Black Diamond-enabled chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology. Like all leading-edge chip makers, TSMC is scrambling to deploy high-k and metal gates at the 45-nm node. But the chances that TSMC will deploy these technologies at 45-nm are “pretty low,” he said. "We are still working on it," he said, saying TSMC has not ruled out the use of high-k or metal gates at 45-nm. Instead, the company will most likely continue to extend silicon dioxide or a variation of the technology at 45-nm, pushing out high-k and metal gates at the 32-nm node, he added.

To: etchmeister who wrote (18973)	5/18/2006 8:11:57 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Tower posts loss, plans to ramp new fab Mark LaPedus EE Times (05/17/2006 7:18 PM EDT) SAN JOSE, Calif. — Amid a plan to ramp up its new 8-inch fab, Tower Semiconductor Ltd. reported first-quarter sales of $35.9 million, up 55 percent over $23.2 million in the first quarter of 2005 and an increase of 15 percent from $31.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. The 2006 first quarter loss was $45.1 million, or minus $0.63 per share, compared to a loss of $55.3 million, or minus $0.84 per share. Tower (Migdal Haemek, Israel) expects further growth in revenues for the second quarter of 2006 over the first quarter of 17-to-25 percent, and guides revenues of $42-to-$45 million. Tower also said that its board approved the company's plan to accelerate the ramp up of Fab 2 by approximately 50 percent. The company and its lender banks, Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim, signed a deal for the refinancing of Tower’s $527 million long-term debt. Israel Corp. committed to invest $100 million in the company. Tower will need to raise approximately $130 million during 2006, which will take the current Fab 2 capacity to approximately 24,000 wafers per month, including a considerable increase in 0.13-micron capacity. Fab 2 is an 8-inch fab, it was noted. In order to implement the plan in a timely manner, Tower and Israel Corp. entered into an agreement according to which investment firm will order up to approximately $100 million worth of equipment in connection with the ramp-up of Fab 2. The investment firm has the right to sell the equipment to Tower at cost, plus related expenses.