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Technology Stocks : Lam Research (LRCX, NASDAQ): To the Insiders -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: etchmeister who wrote (5625)	7/25/2007 2:01:40 AM
From: etchmeister	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5867

June 23, 2006, 1:20 pm TSMC (TSM) Reportedly Pushing Out Some Equipment Orders Posted by Eric Savitz As I’ve noted in previous posts, Citigroup’s Timothy Arcuri has maintained his cautionary stance on the semi equipment stocks while other analysts recently have taken a more positive stance on the group. This morning, he banged out an update to bolster his case, asserting that chip foundry Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) has begun to push out tool deliveries, “with a large portion of 300mm tool shipments” scheduled for the July to October period now pushed out about a quarter. “This is a change from checks conducted late last week indicating no industry pushouts had occurred,” he writes. So far, he says, the pushouts appear limited to TSMC. The companies with the greatest exposure to any slowing at TSMC, he says, include Applied Materials (AMAT), Lam Research (LRCX), Advanced Energy Industries (AEIS), Mattson (MTSN) and Novellus (NVLS). Arcuri concludes that, while memory-related spending remains strong, the pushouts “weaken the argument for a tool order re-acceleration in the second half of this year.

To: etchmeister who wrote (5625)	7/25/2007 3:44:38 PM
From: sat2000	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5867

from seeking Alpha Eric Savitz (Barron's) submits: Lam Research (LRCX) CEO Steve Newberry said in an interview with Tech Trader Daily Tuesday afternoon that the company's revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter of $679 million exceeded the upper end of the company's guidance range. Newberry said shipments in the quarter were $694 million, up 12% sequentially. The company does not provide data on new orders. Newberry also said that the company finished the quarter with just over $1 billion in cash; he notes that the company bought back $768 million in common stock in the quarter, purchasing 14.5 million shares at an average $52.98 each; that completes the company's current stock repurchase authorization. Newberry says he continues to expect that the second half of the calendar year will be slower than the first half, in particular for memory-related equipment. Foundry and logic spending should be up slightly in the second half from the first half, he says. He sees September shipments down 7%-12% sequentially. He repeated previous guidance for calendar year revenue growth of 15%-20%, with shipments up 5%-10%. Newberry says slowing shipments in the second half will not be as significant as some people had expected - but he stresses that they will in fact be slower. "We said in January that the second half would be worse than the first half; people did not like that message, but now that is the clear consensus," Newberry says. Newberry says NAND flash manufacturers began cutting spending early in 2007, and now are beginning to increase capital spending. He says DRAM producers, though, will begin to reduce spending in the second half, a downturn that should play out over 2-3 quarters. He says NAND-related capital spending in 2008 will move in "an upward trending orientation." The market for DRAM-related equipment, he says, should ramp up by mid year 2008. Newberry says Lam sees overall IC unit growth this year of 10%-12%; he thinks the total improves to 14% on average over the next three years, with 18% unit growth for the memory sector. That kind of growth will require lots of new fab equipment, he says: he says the chip industry will have to spend $130 billion to $150 billion from now through 2010. Newberry foresees a "good strong economic year in 2008," with help from the Olympics and the U.S. elections, among other factors; that should mean strong chip demand, a "positive year" for investment in semiconductor foundries. In after hours trading, Lam was up 90 cents, at $57.90.

To: etchmeister who wrote (5625)	7/25/2007 6:11:11 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5867

Take this FWIW.....from Yahoo message boards...... Lam Research Lower Post Earnings; Caris Upgrades; ThinkEquity Downgrades Posted by Eric Savitz There are some serious cross-currents this morning in shares of semiconductor equipment maker Lam Research (LRCX). Lam last night reported fourth quarter revenue that were above Street expectations; in an interview last with Tech Trader Daily, CEO Steve Newberry noted that shipments were up 12% in the quarter, but repeated previous warnings that the second half would be slower than the first as DRAM providers reduce their equipment purchases. The Street’s reaction to the news has been decidedly mixed. Caris & Co.’s Ben Pang raised his rating on the stock to Above Average from Average, asserting that the stock’’s valuation is attractive trading at 12x his 2008 EPS estimate of $4.75 a share. “We had been expecting market share gains to subside, but there is no evidence that their competitors are gaining ground,” he says. Also bullish: Needham’s Robert Maire, who raised his price target on the stock today to $80 from $62, and repeated his Buy rating. “Not only has Lam gained share in the market it has also executed almost flawlessly,” he wrote today. On the other hand, ThinkEquity’s Suresh Balaraman cut his rating to Source of Funds from Accumulate, and trimmed his price target to $50 from $55. “While the logic and foundry segment should recover from very depressed levels,” he writes, “the bulk production capacity expansion is likely to be at 90 nm, the nodes where Lam’s share is not as high. In the near-term, the DRAM spending cutback is likely to have a stronger negative effect.” He cut his June 2008 fiscal year revenue estimate to $2.4 billion from $2.5 billion, although EPS increases to $4.68 from $4.59. Also cautious: Credit Suisse’s Satya Kumar, who repeated his Neutral rating on the stock, and cautioned that the company faces “multiple quarters of memory weakness,” and advises waiting until “memory truly bottoms.” ************************** LAM Research estimates raised at UBS. FY 2008 EPS estimates upped to $4.72 from $4.59 while price target holds at $70. Reiterates Buy rating.