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Technology Stocks : Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates -- VSEA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: etchmeister who wrote (1834)	8/24/2007 4:23:37 PM
From: etchmeister	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1929

Last Call: Varian Up After Investor Day Friday August 24, 3:59 pm ET Varian Semiconductor Shares Set All-Time High on Earnings and Market-Share Forecasts NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc. hit an all-time high Friday after analysts came away from the company's investor day predicting gains in market share and strong sales of its plasma doping device. ADVERTISEMENT The company held its investor day Thursday and, on Friday, the stock gained $4.54, or 8.7 percent, to $56.56, and set a high of $56.58. Lehman Brothers analyst C.J. Muse kept an "Overweight" rating on the stock, with a price target of $58 per share. He said the company is predicting earnings of $5 per share to $6 per share in calendar 2009. Varian earned $1.22 per share in calendar 2006. Muse said in a note to investors that he expects improved sales to customers in Japan and Taiwan, better sales of a variety of products and greater use of the company's plasma doping tool. Plasma doping technology is designed to place an entire silicon wafer on a single chip at once. Thomas Weisel Partners' Douglas Reid said he is more confident about the company's future, but had questions about fiscal 2008. He said Varian did not give a "meaningful assessment" of its profit outlook for the year, and expects some of its customers to reduce spending. Reid thinks other analysts are too optimistic about the company's earnings for the year. "We expect downward revisions to fiscal year 2008 revenue estimates to dominate over slightly improved margins and a reduced share count," he said. Reid kept a price target of $50 per Varian share.