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Technology Stocks : Semi-Equips - Buy when BLOOD is running in the streets! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sam Citron who wrote (3292)	11/4/1997 11:43:00 PM
From: Darin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10921

Sam and Still Learning, here is why KLIC was up almost four points today if you didn't read it already on the KLIC thread. Keep in mind that Scott Kulicke is typically pretty conservative and he says the stock was fairly valued in the 50s and dirt cheap now... also mentioned Flip Chip... <<Kulicke & Soffa's CEO Comfortable With Estimates for FY 1998 Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc.'s chief executive said he's comfortable with analysts' $2.43 a share consensus estimate for the year ending Sept. 30, 1998, despite product transition delays in the current quarter. Shares of the microchip assembly equipment maker plunged more than 50 percent from a high of 58 3/8 on Sept. 11 to last week's low of 22 1/4. They gained 7/8 to 26 5/8 in trading of 753,200 shares. ''I think our stock's cheap,'' said C. Scott Kulicke in an interview at the American Electronics Association financial conference in San Diego. He said he thought the shares were fairly valued when they traded in the 50's less than two months ago. ''That makes them a steal here in the 20's,'' he said, quickly adding that he doesn't give investment advice. He said he's comfortable with analysts' projections of fiscal 1998 earnings of $2.43 a share, exceeding the previous record earnings of $2.22 in 1996. Last month, the company warned that earnings for the December quarter would fall below analysts' expectations of 59 cents a share this quarter, because of business lost during a transition to the latest generation of chipmaking equipment. Customers must requalify the newest equipment before they'll buy it in quantity, and that's taking one to two months longer than expected, he said. Kulicke said the new models are more reliable than their predecessors. In the year-earlier quarter, Kulicke & Soffa had net income of $419,000 or 2 cents a share. He said the company's product life cycles are getting shorter, now running about 12 to 15 months. Kulick again warned that the first half of fiscal 1998 ''will be a little exciting'' because of a major product transition. ''But coming out of that product transition, in the second half of the fiscal year, we expect to have great volume and improve profitability.'' He estimated that Kulick & Soffa now has more than 50 percent of the worldwide market for wire bonding equipment used to make electrical connections between microchip wafers and their packaging. That's up from 32 percent last year. Kulick attributed the market share loss to three quarters of reduced purchases by contract chip assemblers in Asia after the semiconductor industry slowdown in late 1996. ''It has come back at record levels since then,'' he said. He predicted that so-called ''flip chip'' technology ''is about to take off.'' It eliminates the need for the wires to make connections between a wafer and its package, making possible smaller, faster chips. He said he expects flip chip equipment to become a major business for Kulick & Soffa. ''In three or four years, it could be a couple of hundred million dollar business,'' he said. Flip chips don't require wire bonding, but he said his wire bonding business will survive. ''People will still be buying gadzillions of units every day,'' he said, because most applications don't require the more expensive, leading edge technology.>>

To: Sam Citron who wrote (3292)	11/4/1997 11:43:00 PM
From: Jurgis Bekepuris	Respond to of 10921

Sam, Thanks for your warning. I am aware of the situation with KLIC, and I am gathering info to decide how long I am staying with it. Currently I own January 25 calls, which I may sell or may convert into underlying stock depending on my feeling about the company. As you said: "Beware of MSFT!" :-))) Good luck Raimondas

To: Sam Citron who wrote (3292)	11/5/1997 2:10:00 PM
From: KM	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 10921

Hey Sam: *Somewhat OT* You may remember that I bought some AMAT under 31 on that awful Friday a few weeks ago and that you supported me in it and received some criticism for that. Looks like we were right, eh? I would have bet my life that 30 was the bottom. Thanks for the backup. I in no way have the technological knowledge that you guys have here but I can read a mean chart. We're not completely out of the woods yet, but I can see it from here!