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Technology Stocks : Disk Drive Sector Discussion Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: maaad who wrote (1763)	12/12/1997 3:23:00 PM
From: Gus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Not quite, maaad. Here's a preannouncement from deep in the disk drive supply line. The chart tells you that VECO, a MR/GRM thin film head manufacturing equipment vendor, was a darling of the momentum crowd playing the storage story earlier this year. The chart also tells you that when Mo pulls the trigger and goes the other way, the stock becomes a kewpie doll. Friday December 12, 2:14 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release Veeco Instruments Forecasts Weak Fourth Quarter PLAINVIEW, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--December 12, 1997--Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ: VECO - news), today reviewed its expectations for the fourth quarter of 1997 and business outlook for 1998. Edward H. Braun, Chairman and CEO of Veeco, stated, "Veeco's growth outlook is tied to the semiconductor and data storage industries which comprise our core customer base. *Our major data storage customers have pre-announced revenue and earnings shortfalls due to over-capacity, product mix issues and falling hard drive prices.* In addition, the semiconductor industry is also reporting weakness due in part to uncertainty over the Asian markets and other factors. We believe that underlying PC unit demand and growth remain positive." Mr. Braun continued, *"Based upon this weakness at the customer level, we are experiencing the rescheduling of delivery of Veeco equipment from the current quarter to next year.* The effect of these recent events will cause shipments to be below our previous expectations for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 1997. We currently expect our earnings to be in the range of $.40 to $.45 per share, below the analysts' consensus estimates of $.49 per share. In addition, it is difficult for us to quantify at this time how this recent industry turmoil may affect our performance next year. However, based upon weaknesses in both of our major markets, we have to project that our 1998 earnings growth will be slower than previously anticipated." "We continue to believe that the transition to magnetoresistive (MR) and giant magnetoresistive (GMR) head technology will support our 1998 data storage revenue growth, which comprised 66% of Veeco's sales for the first nine months of 1997, and that long-term semiconductor investment in .25 micron technology must continue for major semiconductor companies to remain competitive. Customer acceptance of our new products in both Process Equipment and Process Metrology indicate revenue growth for 1998. We continue to be optimistic about the prospects of the industry, driven by growth in end markets such as PCs and telecommunications." Veeco Instruments Inc., headquartered in Plainview, New York, is a worldwide leader in etch and deposition Process Equipment for data storage, and Process Metrology tools for the data storage, semiconductor and flat panel display industries. Manufacturing and engineering facilities are located in New York, California and Arizona. Global sales and service offices are located throughout the United States, Europe, Japan and Asia-Pacific.

To: maaad who wrote (1763)	12/12/1997 3:46:00 PM
From: Gus	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9256

Veeco's data storage customers which comprise 66% of revenues for the first 9 months of fiscal (calendar) 1997. Excerpts from 1996 10K The Company sells its products worldwide to many of the leading data storage and semiconductor manufacturers, including Seagate Technology, Inc. ("Seagate"), Read-Rite Corp. ("Read-Rite"), IBM Corporation ("IBM"), Motorola, Inc. ("Motorola"), Applied Magnetics Corp. ("AMC"), Mitsubishi Semiconductor ("Mitsubishi") and Quantum Corp. ("Quantum")..... .....Sales to Seagate, which also utilizes products primarily from the Company's ion beam system product line, totaled $15,469,000, $16,768,000 and $13,499,000, representing 16.0%, 23.2% and 27.3% of the Company's net sales for the years ended December 31, 1996, 1995 and 1994, respectively. According to industry reports, Seagate is one of the world's largest disk drive manufacturers. Excluding sales to Read-Rite and Seagate, sales to the next five top customers accounted for 22.9%, 22.71%, and 23.7%, in the aggregate, of total net sales of the Company for the years ended December 1996, 1995 and 1994, respectively. End-users of the Company's products in each of the following categories include: Data Storage Applied Magnetics Headways Technologies IBM Komag Mitsumi Quantum Read Rite SAE Magnetics (TDK) Seagate Sony The EPS downward revision looks like minor equipment pushouts so far.(See 12/11 Salomon downgrade of TDK/SAE due to potential oversupply of MR heads) Uncertainty and the lack of visibility about 1998, however, seems to be the more pressing concern. Gus TOKYO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Salomon Brothers said on Thursday it had downgraded TDK Corp (NYSE:TDK - news; 6762.T) to an M rating from its previous O. Salomon analyst Koichiro Chiwata attributed the downgrade to the negative impact excessive stocks of hard disk drives (HDD) and sharp price falls in the United States were expected to have on drive makers. The decision also reflected an expected oversupply in magneto-resistive heads in 1998 and worries over future prices of these components, Chiwata said. techstocks.com