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Technology Stocks : Speedfam [SFAM] Lovers Unite ! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Sam who wrote (2609)	1/29/1998 3:14:00 PM
From: JZGalt	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3736

Is anyone using Price/Sales or Enterprise Value/Sales to value this company? I took a look at this company in a general survey of the carnage in the semi-equipment area and at first glance I didn't think it was "cheap" enough for my tastes. Historically the price/sales numbers go to around 1.0 before this industry becomes a screaming bargain. Then I started to look at some of the stocks that were "close" to their lows pricewise. SFAM stood out because of the huge amount of cash relative to the price of the stock. If you subtract the cash from the price of the stock, you can get the company for only $15/share and the price/sales ratio drops to near 1.0. BTW, this is not my creation. The Motley Fool's call this sort of calculation Enterprise Value. Another company that passed on this basis is ADEX as well as IPEC (now). Comments? ---- Dave

To: Mr. Sam who wrote (2609)	2/4/1998 7:54:00 PM
From: SteveC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3736

"There is very little chance that AMATwill buy IPEC or SFAM, in my opinion. AMAT has no capacity issues with their CMP product, the Mirra, and it is a competitive offering. There is no reason for them to purchase a CMP manufacturer. SFAM is more compelling than IPEC because SFAM also makes the Capella and supports a few non-device markets that AMAT might find attractive, but still, I think that AMAT will not be a buyer of either company. Novellus remains the most likely buyer, though there could be other candidates as well." The Novellus rumor appears alive and well -- Mr. Sam what's your thought on today's price movement?