*AV* --Thanks, now for a quick note and 3 news releases.
I hope I mentioned Analog Devices here a few days ago. If not, whoops on my part. Up 5% today on nice earnings and has already traded 2X average daily volume it seems. Something is cooking here so be ready to read some exciting stuff soon.<GG> Also, ADI is my attempt to bring some fresh stocks into the universe. Of notable mention, ATML, ADI, and a few others will be getting more visibility from me as time marches on.
Hey-it looks as if timing is becoming my firend these days.<GGG>
Wednesday February 18, 11:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Fourth Shift Customer Recognized as Fastest Growing
Technology Company in the United States
Integrated Process Equipment Corp. Keeps Up with Astounding Growth
Using Fourth Shift Manufacturing Software System
MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Using Fourth Shift software to
manage manufacturing operations, Integrated Process Equipment
Corporation (Nasdaq: IPEC - news) topped the Deloitte & Touche LLP
list of the fastest-growing technology companies in the United
States for 1997. With an incredible five year revenue growth increase
of 71,136 percent, the Phoenix-based company also ranked number one on
the AzTech 50 list compiled by KPMG.
Fourth Shift Corporation (Nasdaq: FSFT - news), based in Minneapolis,
Minn., is a leading ERP developer for growing hi-tech companies such
as IPEC.
''Fourth Shift's integrated financials and solid ERP solutions enables
us to manage our growing production requirements,'' said Lisa
Anderson, Director of Information Systems for IPEC. Since
implementing Fourth Shift software in 1993, IPEC has seen a reduction
in financial closing cycle time, increased efficiencies in inventory
management, and improved, timely information necessary for management
decision making. The software also enables IPEC to manage many of the
changes that face rapidly growing companies.
''We need a flexible manufacturing and financial software system to
meet the demands of our changing manufacturing environment,'' said
Anderson. ''Fourth Shift is a very flexible system, with data export
and import capabilities, that allows us to manage changes to our
production schedules and elsewhere in our operations.''
Because of its ability to handle diverse business requirements, IPEC
set Fourth Shift software as its corporate standard for manufacturing
and financial software. A multi-site operation, IPEC implemented the
software at their plants in Phoenix, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.; Tempe,
Ariz.; and Danbury, Conn.
About IPEC
IPEC is the market and technology leader in CMP (chemical-mechanical
planarization), a process critical to the fabrication of advanced
semiconductors. IPEC's customers include virtually all of the
major semiconductor manufacturers in the world. IPEC is engaged in the
design, manufacturing, marketing and servicing of equipment for the
semiconductor manufacturing industry. IPEC Planar is a leading
supplier of CMP equipment and CMP-related products. IPEC Precision
manufactures advanced plasma-assisted chemical etch systems and
metrology equipment for use primarily in manufacturing silicon wafers
and semiconductor devices. For more information about IPEC visit
ipec.com .
For more on the Deloitte & Touche fastest growing companies visit:
dttus.com
About Fourth Shift
Fourth Shift Corporation is a global application software company that
develops software for manufacturing and distribution enterprises
worldwide. The company's Manufacturing Software System has been
licensed by over 3,000 customer sites in over 60 countries including
30% of the Fortune 500 U.S. companies and over 25% of the Fortune
Global 250 industrial companies. Fourth Shift maintains close
strategic relationships with leading information technology vendors
Micro Data Base Systems, Inc. (mdbs) and Microsoft. Fourth Shift is
also a Microsoft Solution Provider Partner. For more information about
Fourth Shift visit fs.com
Wednesday February 18, 10:40 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Analog Devices, Inc.
Analog Devices Reports 13% Increases in First-Quarter
Sales, Earnings and EPS
NORWOOD, Mass., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI -
news) today announced sales of $331 million for the first fiscal
quarter ended January 31, 1998, up 13% from the first fiscal quarter a
year ago and approximately flat to the fourth quarter of fiscal 1997.
Excluding the effects of an $8 million special G&A charge associated
with the company's GSM wireless handset business, described below, net
income was $50.4 million, 29% above that for the first quarter last
year, and diluted earnings per share were $0.29, up 26% from last
year's first quarter and flat to the immediately prior quarter. Taking
into account the special charge, net income was $44.3 million, 13%
above last year's first quarter, and diluted earnings per share were
$0.26, up 13% from the year-ago quarter.
''Our analog IC business, which accounted for approximately 75% of the
first quarter's total revenues, has continued to perform well during
the past four quarters,'' said Jerald G. Fishman, President and CEO.
''In the just-ended quarter, sales increased over 30% compared to last
year's first quarter, and operating profit before tax was
approximately 30% of sales. Furthermore, our first-quarter analog
revenues also increased 5% sequentially in a short production and
sales quarter.
''Our general-purpose DSP IC business continued to strengthen during
the first quarter,'' he said. ''Revenues from these products were up
well over 50% from the year-ago period. As a result, the combination
of general-purpose DSP and analog IC sales now make up a very
significant portion of our total revenues, and both of these product
areas have strong momentum.
''Our general-purpose DSPs are also used as the core for our DSP-based
system-level products, which integrate high-performance analog
technology with DSP capability, often on a single chip,''
Mr. Fishman noted. ''We believe this part of our business continues to
have excellent long-term prospects, but is currently being negatively
impacted by excess channel inventories, compounded by the recent
financial difficulties in Southeast Asia. This has resulted in an
erosion of revenues over the past few quarters from wireless handset
customers. As we closed the first quarter, we recorded a one-time
special charge of $8 million in G&A expense attributable to collection
difficulties we have experienced with a GSM customer whose business
and financing have been adversely affected by the Southeast Asia
economic situation, and other reserves to cover the increased risks
associated with accounts receivable from customers in Southeast Asia.
''Based on current information,'' Mr. Fishman continued, ''we believe
that the first quarter will turn out to be the low point for business
from wireless communications customers. We have strong product
offerings with committed customers, and an even stronger product and
technology road map going forward. We believe this will lead to a
resumption of the wireless communications business being a good source
of revenues and profits during the second half of fiscal 1998.
''Mixed-signal, DSP-based system-level products are becoming increasingly important to Analog Devices, as evidenced by our recent success with 3Com. Last week we received our first significant
production order from 3Com for our 56K-modem-on-a-chip that will be
used in their 56K modems, which will begin to ship in late March. Also
last week, we were informed by Electrolux, the world's largest
refrigerator compressor manufacturer, that ADI has been selected to
supply ICs used to control the speed of their AC-powered compressor
motors. The ability to automatically vary an AC motor's speed in
response to changing load requirements is a large market opportunity,
and ADI's mixed-signal, DSP-based solutions were selected over several
competing DSP-based solutions.''
In commenting on the first quarter's financial performance, Mr.
Fishman said, ''At 50.8% of sales, our gross margin ratio exceeded
that for both the first quarter last year and the fourth quarter,
reflecting a richer mix of analog ICs. SMG&A expenses, excluding the
$8 million special charge, declined as a percent of sales to a
record-low 14.4%, compared to 15.5% for the year- ago quarter and
15.2% for the fourth quarter. R&D expenses rose to 16.6% of sales,
exceeding our model ratio. Even so, our first-quarter operating margin
ratio, excluding the one-time charge, reached a record-high 19.8% of
sales.
''We currently believe that both our analog and DSP businesses will
continue to strengthen during the second quarter,'' said Mr. Fishman
in conclusion. ''We believe that this combination can produce a 5% to
7% sequential revenue increase in the second quarter, with good
operating leverage on our revenue gains. And we also believe that our
system-level IC business will again begin to contribute meaningfully
to top-line growth during the second half of fiscal 1998.''
Safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995: Forward-looking statements in this news release involve
risk and uncertainty. Important factors, including overall economic
conditions, demand for semiconductors generally, demand for the
Company's products, the occurrence of another inventory and lead-time
reduction cycle, raw material availability (especially raw silicon
wafers), availability of manufacturing capacity, technological and
product development risks, competitors' actions, further adverse
developments in Southeast Asia and other risk factors described in the
Company's most recent annual report on Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission could cause actual results to
differ materially.
With fiscal 1997 sales of $1.24 billion, Analog Devices is a leading
manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits used in
analog and digital signal processing applications.
Headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, the company employs
approximately 7,800 people worldwide and has manufacturing facilities
in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland(??), the Philippines and Taiwan.
Tuesday February 17, 4:04 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Analog Devices, Inc.
Analog Devices Introduces Pentium II Motherboard PC Life Guard ICs
Supports Intel's Wired For Management Initiative, Requirements For DMI
2.0 Hardware Monitors and VRM 8.2 Standards For Power Controllers.
Low Bill of Material Cost Structure Meets Needs Of Sub-$1000, Basic-PCs.
NORWOOD, Mass., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI -
news) announced the release of three Pentium II motherboard PC Life
Guard(TM) devices that support Intel's Wired for Management (WfM)
initiative, which recognizes the need for better-managed PC
systems. The ADM9240 is compliant with the Desktop Management
Interface (DMI) 2.0 specification for hardware monitors, and the
ADP3152 and ADP3153 power controllers meet VRM 8.2 specifications for
voltage regulation modules. All three devices, which will be shown at
this week's Intel Developer Forum in San Jose, are designed to lower
the bill of material costs to satisfy the needs of sub-$1000 PCs.
''The PC industry's constant drive to higher performance, smaller size
and reduced power consumption poses significant challenges for the
analog IC manufacturer,'' said Bulent Celebi, Vice President and
General Manager, Analog Devices, Inc. ''Intel's VRM 8.2 and Heceta II
specifications pushed the envelope in terms of power and linear
circuit integration and performance. As CPU speeds continue to
increase and operating voltages drop, Analog will continue to service
the increasingly tougher demands to meet PC system performance targets
for motherboard life guard devices.''
This year will see the industry's mass transition from Pentium-class
processors to sixth generation, Pentium II processors in all home and
office PC segments. Analog Devices' delivery of Pentium II companion
devices also supports mainstream price points in 1998.
ADM9240 Motherboard Monitor
The ADM9240, offering the most compact and cost-effective solution for
mainstream Pentium II systems in 1998, is an industry-leading Heceta
II ASIC implementation for Intel's Wired for Management initiative.
Optimized for operation on Intel's Pentium II motherboards, the device
provides all motherboard temperature, fan control and power supply
instrumentation specified in the DMI 2.0 specification for desktop PC
health monitoring and/or remote network diagnostics, including chassis
intrusion detection.
''Systems based on the Intel Pentium II processor and Wired for
Management baseline specification, and the Heceta ASIC, can add
additional manageability benefits, supporting the Intel and industry
effort to decrease total cost of ownership and make systems more
manageable,'' said Will Swope, Vice President, Business Desktop
Marketing, Intel Corporation [Nasdaq:INTC - news].
The single-chip monitoring device includes on-chip temperature
sensing, supply voltage attenuation and fan speed monitoring
circuitry, as well as analog/digital conversion for digitization and
reporting over the SMBus to the DMI Service Provider and/or SMBIOS.
On-chip resistive attenuators support direct voltage measurement, and
the 66% smaller footprint compared with LM 78 designs result in a
reduced motherboard cost. The shutdown mode and DAC for linear fan
speed control are ACPI-compliant, and the LM 78/79
backward-compatible register set ensures compatibility with
legacy applications. Available for immediate delivery, the ADM9240 is
priced at $2.45 in typical Pentium II OEM applications quantities.
Only the tekkies need to read below this banner<GGG>
ADP3152 and ADP3153 Synchronous Switching Regulator Controllers
The ADP3152 and ADP3153 are highly efficient, synchronous switching
regulator controllers which require half the traditional number of
output capacitors, saving cost and 50% of the footprint. Optimized for
Pentium II processor applications, 5 V input power is stepped down to
a digitally controlled output voltage between 1.8 V and 3.5 V to
provide power for the Pentium core processor. These devices are the
first switching regulators to include an integrated, on-chip
crowbar function to ensure over voltage protection of the Pentium II
processor, should the high-side FET of the switcher fail to short. Its
unique compensation scheme assures optimum load transient response.
The ADP3153 features a secondary on-chip LDO controller, which can be
used to provide power to the I/O buses on the motherboard. Both
devices meet all the power requirements of the Pentium II processor,
and their highly integrated, cost-effective designs include VRM
8.2-compliant voltage identification (VID) control and drivers which meet Intel's stringent line and load transient response
specifications.
The ADP3153 offers a clearly superior BOM cost structure for Pentium
II motherboard products. The device integrates special CPU overvoltage
protection and secondary LDO control circuitry, which yields
approximately 50% savings in board space and a higher quality, more
reliable solution.
In addition to meeting stringent VRM 8.2 transient response
specifications, the ADP3152 and ADP3153 offer approximately half the
footprint of discrete devices. The ADP3152 is housed in a
16-lead SOIC package and priced at $1.20 in typical Pentium II OEM
applications quantities.
For just 20 cents more, the ADP3153 is available in a 20-lead TSSOP
package. They have been designed into the motherboards of leading
manufacturers such as FIC, as well as major PC OEM systems.
PC Life Guard devices are optimized for operation on Pentium II
motherboards and support Intel's Wired for Management and Voltage
Regulation Module requirements. These integrated circuits
control power and cooling resources, monitor supply voltages and
temperature, offer remote diagnostic capabilities and enhance overall
system manageability.
With sales of $1.2 billion for fiscal 1997, Analog Devices is a
leading manufacturer of precision high-performance integrated circuits
used in analog and digital signal processing applications.
Headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts, the company employs
approximately 7,500 people worldwide and has manufacturing facilities
in Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Ireland, the Philippines
and Taiwan.
Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. PC Life Guard
is a trademark of Analog Devices, Inc.
READERS SHOULD CONTACT: Analog Devices, Inc., Ray Stata Technology
Center 804 Woburn Street, Wilmington, MA 01887, Tel: 781-937-1428,
Fax: 781-821-4273. |
