Okay early birds. Three hot items to munch on with your Wheaties.
1. WSMC - joint venture between Winbond in Taiwan and a Chinese Development Corporation will be building a wafer fab. They have given ASYT a multi million dollar order.
2. PLAB releases good financials and earnings that are up from last year.
3. INTC to break ground on a multi-billion dollar 300mm research fab in Hillsboro, OR to bring on board then into production of the 0.13u logic devices. Furthermore, they will be spending more capital dollars in 1998 than in 1997 by a significant percentage.
Stories will be posted as I convert them from FAX format to OCR readable format. I am positioning myself as we speak.
Andrew
Thursday February 19, 8:29 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Company - WSMC - Places
$6 Million Order With Asyst Technologies
Asyst Extends Dominance as Sole SMIF Provider in Taiwanese Foundry Market
FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 1998-- Asyst Technologies
Inc. (NASDAQ:ASYT - news), the leading supplier of minienvironment and
SMIF-based technology to the worldwide semiconductor industry, today
announced it has received a $6 million order from Worldwide
Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (WSMC) (Hsinchu, Taiwan).
The order, for multiple Asyst SMIF-LPT(TM) (Load Port Transfer)
systems and SMIF-Pods(TM), extends Asyst's dominance as the sole SMIF
provider in the Taiwanese foundry semiconductor market. Installation
of the Asyst-SMIF(TM) systems at the WSMC 8-inch foundry fab is
scheduled to begin in April 1998.
The newest customer for Asyst, WSMC is a newly formed joint venture
between Winbond Electronics (Hsinchu, Taiwan) and the Chinese
Development Corp. The WSMC facility is slated to produce various
integrated circuits (ICs) with 0.25-micron design rules, including
memories, microprocessors and communication ICs.
According to Asyst, WSMC turned to Asyst's LPTs and Pods to achieve
the better-than-Class 1 processing environments necessary to reach the
facility's production goal of over 30,000 wafers per month with
maximized yields.
Kenneth Leung, Asyst's vice president of Asia-Pacific sales,
commented, ''We are established in Taiwan as the low-risk
SMIF solution. WSMC chose us because we have the breadth of experience
to help WSMC ramp-up quickly to meet their production goals.''
Commenting on Asyst's position within the Taiwanese foundry market,
Terry Moshier, Asyst's president and chief operating officer, said,
''Taiwan's semiconductor foundry industry serves the global market
with a broad mix of microprocessors, logic ICs and DRAMs.
''The product demands and SMIF requirements for these Taiwan fabs
continue to provide stable growth for Asyst. We are well positioned to
meet capacity expansions and provide fab upgrades required for this
highly competitive region.''
The Asyst LPT resolves the robotics-transfer (I/O) challenges specific
to vacuum loadlock equipment and cluster tools while improving
manufacturing ergonomics and reducing cycle times by as much as 60
percent. The LPT meets all SEMI standards and guidelines and
integrates SMIF-Pod cassette loading and unloading into a wide variety
of 6- and 8-inch wafer processing tools.
Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press
release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number
of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are
not limited to, general economic conditions, semiconductor industry
cycles, risks associated with the acceptance of new products and
product capabilities, and other factors more fully detailed in the
Company's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, and annual report to
shareholders.
About Asyst
Asyst Technologies Inc. is a leading provider of material handling
systems that help semiconductor manufacturers improve
their integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing productivity. The
company's Asyst-SMIF(TM) System combines state-of-the-art
minienvironments with advanced robotics to create ultraclean
processing environments that are both comprehensive and flexible.
The SMART-Traveler(TM) System (STS) works in tandem with SMIF to
eliminate misprocessing. Both Asyst-SMIF and its companion STS
products are integral to seamless factory automation. Asyst Software,
Inc. is dedicated to the development of software products for
equipment communications and automated material handling,
identification and tracking.
Founded in 1984, Asyst Technologies Inc. is headquartered in Fremont,
Calif., with facilities in Europe and the Far East. Asyst Software is
located in San Jose, Calif. Asyst's home page on the World Wide Web is
located at asyst.com
About SMIF
SMIF stands for Standard Mechanical InterFace, the material handling
approach that enables wafer transfer to and from sealed SMIF
environments without exposure to cleanroom ambient conditions. SEMI
standards exist for 150, 200 and 300 mm wafer sizes.
**************
Wednesday February 18, 7:33 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Photronics Reports First Quarter Results
Sales Grow 27% and Earnings Increase 17% Over Prior Year
JUPITER, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 1998--Photronics Inc.
(Nasdaq:PLAB - news), the world's leading photomask supplier, today reported first quarter 1998 sales and earnings results for the period ended Feb. 1, 1998.
Sales for the quarter were $50.9 million, up 27.2%, compared to $40.0 million for the first quarter in 1997. Net income of $6.3 million, represented an increase of 16.8% compared to the prior year's $5.3 million. Basic earnings per share amounted to $0.26 in the first quarter of 1998, compared with $0.22 in the prior year's first
quarter, and diluted earnings per share amounted to $0.25 in the
current year's quarter, compared with $0.22 in the first quarter of
1997. The weighted average number of basic common shares outstanding
were 24.3 million and 23.7 million for the periods, ended Feb. 1,
1998, and Feb. 2, 1997 respectively, and the weighted average number
of shares for determining diluted earnings per share amounted to 29.0
million and 24.7 million for the respective 1998 and 1997 periods.
Michael J. Yomazzo, president and chief executive officer stated,
''Results for the quarter showed solid year-over-year growth.
Sequentially, they reflect the effect of year-end holiday
interruptions in design activity, which we typically experience in our
first quarter. As is also typical, design activity gained momentum as
the quarter drew to an end, with semiconductor manufacturers beginning
to roll out new devices, many of which incorporate the deep sub-micron
process capabilities installed in wafer fabs and foundries across the
globe.''
''During the quarter, we completed the acquisition of Motorola's
captive photomask operations in Mesa, Arizona. The addition of this
operation with its well trained work force and high-end tool set
further strengthen our organization. Photomasks are a critical
enabling technology for semiconductor production and Mesa complements
Photronics' strategic plan for delivering the technology and capacity
to meet this demand,'' noted Yomazzo.
''Grand opening ceremonies were held in Austin, Texas earlier this
month showcasing our newest facility's state-of-the-art infrastructure
and leading-edge photomask manufacturing technology. Austin serves as
the beta test site for the ALTA 3500, the most advanced laser
lithography system in the world. Manufactured by Etec Systems, the
ALTA 3500's high throughput and 0.25 micron production capability will
help us meet the stringent photomask technology requirements
semiconductor manufacturers demand. Photronics is the only photomask
manufacturer in the world to have installed this leading-edge system.
Complementing the ALTA 3500 is the ALTA 3000 laser lithography system,
a tool that has proven itself in supporting 0.35 micron technologies.
Meanwhile, in our Allen site, we are in the process of installing
the UltraBeam V2000, the new vector scan electron beam lithography
tool manufactured by Ultratech Stepper. This is the first UltraBeam
system, shipped by the company and we believe it will add an important
new dimension to our high-end capability,'' added Yomazzo.
Internationally, Yomazzo commented that Photronics made further
strides in penetrating Asian and European markets, ''Singapore
continued to perform at a very high level, while customer
qualification being conducted in our new United Kingdom facility are
progressing at a rapid pace. We look forward to an increasingly higher
level of business from Europe and Asia.''
In conclusion, Yomazzo said, ''Our intense focus on customer service, together with our global capital investment program puts us in an excellent position for another year of increased market share as
demand for photomask technology accelerates and will allow us to
capitalize on the many exciting opportunities we see to expand our
business in the years ahead.''
Photronics is a leading worldwide manufacturer of photomasks.
Photomasks are high precision quartz plates that contain microscopic
images of electronic circuits. A key element in the manufacture of
semiconductors, photomasks are used to transfer circuit patterns onto
semiconductor wafers during the fabrication of integrated circuits.
They are produced in accordance with circuit designs provided by
customers at twelve strategically located manufacturing facilities in
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, Germany, Korea,
Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Additional
information on the Company can be accessed at www.photronics.com.
I love it when a plan comes together!!!!! This is reality and now let's hope it translates into favorable market pricing. |
