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

To: Stitch who wrote (2593)	2/26/1998 11:36:00 PM
From: dlc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Here's the full text of the HTCH press release. Looks like they are going to take a bath for a few more quarters. Obviously TSA isn't catching on anything like they thought it would. The stock might deserve to get cut in half, but in the current market euphoria it seems unlikely. Waiting for them to turn the corner, might be a long wait. Hutchinson Technology at 56 Per Share Net Loss Through First Eight Weeks of Fiscal Second Quarter HUTCHINSON, Minn., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Hutchinson Technology Incorporated (Nasdaq: HTCH) said today that through the first eight weeks of its fiscal 1998 second quarter it has recorded a net loss of $.56 per share basic and diluted on net sales of $52 million. The company's second quarter is the thirteen-week period ending March 29, 1998. Hutchinson Technology expects to report its results for the second quarter on April 21, 1998. Wayne M. Fortun, Hutchinson Technology's president and chief executive officer, said that shipments of the company's suspension assemblies have remained below prior quarter levels as a result of continued weak demand. He attributed the weak demand for its conventional suspension assemblies to inventory reduction efforts among the major disk drive manufacturers. For the first eight weeks of the second quarter of 1998, the company shipped a total of 64 million suspensions compared to a total of 135 million for the entire fiscal 1998 first quarter. Fortun said the company continues to invest in expanding its capacity to produce TSA suspension assemblies, which the company expects will account for half or more of its output in fiscal 1999. For the first eight weeks of the second quarter of fiscal 1998, the company shipped 7 million TSA suspensions compared to 7 million for the entire first quarter of 1998. For the fiscal 1998 first quarter, Hutchinson Technology reported a net loss of $11.5 million, or $.58 per share diluted, on net sales of $89 million. For the fiscal 1997 second quarter, the company reported net income of $16.7 million, or $.91 per share diluted, on net sales of $124 million. Hutchinson Technology at 56 Per Share Net Loss Through First Eight Weeks of Fiscal Second Quarter HUTCHINSON, Minn., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Hutchinson Technology Incorporated (Nasdaq: HTCH) said today that through the first eight weeks of its fiscal 1998 second quarter it has recorded a net loss of $.56 per share basic and diluted on net sales of $52 million. The company's second quarter is the thirteen-week period ending March 29, 1998. Hutchinson Technology expects to report its results for the second quarter on April 21, 1998. Wayne M. Fortun, Hutchinson Technology's president and chief executive officer, said that shipments of the company's suspension assemblies have remained below prior quarter levels as a result of continued weak demand. He attributed the weak demand for its conventional suspension assemblies to inventory reduction efforts among the major disk drive manufacturers. For the first eight weeks of the second quarter of 1998, the company shipped a total of 64 million suspensions compared to a total of 135 million for the entire fiscal 1998 first quarter. Fortun said the company continues to invest in expanding its capacity to produce TSA suspension assemblies, which the company expects will account for half or more of its output in fiscal 1999. For the first eight weeks of the second quarter of fiscal 1998, the company shipped 7 million TSA suspensions compared to 7 million for the entire first quarter of 1998. For the fiscal 1998 first quarter, Hutchinson Technology reported a net loss of $11.5 million, or $.58 per share diluted, on net sales of $89 million. For the fiscal 1997 second quarter, the company reported net income of $16.7 million, or $.91 per share diluted, on net sales of $124 million.

To: Stitch who wrote (2593)	2/27/1998 8:12:00 AM
From: T Bowl	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9256

Some interesting info can be derived from the HTCH PR last night.. I think, maybe, but someone needs to find my mistake... 1) They said they shipped 7mil TSA susps last Q. Last Q they reported TSA rev was 17% of the total = $15.1mil. That makes the ASP = $2.16. 2) Last Q they reported TSA drag was around $0.50EPS = ~$10mil So, from that we can estimate TSA ACP = $2.16+(0.5020mil shares)/7mil units) = $3.56!!!! I've heard similar #s out there, but what really bothers me is that They were quoting $1 to $2 in the CC for production costs Something just doesn't add up... Can anyone figure it out? My guess is that there are some big fixed costs involved and they are quoting the ACP of the last few units??? 3) Using the above #s for TSA, that makes ASP for conventional susps $0.58 last Q. Using all those #s yields $78mil rev for the Q and a loss of about $0.90. That is calculating using SG&A, R&D, fixed costs etc. If I take the simpler approach and scale $0.5613/8 equals a loss of $0.91. So my guess is that it's close. 4) Customers last Q were: - SAE 27%, RDRT 19%, SEG 17%, IBM 13%, Yamaha 12%. HTCH is selling 30% fewer susps this Q. Who's gonna preannounce next??? Remember, you sell a head with every susp and I think you can go further and say an HSA isn't much good without media.. Maybe this is all factored into the indy forecasts? 5) Overall this looks bleak for the Indys, not great but not as bad for the makers? At least maybe the inventories will drop finally... todd