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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (27671)	4/24/1998 10:54:00 AM
From: HB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Tom, I recently traded ESIO from 32 to 39, and have an order open to do it again should the opportunity arise. I agree it seems to be a great little company, with core technologies that should give it solid 5 year + growth prospects. I have been trading the semi equip stocks (except for SFAM) rather than buy-and-holding because I think there is likely to be one more huge buying opportunity this summer. So I haven't done extremely careful analysis (like a historical spreadsheet) on ESIO... just given a few of the SEC reports the once-over, plus I like the fact that Infrastructure considers it a buy. I think (you should check with him, though, my memory can be fuzzy) Zeev Hed likes it as well, although that doesn't mean he owns it. Balance sheet very clean (no LT debt, current ratio above 6, etc...). Book/fully diluted share $15.20, although only $3.42 of that is cash and securities ($5.72 are receivables, $4.82 inventories). P/E now in the high teens w/price in the high 30's, doesn't look too bad esp. on a drop to the low thirties. Analysts project 18% growth for fiscal 99 over 98 (year ends May). Ditto for 5 year growth, but I have a feeling this co. could be an upside surprise over the LT. I haven't done detailed analysis of statements over the last few years, and comparisons to last year would be complicated by the acquisition of Dynamotion. But as I say, I am worried about one more big semi equipment selloff, although the market really cares about '99 prospects here, and if it decides those look good for a rebound, this may be as low as you see for this sector for awhile. Another concern I have is a recent spate of insider sales filings... between 3/24 and 4/22, there have been 7 144's filed, involving 5 insiders, for a total of approx. 40,000 shares, (worth $1.5 million at today's quote). I see no previous 144's looking back to Feb 1995 (perhaps Edgar Online doesn't keep all filings, I don't know). Maybe the cluster around April 15 just means they needed the money to pay taxes, but who knows. Last quarter was a small negative earnings surprise, FWIW. These are probably minor timing worries about something likely to be an excellent medium-term investment. But there you are. I'd be interested in anything you have to share about the Co., its management, products, etc.. Cheers, HB