*AV*--Revenue decline from one quarter to the next but still an improvement from a year ago.
The company expects third quarter sales to be about four to seven percent higher than the prior third quarter sales of $53.1 million, but below expectations and about seven to 10 percent lower than the second quarter sales of $61.3 million.
I do not see them losing marketshare but rather suffering from a lack of new desins coming out of the IC manufacturers.
Photronics cited slower orders by semiconductor manufacturers.
Also, after the close of the market, we get the following news release.
Thursday July 9, 4:06 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Photronics Supports Cypress Semiconductor's First 0.25 Micron Technology Product
Photronics' Deep Sub-Micron Expertise Underscores the Value-Added Importance of Advanced Reticle Technology
MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 1998-- Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - news), the world's leading and fastest growing hotomask supplier, announced today that the Company provided Cypress
semiconductor (NYSE:CY - news), an international supplier of
high-performance integrated circuits, with the advanced reticle
technology and support for the production of their first 0.25 micron
technology product.
The critical 4x deep ultra-violet photomask levels included the use of
aggressive optical proximity correction (OPC) features and were
produced using the MEBES 4500 electron beam lithography system and
Photronics' proprietary high resolution UltraRes(tm) process. Devices
were initially produced in Cypress Semiconductor's Technology Center
last October in San Jose, California and then in their Fab 4 in
Minnesota in February.
John Hambidge, Photronics' Executive Vice President of Worldwide
Operations commented, ''As Cypress' primary photomask supplier, we
recognize the strategic importance of being able to provide them with
the advanced reticle technology they required and have invested
aggressively to do so. The high-end capabilities we continue to bring
to the global semiconductor industry will be instrumental in enabling
companies such as Cypress to retain a competitive advantage in the
wafer fabrication technology used to manufacture next generation
products. Combining our technological expertise with that of Cypress
proved essential in meeting the challenge of fabricating these
products.''
Reticle, process and design engineers from Cypress Semiconductor worked closely with their counterparts at Photronics to reduce
photomask production cycle time and to improve the device's
performance. Doug VanDenBroeke, Director of Research & Development for
Photronics noted, ''Tightly controlled critical dimensions (CD) and
the use of aggressive OPC features helped achieve the desired
performance from these products. Our strategy and program of Design
for Manufacturability(tm) was critical in modifying the application of
OPC's to their device data, which lead to cycle time reduction and
facilitated reticle inspection. The successful application of our
proprietary high resolution UltraRes(tm) process and strong working
relationship with Cypress Semiconductor's design team lead to
significant yield improvements on the wafer.''
Tony Alvarez, Sr. Vice President of Research & Development of Cypress
Semiconductor added: ''We are aggressively driving 0.25 micron
process capability for our next generation products, thereby bringing
greater value to our customers. Photronics' advanced reticle
technology and production support proved instrumental in the rollout
of our new process.''
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 strategically located manufacturing facilities in
Arizona, California, Connecticut, Texas, Germany, Korea, Singapore,
Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Additional information on the Company can be accessed at www.photronics.com.
============
The lack of new designs from the IC Design organizations is not a real good sign for filling up IC fabs with new products. This could have a trickle down effect with equipment purchases in the short to mid run.
However, the lack of new designs and re-designs or "shrinks" means a great deal of belt tightening is going on at the IC companies. This is another form of over-reaction in the industry. what all this means is that a floodgate situation will be coming down the road. It is almost as much a guarantee as having to pay Income Taxes in 1999.<GGG>
A wait and see approach will pay off here just like it is now doing for MIPS.
If nothing else, following the input of Doug, we have a $17 entry and the makings of a good daytrade, if nothing else. I will not be daytrading PLAB but do have a $21 GTC sell on the stock right now. I will adjust this upwards just like I adjusted the downward entry price for MIPS.
Speaking of MIPS, I want to make it perfectly clear, I am washing my hands on this stock. I pointed out this stock with enough time for people to do their own DD or ask questions and announced my entry day and prices. As a matter of fact, others have admitted to following my lead. So, at $13.25 per share, everyone is now left to their own greed factor since we have now passed beyond the 30% profit point.
Unlike some of the on line forum that claim 100-300% profits that can be made on their picks or top prospects that never communicate an exit point, I am putting everyone on notice that we are at a respectable exit point.
Can MIPS go higher??? Most certainly. I do not want anyone to think MIPS has run out of steam. Instead, I just want to alert everyone about considering taking profits as they were presented this week. A 30% gain for the week is well worth protecting in these uncertain times and is nothing to be ashamed of. I would rather be scolded for a premature exit from the stock than to play the roller coaster where you are back to where you started from.
Now, for what it is worth, I have not solde off the MIPS position yet. That is my personal choice and my personal greed factor. I am looking for a good run, much like ARMHY experienced. Due to the amount of shares I purchased, I am actually 2K shares above my ideal share position. Therefore, I do have a GTC sell order for 2K shares at $16 to bring the investment down to the desired share level.
BTW-Congrats to the others amongst our community that are too bashful to admit they took the plunge and are happy they did. I did receive a few private emails thanking me.
BTW2-Also, I do like to give credit when it is due. Beautiful call this morning alerting everyone to PLAB by Doug. His quick message could have allowed soem people to get into this stock as low $16.875 if immediate action occurred.
BTW3-Good questions were also posted on PLAB which hopefully were addressed in this reply. Also, it doesn't hurt to see the post market close news release.
Andrew |
