To: Lucretius who wrote (1709 ) 8/11/1998 1:18:00 PM From: Alex Greenland Respond to of 14427
Here is yet another negative for MU: RAMBUS INC (RMBS) 60 3/8 +6 1/16. Build it and they will come. This is pretty much the consensus among analysts and investors regarding Rambus' cutting-edge DRAM technology. In fact, the company was able to convince top technology names such as Intel, Dell and Compaq to adopt the technology well in advance of production. This morning the volatile shares of one of 1997's most successful initial public offerings (soaring 281% from May IPO to Dec.) being lifted by statement from South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co that it has completed development and is ready to begin mass producing the 64-megabit Rambus in-line memory module. Samsung, the world's largest maker of DRAM chips, forecasts that the chip will secure at least 50% of the global DRAM market. Based on the projection Samsung plans to expand monthly output to one million units by the middle of 1999. The news has shielded Rambus shares from the typhoon of fears that have battered global equity markets this morning. With Intel leading the charge to make Direct Rambus DRAM the market leader, there is little doubt that the technology will be a colossal success. The question that investors must ask themselves is if greatness is already priced into the stock. At 140 times projected 1999 earnings of $0.43 a share its hard to argue that it is not. However, Rambus bull Robert Chaplinsky would contend otherwise. The Hambrecht & Quist analyst is expecting RMBS shares to soar to $100 over the next several months. And, of the five analysts who follow the stock, all but one rate the issue a "buy." So, at the very least, Wall Street's elite are bullish on the stock's prospects. Of course, with Coca-Cola trading at almost 50 times 1998 EPS projections (with no earnings growth expected), the majority of analyst covering the stock still consider it a buy. It would appear that daytraders are not the only ones attempting to play the momentum game.