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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: akidron who wrote (23419)	8/27/1998 11:27:00 AM
From: John L.	Respond to of 70976

NVLS has been expanding to move there Varian aquistion to there headquarters in North San Jose. SVGI had started to build also, all the players were ready and willing to expand when 300mm seemed to be moving along. Everybody is now on hold until profits return, nobody needs more space when they are reducing staff.

To: akidron who wrote (23419)	8/27/1998 12:10:00 PM
From: Duker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

Akidron, <<The legend is AMAT has cash, thus AMAT is strong, but is that the reality[?]>> As of 7/26/98 AMAT had $1.6Bn in C&E. I would say that is the stuff of legends in this industry. Hmmm. <<AMAT has committed a huge portion of available resources to a fixed cost expansion, and is now clipping away at variable costs to achieve balance.>> First, <<commited a huge portion of available resources to fixed cost expansion...>> Maybe I am completely off on the budgeting process in general...but with all of the companies I know, budgets are fluid. If the environment deteriorates, you cut capital spending and expansion if your forecasts of the market dictate it (hopefully, 3-5 year forecasts). Come to think of it...Isn't that what the Taiwanese did this summer? And INTC? And the Korean DRAM guys? As for cutting <<precious people>>: Yeah, it kinda sucks to fire people. But, whether you are in commercial RE, banking,or advertising, when your industry goes into recession, you should reduce your headcount ... if your view of the environment is bleak enough. In terms of <<assets will have to be mothballed ... $250 million [?]>>: So what. Impairment of assets. By in large, non-cash charges (some closing expenses related to leases...always a bit funky when done at the trough because it distorts returns when times get better ... but everyone does it, so, what the hell). Do you envision AMAT drawing down cash by $250mm??? I like NVLS also. But, have you seem AMAT Austin? Not a terrible facility. Not on par with NVLS ... but getting much closer. ...and as far as the earliest restructurer(?) and most "lean" front-end company...NVLS is good, but LRCX is 2+Q's ahead in terms of real restructuring [necessitated by the complete absence of backlog, mind you]. Not to imply that LRCX is "better" than NVLS. Yes. NVLS has a very neat business model. But in terms of financial strength, AMAT is an order of magnitude more capable of weathering any storm...Which is not to say that this will always be the case...technology changes... I understand that you are a bear. That is fine. The above is simply my opinion blended with some facts to give it a bit of credence. --Duker