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Technology Stocks : Ultratech Stepper -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Murphy who wrote (2840)	10/30/1998 2:04:00 PM
From: Tom Murphy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3696

Justa...AND....I don't think the outlook has changed much since this news release, except revenues dropped significantly and gross margin all but disappeared. Ultratech Stepper to Cut Workforce, Require Days Off (Update2) (Updates with closing share price in last paragraph.) San Jose, California, Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Ultratech Stepper Inc., which makes equipment used to manufacture semiconductors and disk-drive components, fired 120 employees, or about 20 percent of its workforce, amid an industrywide slowdown caused by Asia's economic problems and lower demand. The San Jose, California-based company also will require workers to take two days off a month throughout the rest of the year. Ultratech made the cutbacks after Applied Materials Inc., the No. 1 maker of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment, on Wednesday cut 2,000 jobs, or 15 percent of its workforce. ''We have been through quite a lot -- Taiwan fell apart, (South) Korea fell apart and Japan fell apart,'' said Robert Maire, an analyst at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. In addition, ''there is an excess of semiconductor capacity and demand is slow,'' he said. Semiconductor-equipment companies have let go about 20 percent to 25 percent of their employees over the last six to nine months in response to the market changes, Maire said. Asia's troubles are felt in particular by the semiconductor industry because so many chipmakers are located in the region. ''There is less ability for customers to pay for the equipment,'' Maire said. Third-Quarter Charge Ultratech will incur a third-quarter charge related to the job cuts. In 1999, the company will evaluate the policy of employees taking two days off on a quarter-by-quarter basis. Ultratech posted a second-quarter loss of $15.4 million, or 74 cents a diluted share, including a one-time charge, compared with earnings of $5.7 million, or 27 cents, in the year-earlier period. Its sales fell to $22.4 million from $38.1 million. The company makes photolithography equipment for the manufacture of chips, and thin-film heads for computer disk drives. -