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Technology Stocks : Speedfam [SFAM] Lovers Unite ! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sparky65 who wrote (3218)	11/13/1998 7:04:00 PM
From: Jonathan Edwards	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3736

My guess is they downgraded it because it hit their forecast price (probably before the forecast date). But it's only a guess...

To: Sparky65 who wrote (3218)	11/13/1998 7:45:00 PM
From: Mort	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3736

Here is the bad news along with some words of encouragement PR Newswire - November 13, 1998 19:14 CHANDLER, Ariz., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- SpeedFam International, Inc. (Nasdaq: SFAM) today announced that it anticipates lower than expected total revenue, ranging from $19.5 million to $22 million, for the second fiscal quarter ending November 30, 1998. This compares with total revenue of $56.5 million for the same quarter a year earlier. The company attributed its revenue expectations for second-quarter fiscal 1999 to slower sales of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) systems in the semiconductor device market worldwide, as well as continued weakness in the thin film memory disk media and silicon wafer markets. As a result of its lower revenue expectations, SpeedFam anticipates a greater than expected net loss, ranging from $4.7 million to $5.0 million, or a loss of $0.25 to $0.29 per share. This compares with net earnings of $7.6 million, or $0.49 per share fully diluted, for the same quarter a year earlier. The company acknowledged that its expectations of second-quarter fiscal 1999 results are preliminary, subject to the closing of its books and the completion of customary quarterly closing procedures by company management and independent auditors. SpeedFam plans to announce its final results for the quarter on December 22, 1998. New CMP Orders from U.S. and Korea In separate news, SpeedFam announced that it has booked a total of $16.4 million in orders for its Auriga line of CMP systems -- some with hydrofluoric acid (HF) post-CMP cleaning capabilities -- from three major semiconductor manufacturers in the United States and Korea. Shipments for the first $6.4 million of these orders are expected to occur in November 1998. The remaining $10-million order from a Korean customer is in backlog and expected to be shipped by the end of the third quarter. "While we're disappointed with our second-quarter results, we're encouraged by the improvement of our CMP backlog and book-to-bill ratio," said Richard J. Faubert, president and chief executive officer of SpeedFam International. "The recent orders from the U.S. and Korea provide continued market validation of our CMP process technology and competitive strength."

To: Sparky65 who wrote (3218)	11/14/1998 10:13:00 AM
From: JZGalt	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3736

I can't find any reasons why you would not want ot own this stock. In this tight semiconductor equipment market, SFAM is apparently losing market share to IPEC and AMAT. IPEC is partnered up with NVLS and AMAT is the gorilla of the semi-equipment industry. SFAM's valuation stems from the preception that AMAT will dominate the CMP industry eventually as the industry trends toward one stop shopping of vendors. Although CMP is going to eventually be a dominant force in the making of semiconductor chips, it is less clear what SFAM's position in that industry will be once it happens. In any case, all accounts I read put this industry flat on it's back and on life support. The ample amount of cash SFAM holds is a plus for survival, but the stock is waaaay ahead of it's prospects in the next 6-12 months IMO.