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Technology Stocks : Electro Scientific??? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: vinh pham who wrote (496)	11/30/1998 2:40:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 723

Vinh, I have neglected to own these kinds of stocks and continue to feel I've missed the buy point, and they continue to go up, but I still feel they are at very high levels. Some how, I feel we will see a crash soon, but no data to back it up. I think these stocks must get hurt, but who knows. Getting back to ESI, I also asked around at SEMICON West about what vision companies were using and there were a lot of providers as well as many in house developed systems. Didn't make me feel that vision was all that strong of a market for ESI, but I didn't really pursued it. Seems like ever since they bought AISI, the share price has been going down. Not that market news, etc haven't helped, but I remember watching them tumble a bit on KLIC's bad news and we discussed how small a percentage of sales this unit was. Anyway, ESI continues to put out a stream of product sales announcements which seems to at least support our position. Are you getting the feeling the market for semi equipment is bottoming? Regards, Mark

To: vinh pham who wrote (496)	12/3/1998 2:46:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 723

Vinh, just woke up and see you all have been busy buying ESI. Looks like their announcement of the first 300mm system could be the cause? Sure did blow it selling those options, but should have followed through buying new calls with a higher strike. That would have been wise, in hind sight. Regards, Mark ESI Ships 300mm Memory Repair System to Siemens/Motorola PR Newswire - December 02, 1998 09:31 PORTLAND, Ore. Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESIO) announced today the first shipment of the Model 9800, a memory repair system designed for next generation 300mm silicon wafers. The system will be installed at a new DRAM fabrication facility in Dresden, Germany as part of a joint venture between Siemens and Motorola. "We made our decision based on ESI's reputation for technology leadership and their willingness to partner with us early in the process," said Sabine Nitzsche, Siemens Corporate Purchasing Manager, Equipment. "ESI is supplying us with the capability to work at the sub .25 micron level in our 300mm pilot line." The Model 9800 features the smallest spot size available -- an important requirement to effectively process the increasingly smaller circuit geometries on silicon wafers. The Model 9800 also offers a smaller footprint than earlier ESI Memory Repair Systems, and a faster throughput rate. The all-new modular design will allow manufacturers the flexibility to upgrade the system as new capabilities are required to meet future process requirements. About Siemens Siemens' Semiconductor Group is a leading worldwide provider of integrated circuits, memory products, RF components and discrete and power semiconductors, sensors and fiber optic components. The comprehensive product line of Siemens Semiconductors serves a wide range of customers active in telecommunications, automotive and consumer electronics, data processing and automation. Siemens is the market leader for Chipcard ICs. In fiscal 1997/98, Siemens Semiconductors achieved sales of $3.8 billion (DM 6.7 billion) and employed 25,000 people worldwide. The group plans to go public during the year 2000. Further information: siemens.com ESI Announces the Introduction of Its 300mm Semiconductor Yield Improvement System PR Newswire - December 02, 1998 09:29 PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESIO) today introduced the Model 9800, a semiconductor yield improvement system designed for next-generation production of semiconductor products including DRAM, SRAM and logic with an embedded memory structure. The Model 9800 offers enabling technology for 300mm wafer production as well as miniaturization of die on 200mm wafers. ESI's Model 9800 Memory Yield Improvement System is designed to provide customers with processing capability to stay ahead of the industry technology roadmap. The modular platform offers flexibility to accommodate the different requirements for evolving link structures and wafer sizes -- and offers manufacturers maximum flexibility to upgrade, as new capabilities are required. ESI has pioneered advances in the design and manufacture of high quality laser optics to achieve the smallest spot size with the Model 9800 for any wavelength laser available. With smaller spot sizes and improved positioning accuracy, customers can produce more die per wafer to significantly lower manufacturing costs. The Model 9800 initially features ESI's patented application of 1.3 micron laser technology. The combination of 1.3 micron laser and the 9800's high accuracy positioning system offers memory manufacturers a much wider process window and higher repair yields than systems using conventional 1.0 micron laser technology. Throughput of the Model 9800 has been improved over previous models by, not only focusing on faster link processing, but by reducing the overall wafer handling time. Faster link processing is achieved through faster control computer processing speeds to access higher laser rep rates and through new generation software. Together with the largest, most experienced support team available, the Model 9800 provides enabling technology required to keep pace with customer requirements. About ESI ESI, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, designs and manufactures sophisticated products used around the world in electronics manufacturing including: laser manufacturing systems for semiconductor yield improvement; production and test equipment for the manufacture of surface mount ceramic capacitors; laser trim systems for precise electrical tuning of circuits; precision laser and mechanical drilling systems for electronic interconnect; and machine vision systems. Electro Scientific Industries is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol, "ESIO." ESI's web site is esi.com. SOURCE Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. /CONTACT: Joe Reinhart, investor relations, 503-671-5500, or Kimberly McAlear, press relations, 503-671-5233, both of Electro Scientific Industries/ /Web site: esio.com

To: vinh pham who wrote (496)	12/14/1998 5:33:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 723

I just ran across this site that does a pooling of information for a stock symbol. It shows that there was a recent analyst upgrade on ESI which I had missed and some inside buying. Perhaps what also surprises me is there's a short position. Seems like the volume would make shorting really risky, but why not. Hope the link works. companysleuth.com Regards, Mark

To: vinh pham who wrote (496)	12/16/1998 3:30:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 723

I was just reading this article in EE News about NEC's taking a leadership role in DRAM and how they've just brought out a 256K chip. So, naturally being a keen ESI fan I wanted to know when they last purchased a product and it was in a 10/30 press release (see details below). Glad to see ESI is enabling bleeding edge technology. There's a trade show in Japan next month. Think it will produce any interesting stories? ESI will have all their products on display. Regards, Mark From the Semiconductor pages of Electronic News: December 14, 1998 Issue NEC's Next-Gen Memory Line-Up Santa Clara--NEC Electronics is positioning itself to become a leader in a variety of dynamic RAM (DRAM) memories for the next generation of personal computers, servers and workstations. The Japanese company already has under development double data rate (DDR) DRAM modules, direct Rambus DRAM (D-RDRAM) modules, and its own proprietary high performance next generation memory virtual channel memory (VCM) DRAM. Now, the company has rolled out a 256-megabit SDRAM that it claims can hold more than four times the data than current market standard 64-megabit DRAM. NEC is targeting the 256M SDRAM at workstation and server applications where the work intensive applications are heavy. The SDRAM is said to eliminate the need to stack devices or have dual motherboard offerings that have been required to get the same density in today's computers. The 256M part is able to do this by using standard 168-pin DIMM modules with 512MB (18 chips per module) of capacity. NEC's VCM DRAM is said to be able to compete for the sub-$1,000 sockets of the PC market by driving down the cost of manufacturing while enabling a high performance. DDR SDRAM is being targeted at workstations, servers and mainstream PCs. D-RDRAM is, of course, slated to be the next generation used in most mainstream PCs with its high bandwidth and high performance capabilities. The 256M SDRAM is fabricated in a 0.20-micron process and offers a CAS latency of 3 at a clock frequency of 133MHz and a latency of 2 at 100MHz. This gives it a good shot at becoming an alternative for the workstation and server markets due to this low latency, NEC is hoping. NEC is sampling the 256M SDRAMs with mass production slated to begin in April of 1999 priced at $250 in 100,000-unit quantities. The SDRAM is pin compatible with NEC's 64M and 128M DRAM devices and includes a single address pin to provide users with interchangeability for a 2 to 4 factor increase in memory capacity. Having a variety of options as new memory technologies become in demand will allow NEC to have a stake in whatever memory becomes the most popular or ends up being the best for each individual market. As with most Japanese companies, NEC is not throwing all of its future memory revenues in one DRAM basket but looking more to multiple memories that can be used for cross platform applications. In other high performance DRAM news, Philips Semiconductors will today introduce three DDR SDRAM support chips designed to help memory makers to reach the performance that is being required by PC OEMs and higher speed core microprocessors. Philips said it also working on memory support circuits for both VCM and D-RDRAM modules as well in the near future and already offers DIMM vendors memory interfaces for PC-100 and PC-133 SDRAMs. The first DDR circuits are expect to begin shipping in late 1Q99. From the ESI website ESI Announces a $3.7 Million Order from Hua Hong NEC Electronics for Memory Yield Improvement Systems News Release Menu o Portland, Oregon (October 30, 1998) -- Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: ESIO) today announced a $3.7 million order from Hua Hong NEC Electronics Company Ltd. of Shanghai for ESI's Model 9275 Memory Yield Improvement Systems. Hua Hong NEC is a joint venture between Hua Hong Electronics of Shanghai, China and NEC Electronics of Tokyo, Japan. The systems will be shipped over the next twelve months to HH NEC's new facility in Shanghai, China, with the first two units shipping in November. The 9275's will be used by HH NEC to produce 64mb DRAM products. This order demonstrates the value of the 9275 system in production of advanced generation poly-silicon link structures in memory products. "HH NEC's selection of ESI to supply memory yield improvement systems continues NEC's long standing relationship with ESI around the world," said Takeyama Hirohiko, Purchasing Department Planning Manager for NEC. "In establishing the new Shanghai fab we sought out the best-in-class production tools for current and future production needs and, over the years ESI has demonstrated the ability to offer both the most productive and innovative solutions for memory repair." ESI's Model 9275 specifically addresses the need to increase yields on 200mm wafers. It provides the smallest spot size and positioning accuracy available to repair increasingly smaller memory devices and a laser pulse rate up to 15% faster than previous models. o About ESI o ESI, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, designs and manufactures sophisticated products used around the world in electronics manufacturing including: laser manufacturing systems for semiconductor yield improvement; production and test equipment for the manufacture of surface mount ceramic capacitors; laser trim systems for precise electrical tuning of circuits; precision laser and mechanical drilling systems for electronic interconnect; and machine vision systems. Electro Scientific Industries is traded on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol, "ESIO." ESI's web site is esi.com. o For more information, contact: o Kimberly McAlear Director of Corporate Communications

To: vinh pham who wrote (496)	12/17/1998 4:44:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 723

Someone came in in the last half hour and made 3 big purchases driving the price up nearly $2 in a couple minutes. Looks like they bought about 15000 shares a go. ESI Announces Second Quarter Sales and Earnings PR Newswire, Thursday, December 17, 1998 at 16:25 PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESIO) announced sales and earnings for the second quarter, ended November 30, 1998. Sales were $45.4 million with earnings of $1.8 million or $0.16 per diluted share compared to prior quarter sales of $45.2 million and earnings of $1.2 million or $0.11 per diluted share. This compares to sales of $59.9 million and earnings of $8.0 million or $0.70 per diluted share for the second quarter of fiscal 1998. "Like many in our industry we are seeing signs of increasing investment by our customers in production equipment with a continued focus on capability and near term value," said Donald R. VanLuvanee, ESI's Chief Executive Officer and President. VanLuvanee continues, "In addition, we are seeing production quantity purchases of our small hole drilling equipment, most notably in our laser based tools -- revenue in this business is up 27% year-to-date over last year." Backlog on November 30, 1998 was $16 million versus $13 million on August 31, 1998. Statements in this press release may include forward looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ, either better or worse, from those discussed. Such risks and uncertainties are numerous and are identified in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and interim reports on Form 10-Q. About ESI ESI, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, designs and manufactures sophisticated products used around the world in electronics manufacturing including: laser manufacturing systems for semiconductor yield improvement; production and test equipment for the manufacture of surface mount ceramic capacitors; laser trim systems for precise electrical tuning of circuits; precision laser and mechanical drilling systems for electronic interconnection; and machine vision systems. Electro Scientific Industries is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol, "ESIO." ESI's web site is esi.com.