CUBE mentioned in WSJ special issue on semiconductors...........
Special Semiconductor Edition of The Wall Street Transcript
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1998--Leading analysts examine the Semiconductor industry in the just-published Annual Semiconductor edition of The Wall Street Transcript, a vital review for investors and companies.
1) An in-depth roundtable forum featuring four distinguished analysts: Charles F. Boucher of Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette, Jonathan Joseph of NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, Daniel T. Meyers of Lehmen Brothers, and Bruce Walicek of BT. Alex. Brown. The panel discusses sector demand drivers, specialized logic and mixed-signal technology, commoditization, pricing trends, M&A activity in the sector, and debates the role of Asia after the crisis. Joseph states, "Japan continues to shrink as both a manufacturer and a consumer of electronics while Taiwan is in ascendancy. Korea seems to be on hold, and new prospects probably will develop in China." While Meyers says, "In Japan, Taiwan, and Korea, it's not a positive outlook for consumption. I would say that China is the only bright spot in Asia right now. Unfortunately, I don't think it's big enough to have a major impact. We think there's a lot of upside in consumption, given where the conditions of those economies are right now, but we don't see any catalyst to get it started."
Companies are approaching capacity issues differently as they strive to balance supply and demand. Boucher asserts, "A few months ago, Siemens (Nasdaq:SMAWY) shut down an 18-month-old DRAM fab that it had built in England. A number of the Japanese companies have announced closures of some of their older factories. Consolidation is also occurring." But Walicek states, "While we have seen some fairly dramatic capacity reductions, like the Siemens plant, I do think there is more capacity that can be turned back on that will need to worked through. We're getting some reports that Korean suppliers that had reduced their DRAM output earlier this year are beginning to turn that capacity back on. Also, we're hearing that the Phase-II Austin plant of Samsung is being restarted."
Other topics addressed by this illustrious panel: industry consolidation, Asian lack of access to capital, outdated capacities, investment approaches, the IPO outlook, public and private acquisitions, and investor concerns; including high p/e ratios, and predictions about the timing of a turnaround in the sector.
The panel offers several investment recommendations, including: Vitesse (Nasdaq: VTSS), Sipex Corporation (Nasdaq: SIPX), Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), and Level One Communications (Nasdaq: LEVL), about which Walicek states, "They are a leader in the fast ethernet market, and they are well positioned in the gigabyte ethernet space as that standard emerges in 1999."
2) An "Off-the-Record" survey of analysts and industry experts, who praise and/or criticize 21 Semiconductor companies and managements, includes several recommendations and a few admonishments. Accolades for Donald VanLuvanee of Electro Scientific Industries (Nasdaq: ESIO) as "both a good day-to-day manager of the business, as well as a visionary who has a long-term game plan."
Acclaim for Craig Barrett, the new CEO at Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) as his leadership is called "top notch" and an industry insider proclaims, "Net/net, you've got to give him the top marks."
But, another semiconductor company's CEO fares poorly with experts who say he "takes the big turkey award, " and "should probably exit gracefully and bring in some new managers." An analyst says, "the company has good technology and good designers," but is "probably one of the poorest-managed companies in the industry."
Other companies mentioned in this special 20-page Semiconductor section include: Advanced Micro Devices(NYSE:AMD), Altera (Nasdsaq:ALTR), Applied Micro Circuits (Nasdaq:AMCC), Atmel (Nasdaq:ATML), C-Cube Microsystems (Nasdaq:CUBE), Cypress Semiconductors (NYSE:CY), FEI (Nasdaq:FEIC), Integrated Device Technology (Nasdaq:IDTI), Kulicke & Soffa (Nasdaq:KLIC), Linear Tech (Nasdaq:LLTC), LSI Logic (NYSE:LSI), Maxim Integrated Products (Nasdaq:MXIM), Micron Technology (NYSE:MU), National Semiconductor (NYSE:NSM), OMC-Sierra (Nasdaq:PMCS), Rambus (Nasdaq:RMBS), Semtech (Nasdaq:SMTC), Taiwan Semi (NYSE:TSM), Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN), Veeco Instruments (Nasdaq:VECO), VLSI Technology (Nasdaq:VLSI), and Xilinx (Nasdaq:XLNX).
For information on how to obtain a copy of this issue, see twst.com or call (212) 952 - 7433. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewee nor does it make stock recommendations.
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