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To: vinh pham who wrote (547)	2/22/1999 4:24:00 AM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 723

Chip gear industry starts 1999 with SEMI Book-To-Bill Above Parity at 1.10 February 19, 1998 Electronic News Today A day after unveiling an index designed to increase investor awareness of the chip equipment and materials industry, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) gave investors a reason to give the industry another look, namely a book-to-bill ratio well above parity. The North American semiconductor equipment industry posted a book-to-bill ratio of 1.10 for January 1999, SEMI reported today. The ratio means $110 in orders were received for each $100 worth of products shipped. It puts an emphatic end to a 1998 spent below parity and the figure stands far removed from the 0.57 low-point reached in September, just 4 months ago. The new threshold was achieved through a combination of steadily improving orders and slightly lower shipments. "This is the fourth month of sequentially greater order levels," said Stanley Myers, president of SEMI. "While we have not seen a rash of announcements for new semiconductor facilities to be built in 1999 and 2000, the January order level indicates that aggressive activity in both fab conversions and backend upgrades for the newest chip designs should continue to improve equipment industry business levels in 1999." Three-month average shipments in January 1999 remained low at $868 million, three percent below the December 1998 level, and 41 percent below the January 1998 level. In contrast, three-month average bookings increased in January 1999 to $958 million, 10 percent above the December 1998 level. The figure remains 30 percent below the January 1998 level. SEMI: 650 940-6953.

To: vinh pham who wrote (547)	2/24/1999 7:45:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Respond to of 723

Cognex Corp. (CGNX) 25 1/2 +1/2: ING Baring Furman Selz upgrades designer and manufacturer of machine vision systems from "hold" to "buy" as semiconductor OEM orders continue to rebound; recent discussions with management indicate that a string of new OEM orders has continued since last month's conference call; raises FY99 EPS estimate from $0.42 to $0.50 and FY00 EPS estimate from $0.65 to 41.00; has a 12-month price target of $42..... Teradyne Inc. (TER) 62 15/16 +3 7/16: SoundView Technology reiterates "strong buy" rating on semiconductor equipment maker.....

To: vinh pham who wrote (547)	2/26/1999 3:18:00 PM
From: Mark Oliver	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 723

09:20 ET Chip Equipment Makers: Citing concern over PC growth, coupled with overall market issues such as bond prices, DLJ sees little upside momentum in the near-term. Leading chip equipment stocks indicated lower in pre-market. •09:53 ET Compaq Computer (CPQ) 34 7/8 -6 1/8 (-15%): --Update-- DLJ believes weakness in Compaq likely to hurt other sector stocks such as Intel (INTC), Gateway (GTW) and International Business Machines (IBM); says CPQ issues suggest softer March qtr for the industry than expected. 09:46 ET Compaq Computer (CPQ) 34 3/4 -6 1/4 (-15%): --Update-- DLJ downgrades issue from "buy" to "market perform" and cuts Q1 estimate from $0.35 to $0.30; lowers FY99 from $1.85 to $1.75 and reduces FY00 from $2.30 to $2.25. Firm drops 12-month price target from $60 to $45. Says firm seeing weakness in small to midsize N. American and European accounts; also feeling negative effect from currency fluctuations in Brazil. 09:42 ET Compaq Computer (CPQ) 35 5/8 -5 5/8 (-13%): Issue falls sharply in early trading after Merrill Lynch lowered Q1 estimate by 5 cents to $0.30 a share (vs current First Call mean of $0.35). 13:24 ET Semiconductor Equipment Stocks: NVLS -5, AMAT -6 1/2, KLAC -5 1/2, AEIS -7 1/8. Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) trading 7.5% lower on the session. All these moves seem connected, but not really very well thought out. I think the adoption of new devices will be fast and strong in the next 2 years and that more and more the PC will be topping out in unit volume. So, what does this mean to ESI that wasn;t know yesterday? Regards, Mark