Lam Research Corporation
George Roberts
as a rapidly growing concern with a reasonable P/E ratio relative to its
earnings and projected earnings growth rate. I know iot has somethinbg to
do with memory chips but am wondering if it is in the same markets as
Micron Technologhy or whether perhaps it is one of Microns suppliers of
equipment used ion the manufacturing of semiconductors..?
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GEORGE ROBERTS GMC...@prodigy.com
Bapcha Ramamurthy
>I am interested in opinions on LRCX . It came across some of my screens
>as a rapidly growing concern with a reasonable P/E ratio relative to its
>earnings and projected earnings growth rate. I know iot has somethinbg to
Thumbs UP on Lam Research - and like I keep saying, I am betting that
LRCX will outperform Applied Materials. Lam's peers are AMAT, NVLS, HIT,
and then all the lieeler boys like Mattson, GaSonics, etc...
Bapcha
--
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"I have NEVER known a bubble that didn't burst".
E-mail: bap...@netcom.com
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Carl Johnson
Hello,
I have to give Lam a thumbs up also. Mattson will compete in the long
run, Novellus will likely have problems, Applied Materials will be
good, but not as good as Lam. Lam will also be a big player in
flat panel displays. They have demonstrated with some of their
equipment that they can handle surface sizes as large as 3 feet. Next
year CVD will most likely be profitable and instead of penalizing
earnings every quarter for 8 to 10 cents it will be additive.
A good way to play a new development with all the above is to buy
Tylan General (TYGN). They supply most of these guys with mass flow
controllers and have developed a new intelligent gas panel that will
really help facilitate chip manufacturing. No debt, newcomer to the
public arena, and very cognizant of their industry position.
I have more, e-mail if interested.
Carl Johnson
infrast...@i-link.net
The companies in the Infrastructure universe are(in no particular
order):
Applied Materials, Lam Research, Novellus Systems, Kulicke and Soffa,
KLA Instruments, Tencor Instruments, Electroglas, Tylan General,
LTX Corp, Submicron Systems, Brooks Automation, PRI Automation,
Mattson Technology, Credence Systems, Genus, Silicon Valley Group,
Ultratech Stepper, Megatest, FSI International, Fusion Systems,
Gasonix and Asyst Automation
George Roberts
met my stock screens. Along with Lam there are several on your list I am
looking at : Tencor,Applied Materials, Ultratech Stepper, FSI and Fusion.
Do these stocks move in conjunction with one another ie as a sector
within the Technology group ? I own a small stake in Lam and am watching
quarterly earnings and news on several of the others. What is your
opinion on the technology sector currently , are we out of steam or will
earnings continue to propel them for the rest of the year ?
KentR
>believe because this is truly as hard-nosed and factory intensive as
>any industry in the world. When we talk about the technology sector
I read somewhere that these companies tend to go thru 5 year cycles where
they are hot for 12 to 18 months and then get cold. Any truth to that?
They have really run up over the past year.
Kent
Carl Johnson
The stocks in the "Infrastructure Universe" are domestic based providers
of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. They do have a tendency to
move together although each (with some overlapping) addresses a step
in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Tencor (March issue of
Infrastructure) for example provides a tool called Surfscan that
renders a view of the surface of the wafer by scattering light and
then interpreting the pattern with various software schemes. Ultratech,
(Feb issue) provides a photolithography tool that is
very efficient in handling the non-critical layers of the circuit.
Photolithography is a process in which the image of the circuit is
photo'd on photo resist so the etcher supplied by Lam or Applied or
several others can etch the pattern of the circuit on the wafer. To
make a highly integrated circuit (one chip) process steps can be
repeated as many thirty times. The neat thing about the process
companies is that if the semiconductor makers (Intel, Micron, etc.)
are going to go anywhere these companies will have to provide them the
equipment to do so. There are 78 new fabs being built and equiped in
the next two years and almost 70% of the dollar cost goes to process
equipment. This fab expansion will go on for a while. Devices are
going to get much more complex. We understand that the 16MB DRAM is
going to have a short life and the Japanese are planning to leap to
64MB, 256MB, Skip 512MB, and then go to 1Gig DRAM's. All I can say
is watch and buy on weakness. This is the first rung in the technology
ladder and these companies feed technology in communications, computers
and automobiles. Their business isn't as cyclical as one would
believe because this is truly as hard-nosed and factory intensive as
any industry in the world. When we talk about the technology sector
I look at these companies. I can't tell who is going to sell the most
computers or wireless telephones, I can tell who is going to supply
equipment to fabs because the barriers to entry for new players are
extremely high. Many of these companies earn 20% of their revenues
just by fulfilling the need for spares and maintenance. Remember fabs
operate 7 days a week 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
BTW: Earnings will be great this year
and next year so be a long term player and use weakness to buy.
Enough for now,
Carl Johnson
<infrast...@i-link.net>
Bapcha Ramamurthy
>
>I read somewhere that these companies tend to go thru 5 year cycles where
>they are hot for 12 to 18 months and then get cold. Any truth to that?
>They have really run up over the past year.
Lam has been on a tear for 2 years now, and I expect them to do well till
at least 1997.
George Roberts
Thanks for the information and insight into the semi/computer equipment
companies "infrastructe" .I am watching several of the companies
mentioned and will add to my holdings over time as I sell other issues.
I believe the market is going to continue its explosive growth but will
keep a close watch on earnings and P/e ratios and try to find a couple
more bargains.Have you heard of a company - Trident Microsystems-they are
involved in graphic acceleration I believe. It is another company I fam
watching , the chart seems to look good on it .
-
GEORGE ROBERTS GMC...@prodigy.com