Novellus Boosts Order Guidance

Investors fretting over signs of a potential letup in chip-equipment demand didn't find any proof of it in Novellus Systems' (NVLS Quote) midquarter update.

Instead, the chip-equipment maker company hoisted bookings guidance to $275 million, up from the $250 million forecast from its March 2002 quarterly conference call. It left its revenue forecast unchanged at $220 million.

Novellus also raised its quarterly earnings estimate by 2 cents to 8 cents a share, a penny above Street estimates. CFO Kevin Royal cited an across-the-board increase in gross profits and improved expense controls for the better earnings outlook. Estimates for the company were for earnings of 7 cents a share on $213 million in revenue, as gathered by Thomson Financial/First Call. ...