Goldman Sachs Reports Novellus' Guidance Largely Unchanged

In a report published by Goldman Sachs, Novellus Systems'

1Q2011 guidance is largely unchanged and it remains Neutral on valuation. Goldman Sachs said that Novellus hosted its scheduled 1Q11 mid-quarter updated conference call during which the company left its revenue, order, and shipment guidance unchanged but noted that gross margin and EPS could come in toward the high end. “Recall that management guided for: (1) orders to be flat to +10% qoq, (2) shipments of $370-$400 mn (-4% to -11% qoq), (3) sales of $395- $425 mn (+3% to +11% qoq), (4) gross margin of 50.5%, +/- 1 point, and (5) EPS of $0.95 to $1.10. While revenue and order guidance was unchanged, management noted that the company is seeing stronger trends in its industrial business and an improved outlook for logic and NAND capex.” Novellus Systems closed yesterday at $40.96.