Stifel Nicolaus Reiterates Hold on Novellus Systems

Stifel Nicolaus maintains its Hold rating on Novellus Systems, Inc.

on 4Q11 mid-quarter report that shows orders and shipments trending towards high end. Stifel comments, “Novellus' current 4Q11 guidance calls for: 1) bookings to be up 10-30% sequentially, 2) shipments in the range of $270-300 million, 3) revenues in the range of $260-290 million, 4) gross margins at 46% +/- 1%, and 5) GAAP EPS in the range of $0.42 to $0.62. In our view, customer sentiment has improved as the quarter has progressed and our recent checks indicate that bookings are likely tracking ahead of initial expectations at the start of the December quarter (and thus, supporting our view that bookings could be raised to the +20-30% range).” NVLS closed at $34.92 per share on Thursday.