ALIGN-RITE WEATHERING ASIAN CRISIS.Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer Align-Rite International Inc. has become one of the few high-tech companies that has managed to avoid infection by the Asian flu Asian Flu may refer to:
While other companies around the country are reeling reel·ing n. Maine Sustained noise, as from hammering: "Hark that reeling, now, you'll wake the baby!" Anonymous. from the effects of the continuing Asian currency crisis, the Burbank-based maker of photomasks - quartz or glass plates containing microscopic images of integrated circuits Integrated circuits Miniature electronic circuits produced within and upon a single semiconductor crystal, usually silicon. Integrated circuits range in complexity from simple logic circuits and amplifiers, about 1/20 in. (1. - has been bitten bit·ten v. A past participle of bite. bitten Verb the past participle of bite only slightly. Through it all, in fact, Align-Rite's bottom line has grown bigger and bigger. On Thursday, the company said earnings for its first quarter ended June 30 jumped 23 percent over the comparable period last year to $1.8 million, or 36 cents per diluted share. Revenues were up 29 percent to $13.7 million. In the fiscal year ended March 31, earnings rose 15 percent to $6.1 million and sales gained 23 percent to $46.7 million. Wall Street reacted favorably fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. to Align-Rite's latest financial statement. The company's stock surged $2.125 Friday to close at $13.875. Over the past year, the stock has gone as high as $23.875, on Sept. 30. On Thursday, it hit a low of $11.75. It has mostly traded between $13 and $17, and James MacDonald The name James MacDonald may refer to
``I think our past performance gives a solid indication of the strength of the company's business strategies and gives a clear-cut indication of our potential to continue our growth momentum,'' he said Friday. Part of the company's improved performance stems from the fact that only about 2 percent of its business is directly with Asian customers, compared with its two main competitors - Texas-based Dupont Photomasks Inc. and Florida-based Photronics Inc. ``(The others) have a higher exposure to Asia,'' said Brion Tanous, a research analyst with Cruttenden Roth Inc. in Irvine who gives Align-Rite's stock a ``buy'' recommendation. Ali Irani, executive director of CIBC CIBC Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CIBC Centres Interinstitutionnels de Bilan de Compétences CIBC Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control (Trinidad) CIBC Commercial International Brokerage Company Oppenheimer in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , said about 10 percent of Photronics' business is with Asia while Dupont's is about 20 percent. And while many of Align-Rite's customers do plenty of direct business with Asia, Irani doesn't expect the infection to jump from those customers to Align-Rite. ``Frankly, if there was any such danger, we would have (already) seen it in their results,'' he said. On Friday, Irani upgraded his ``buy'' recommendation to a ``strong buy.'' CAPTION(S): Chart CHART: NOT A STRAIGHT LINE Below are the end-of-month closing prices of Align-Rite stock over the past 13 months. July '97: $15.75 Sept '97: $23.875 July '98: $13.875 SOURCE: Bloomberg News Daily News |
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