April 13, 2007 – Wafer processing equipment supplier Semitool Inc. says its fiscal 2Q07 revenues will be down about 7% below prior expectations to a range of $51-$53 million, representing a 22%-25% decline from fiscal 1Q07 ended in December.

Bookings are expected to drop to $30.7 million, about 32% below the previous quarter and more than 25% below the year-ago quarter, due to order delays and postponements in all target markets, the company said in a statement.

Matt Petkun, an analyst with DA Davidson quoted by Reuters, noted that the lowered projections could be tied to news last week from main customer AMD, which is cutting back 2007 capex by 25% ($500 million). He also suggested there may be softness in demand from the memory market.

Semitoo also has lowered its sales outlook for the entire fiscal 2007, to $210-$230 million, about 20%-25% lower than the $260-$310 million it had originally anticipated.

In a statement when releasing F1Q07 results, company president/COO Larry Murphy had said the company was focusing on building share for copper plating and FEOL cleaning applications, and noted the addition of a new flash/DRAM supplier for 300mm copper plating.