U.S. chip equipment sector Q1 to be 'worst in industry's history' BancAmerica

SAN FRANCISCO (AFX) - The U.S. semiconductor equipment sector's first-quarter results are poised to be some of the "worst is the industry's history," BancAmerica Montgomery analyst Mark FitzGerald said, adding he expects equipment orders to fall 40-60 pct from the prior quarter.    "We expect that companies' management will throw as much bad news into the quarter as their accountants can tolerate."    FitzGerald expects "most large cap companies (in the sector) will remain marginally profitable and many small cap stocks will loose money over the next several quarters."	    "Fundamentals are incredibly ugly and we think investors should use the turmoil to over weight the sector over the next several quarters," the analyst said, noting the stocks are likely in a trading range between their December lows and January highs.    FitzGerald believes order will "bottom out" in the next six months and "re-accelerate" around mid 2002.		

Related stock : (NIL)