CyberOptics sees 2Q upside surprise

CyberOptics Corp. (Nasdaq: CYBE) said Wednesday that earnings for the second quarter of 2000 are expected to be at least 4 cents above expectations, as it benefits from robust conditions in the electronic assembly and semiconductor fabrication equipment markets.

The company, which makes chip and electronics manufacturing equipment, said earnings will exceed 30 cents per diluted share, on a pre-split basis, compared to current analyst estimates which ranged from 24 to 26 cents a share. First Call's consensus of five brokers predicted the company to earn 26 cents a share.

Shares in the optical technology firm closed at 45 5/8 Tuesday. The stock has continued to rise over the past months while most technology issues have lost ground with market volatility. The stock hit its 52-week high Tuesday, 50 1/8, and is due for a split payable June 15 to holders of record June 1. The company announced the 3-for-2 stock split in the form of a stock dividend on May 19.

In the first quarter, CyberOptics said net income rose 141 percent to $1.33 million, or 24 cents per diluted share, from $552,000, or 11 cents per diluted share in the same quarter of 1999.

CyberOptics now expects second quarter revenue to grow sequentially. The company previously expected sales to be flat compared to $13.51 million reported in this year's first quarter.

The SMT Sensor and Semiconductor Sensor units are seeing especially strong growth, the company said.

CyberOptics said it received an $8 million order for SMT sensors for shipment in this year's third and fourth quarters.

The company is slated to report results during the third week of July. Its top competitors include Robotic Vision (Nasdaq: ROBV), Cognex (Nasdaq: CGNX) and ADE (Nasdaq: ADEX), according to Hoover's Online.