Agilent Technologies's
(
A
) Electromagnetic Professional (EMPro) software was selected by
STMicroelectronics
(
STM
), a leading global semiconductor manufacturer, for the development
of electrostatic discharge (ESD) structures for chip manufacturing
using the CMOS process.
The chip manufacturing process involves a number of steps and
because of the reducing geometries, incorporation of ESD protection
structures (for heat dissipation during the manufacturing process)
is becoming increasingly difficult to incorporate. This is
therefore slowing down the design process and affecting the
time-to-market of the devices.
Further, the complexity of chip designing has increased
considerably over time, due to the demand for increased
functionality, smaller device sizes and lower power consumption.
Therefore, chip designers have been using software tools for
automating their designing and analysis right from the modeling
stage to the final system verification stage.
Agilent's EM Pro software has the required capabilities to speed
up the electrical performance of packages, connectors, antennas and
other radio frequency (RF) and high-speed components and create
various 3D models. The software can provide the requisite speed for
design flow, which is critical for integrated circuit (IC)
development.
STMicroelectronics is a leading manufacturer and supplier of
semiconductors for various microelectronic applications, including
automotive products, computer peripherals, telecommunications
systems, consumer products, industrial automation and control
systems. Therefore, this is a big win for Agilent.
Agilent is constantly making an effort to introduce new
capabilities and innovations in its EMPro platform. Agilent's
testing systems have proved effective in the past, enabling it to
build a strong position for itself. The electronic measurement
segment has been improving over the last few quarters as Agilent
has been launching new products.
Agilent's revenue in the third quarter was flat sequentially and
up 1.9% year over year, short of management's expectations of a
2-3% sequential increase ($1.77 billion to $1.79 billion). The
Electronic Measurement segment contributed 49.0% of revenue. The
weakness was on the computing/semiconductor side of the business.
The Life Sciences segment generated 23.0% of revenue, down 1.0%
sequentially and up 2.1% from last year. The Chemical Analysis
segment generated 22.0% of third quarter revenue, down 8.8%
sequentially and 7.0% year over year. The sequential decline was
largely because of weakness in food testing.
Currently, Agilent Technologies has a Zacks #4 Rank, implying a
short-term 'Hold' rating.
AGILENT TECH (A): Free Stock Analysis Report
STMICROELECTRON (STM): Free Stock Analysis
Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research