No change to our ACTIS-driven earnings growth scenario

Research evidence excerpt

No change to our ACTIS-driven earnings growth scenario

CH: Potential for DRAM inspection intensity to rise

Unlike other front-end processes, it is difficult to estimate sales and volume

per unit of capacity for mask inspection systems, including those offered

by Lasertec. This lack of visibility has resulted in wide-ranging consensus

forecasts in the equity market, translating to significant share price volatility.

We think the market has already factored in advanced logic chipmakers using

Lasertec’s ACTIS mask inspection system at their fabs (although we do not

think volume and other elements are fully priced in). We therefore believe

the next point of focus is on whether DRAM manufacturer fabs adopt ACTIS.

We anticipate that as semiconductor miniaturization progresses, inspectionSenior Analyst Yoshitsugu Yamamoto

+81 3 6202 8169 yoshitsugu.yamamoto@mizuho- intensity for DRAM masks is likely to increase based on the following factors:

sc.com 1) HBM has become more performance-driven (a typical example is the

physical challenge of HBM4 targeting 11Gbps); (More on page 2) Click here for ESG on

our entire coverage MEASURE: Target FY6/28 PER of 35x

We hike our price objective for Lasertec from ¥50,000 to ¥60,000 (still

equates to a PER of 35x our FY6/28 forecast) to reflect our upwardly revised

earnings forecasts. PERs for ASML, an EUV-related stock, stand at 34x

based on FY12/27 EPS and 30x based on FY12/28 EPS, for an average

multiple of 32x. Expectations for ASML are rising, but we think accelerated

adoption of ACTIS at fabs affords Lasertec a valuation premium over ASML.

Our new price objective also equates to a PER of 28x our peak EPS forecast

for the current cycle (FY6/29).

Consolidated results and forecasts Share Price: ¥42,750 (4 Jun) 52wks: H ¥46,720 L ¥13,715