Semiconductor Industry

[winston]

Not vested

Taiwan's TSMC Sept sales up 30.8 pct from yr ago

TAIPEI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Top contract chipmaker TSMC <2330.TW> said on Friday its September sales rose 30.8 percent from a year ago but the result was flat from August, showing signs of slower demand for technology products.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) had unconsolidated sales of T$36.65 billion ($1.2 billion) last month, compared with T$28.02 billion the same month a year earlier and T$36.5 billion in August.

On a consolidated basis, TSMC's sales amounted to T$309.4 billion in January-September, TSMC said, without giving further details.

Source: Reuters

[winston]

Not vested

TSMC Q3 profit up 54 pct y/y, beats expectations

TAIPEI, Oct 28 (Reuters) - TSMC <2330.TW>, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, posted a 54 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday, beating expectations thanks to strong demand from major clients.

As a faltering global recovery hurt sales of personal computers and flat-screen TVs, analysts had expected TSMC's quarterly sales and profits to fall further in the last quarter of 2010 and early 2011.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) , which supplies chips to major clients including Texas Instruments and Nvidia , made a net profit of T$46.94 billion ($1.5 billion) in July-September, the company said.

That compared with T$30.55 billion the same period a year ago and T$40.3 billion in the second quarter.

Analysts had expected TSMC to earn T$38.83 billion in the third quarter, according to a consensus forecast of 12 analysts from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

A day ago, smaller rival UMC <2303.TW> forecast wafer shipments would decline in the fourth quarter after reporting its best quarterly profit in three years. [ID:nTOE69Q06E] (US$1=T$30.7)

Source: Reuters

[winston]

Weekly Review

Technology. AAPL lost a little ground on the day, but it had a good week nonetheless.

AKAM was one of the leaders. It sold off, but it has rebounded as well. Back to a new high this week.

FFIV was another leader that sold off, gapped up on earnings, and continued to the upside. They are still well in the advance mode, but techs look a little tired compared to some of the other sectors.

They have been forging the way higher. Now some of the other areas are trying to step up as the techs look tired.

Source: Investment House

[winston]

Not vested

TSMC Oct sales up 2 pct on month as demand slows

TAIPEI, Nov 10 (Reuters) - TSMC <2330.TW>, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, said on Wednesday its October sales rose 2 percent from the previous month, amid slower technology demand.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) had unconsolidated sales of T$37.37 billion ($1.2 billion) last month, compared with September's T$36.653 billion. Sales rose 28 percent from T$29.181 billion in the same month a year earlier.

TSMC and cross-town rival UMC <2303.TW> face slower demand for personal computers, flat-screen TVs and other high-tech gadgets that require chips.

UMC reported on Monday that its October sales rose 15 percent from a year ago but slipped from the previous month.


Source: Reuters

[winston]

Chip sector jumps on strong Intel report and outlook

HELSINKI/LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in semiconductor companies jumped on Friday in Europe and Japan after strong earnings report from sector bellwether Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, defied a slowdown in PC sales.

Shares in British chip designer ARM were up 6.5 percent at a 10-year high, while the wider European technology sector was up 0.2 percent.

Intel, whose microprocessors are the brains in the bulk of the world's PCs, posted market-beating revenue and margins for the fourth quarter, and also gave a rosy outlook for early 2011 overnight.

"Intel's numbers beat most expectations by around 10 percent and so we are seeing investors connect the dots from Intel's earnings to other similar tech stocks trading in Europe to which this may paint a similarly rosy picture," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.

Earlier this week, research firms IDC and Gartner said weak consumer demand coupled with a surge of tablet market capped the growth in global personal computer shipments at 3 percent in the fourth quarter.

RBS Capital Markets analyst Nick Hyslop said Intel's guidance was very strong for first quarter and the company did slightly better than expected in the fourth quarter, given a growing perception that Intel's position in tablets was weak.

"People were relieved from an Intel standpoint," he said, adding a good first quarter for Intel implied a good performance from ARM "given that ARM is doing all the tablets."

On Friday, Intel's general manager for Asia-Pacific said he was positive about growth in PC sales in emerging Asia, particularly China and India.

"I look around and travel around and I see the emerging markets continuing to be quite good," Navin Shenoy told Reuters.

Shenoy declined to give growth forecasts but said he was comfortable with IDC's forecast of a 14 percent PC unit growth for the APAC area, excluding Japan, this year.

TONE FOR SECTOR

Intel was the first major technology company to report fourth-quarter results, and its upbeat numbers set a positive tone for the rest of the sector.

"Intel's good comments on server sales, coupled with the positive SAP statement late yesterday, indicate that corporations investment activity has been good in the fourth quarter," Pohjola Bank analyst Hannu Rauhala said.

German group SAP, Europe's biggest software maker, said on Thursday software sales jumped about a third in the fourth quarter.

"Strong fourth-quarter results show enterprise application spending is back," analysts at Jefferies said in a note.

In Japan, Tokyo Electron rose 3.2 percent, and Sumco added 0.7 percent.

Dutch semiconductor equipment vendors ASML and ASMI rose 2.4 percent and 3.8 percent respectively.


Source: Reuters US Online Report Business News

[winston]

Not vested

UMC posts Q4 profit, sees slip in Q1 revenue

TAIPEI - Taiwan's UMC, the world's No. 2 contract chipmaker, reported a slip in quarterly profit as the year-end buying boom ended, though the figure was above forecasts, with a new array of technology products seen spurring demand this year.

United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) posted a net profit of T$6.42 billion (US$221 million) for October-December, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. That compared with T$4.4 billion a year ago and T$8.7 billion in the third quarter.

Analysts had expected UMC to earn T$5.7 billion for the final quarter of 2010, according to the consensus forecast from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Analysts expect UMC and sector leader TSMC to spend more money in 2011 to boost output of advanced chips for tablet computers, smartphones and other gadgets.

The company forecast a slip in first quarter revenues and shipments declining in the low single digit percent.

UMC shares rose to their highest close in one year last week, reflecting investors' confidence in the company's outlook.

The stock has risen 7 per cent so far this year versus a steady Taiwan market. Shares of TSMC, due to report quarterly results on Thursday, have gained 6 per cent.

Source: REUTERS

[winston]

Not vested

TSMC posts weaker Q4 profit as demand slows

TAIPEI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - TSMC's <2330.TW> net profit came in just above expectations in the fourth quarter but was off the previous quarter's record high after a Christmas buying spree ended, though the world's biggest contract chipmaker could boost capital spending this year to tap new chip demand.

TSMC and cross-town smaller rival UMC <2303.TW> are racing to use more advanced technologies to boost chip output as they win new orders from clients who are selling more chips for tablet PCs, smartphones and high-resolution TVs.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), which supplies chips to major clients including Texas Instruments and Nvidia , reported a October-December net profit of T$40.72 billion ($1.40 billion).

That compared with T$32.67 billion the same quarter a year ago and a record T$46.9 billion in the third quarter.

Analysts had expected TSMC to earn T$37.95 billion for the final quarter of 2010, according to a consensus forecast from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Investors have looked beyond the weak quarter to bet on new growth. TSMC's Taipei-listed shares rose to their highest close in a decade last week and UMC shares trade at a one-year high.

So far this year, TSMC shares have gained about 6 percent compared with a nearly flat Taiwan market <.TWII>. UMC shares have risen 7 percent in the same period.


Source: Reuters

[winston]

A WARNING FROM THE CHIP SPACE? by Cullen Roche

Technology has been the darling of the recent stock market rally, however, there are some signs that the strength in tech could be getting ahead of itself.

Semiconductors, notoriously sensitive to the business cycle, are beginning to show some warning signs.

IHS reported last week that semiconductor suppliers have near record days of inventory (Via IHS Isuppli):

http://pragcap.com/a-warning-from-the-chip-space

[winston]

Economy, PC sales and inventories dim chip outlook by Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Doubts about the economy and sluggish PC sales are clouding the second-half outlook for Intel Corp <INTC.O> and other chip makers as they prepare to unveil quarterly earnings this week.

High U.S. unemployment and the risk of a financial crisis in Europe are hurting demand for consumer electronics, and some investors worry that high chip inventories could cause a slowdown in new orders later in 2011.

Those concerns are exacerbating the summertime blues semiconductor stocks sometimes face mid-year, as demand for chips drops off before picking up again during the back-to-school and holiday seasons.

http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?a ... &buid=3281

[winston]

Weekly Review

Semiconductors have been down, but they are interesting.

Semiconductors are once again forming interesting patterns to bottom off of.

HITT has had a fairly well-defined trading range since late 2010. We will see if it can make another bounce. It might be worth looking at a play.

BRCM, with its great earnings this week, gapped it higher. It has tested and filled part of the gap. Look how it tapped the 10 day EMA and bounced to hold that late-May high as well.

Source: Investment House