Weekly Top Ten Tech Hardware and Semiconductor – Dec 29, 2024
- Micron’s Q1F25 met expectations on key metrics but the ~9% downward guidance for the current quarter sent the share price into a tailspin
- Consumer-Related inventory issues and China competition were highlighted as the root causes for the surprise downward guide
- Micron is ok to cede legacy products to China competition and focus instead on the much more lucrative leading edge products, especially HBM. The transition could be rocky however
- Micron’s Latest Outlook Disappoints & Shares Fall; Decoupling Trade Between SK Hynix & Nanya Tech Has Worked However
- Smartphone AI Insights — On-Device Local Search & Context-Aware Interfaces Emerging as Key Local AI Needs
- Conclusion — Consider Swapping In MICRON as the Long Side of the Memory Decoupling Trade
- NVIDIA Corp (NVDA US) CEO Mr. Jensen Huang announced plans to establish an offshore headquarters in Taipei during his visit this June.
- From a geopolitical perspective, Taiwan is one of the focal points where the U.S. and China could potentially be in conflict.
- Focusing on AI, NVIDIA Corp (NVDA US) is currently attracting significant attention, but the decision to establish an offshore headquarters in Taipei is raising curiosity.
- Profits and share price stabilizing after steep declines, although margins still under pressure from rising R&D and depreciation, and costs associated with recent acquisitions.
- Sales of medical equipment to recover from post-COVID decline. Semiconductor equipment driven by advanced logic and high-bandwidth memory. Lasers to become fourth major product division.
- Buy for the long-term. Risks include Trump tariffs, weak European economies, emergence of Chinese competition.
- UMC Secures Key Qualcomm Advanced Packaging Order; Breakthrough in High-Growth Chip Supply Chain Segment
- Why TSMC Remains Critical for QCOM Manufacturing, Yet UMC Provides a Strong Strategic Counterbalance
- UMC Must Prove Itself, but QCOM Win Sparks Optimism for Sentiment and Outlook Recovery — Maintain TSMC as Structural Long & Rate UMC as Outperform
- Rapidus vs. TSMC: Can Japan’s Newcomer Compete in the 2nm Race?
- Memory Monitor: The Emerging Mass-Market Edge AI Need for Mobiles; Long Micron Vs. Short Nanya Tech
- Hon Hai Pauses Nissan Pursuit Amid Honda Talks — A Japanese Savior for Nissan is Likely But This Confirms Hon Hai’s EV Ambitions Remain High
- TSMC: +25.4% Premium; At Historical Highs, Good Level to Short the Spread
- UMC: +2.1% Premium; Upper Level of Historical Range, Short Level
- ASE: +5.4% Premium; Near-Term High However Likely Best to Wait for Higher Levels
- Nidec has announced its intention to acquire Makino Milling Machine (6135 JP) for ¥11,000 per share, a 42% premium over Thursday’s closing price.
- The stock market liked the idea. Nidec’s share price rose 4% on Friday. Makino’s jumped 19%. The pice looks high, but at 17.7x Makino’s EPS guidance, it is not unreasonable.
- The acquisition would be accretive to earnings and bring greater scale and competitiveness to Nidec’s machine tool business. It should support our Buy recommendation.
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