Taiwan's stocks dropped the most in almost five months, paced by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (
"Weakening US demand will be reflected in Taiwan's export figures," said Murphy Huang (
Catcher Technology Co (
The Taiex index slumped 337.73, or 4.1 percent, to close at 7,883.37 in Taipei, its biggest decline since Aug. 16. About 19 stocks dropped for every one that gained. January futures fell 4.6 percent.
Hon Hai, Taiwan's biggest electronics exporter, dropped NT$11.50, or 6.3 percent, to NT$171.50. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world's biggest supplier of made-to-order chips, slipped NT$4.20, or 7 percent, to NT$55.80. Taiwan Semiconductor makes about three quarters of its sales to US buyers. Acer Inc, the biggest Taiwanese maker of personal computers, lost NT$4.20, or 7 percent, to NT$56.
US payrolls rose by 18,000 last month, the fewest new jobs since 2003, after economists had forecast a rise of 70,000. The unemployment rate jumped to a two-year high of 5 percent, compared with an estimate of 4.8 percent. The US is Taiwan's biggest export market after China.
Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, head of the group that dates economic cycles in the US, said on Saturday the odds of a recession are more than 50 percent as a result of the jobs report.
Catcher dropped NT$11, or 6.8 percent, to NT$150.50, its lowest in almost two years. Investors should sell Catcher shares because its revenue of NT$1.2 billion (US$37 million) last month was less than the market's expectations of NT$1.7 billion, Tony Tseng (
Tseng downgraded shares of Catcher, which reported December sales on Friday, from "buy," citing disappointing sales growth. He cut his 2007 earnings estimates for Catcher by 6 percent to NT$6.98 billion, and for 2008 by 32 percent to NT$6.78 billion.
Credit Suisse Group cut its recommendation for the stock to "underperform" from "neutral," and reduced its 12-month price target to NT$160 from NT$262. Credit Suisse analyst Pauline Chen cited falling gross margins, rising labor costs, slower growth in Catcher's main business of magnesium casings and the low December sales as reasons for the downgrade.
Asustek Computer Inc (
The US International Trade Commission said it will investigate claims by International Business Machines Corp that the Taiwan-based computer maker violated three patents for computers, motherboards and graphics cards.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new