Computer metal-casing maker Catcher Technology Co (可成科技) has raised its second-quarter revenue growth forecast to 20 percent from the first quarter’s NT$7.1 billion (US$245 million), up from its previous forecast of a quarterly rise of 10 percent to 15 percent, Citigroup said in a note issued on Sunday, citing Catcher management’s new guidance made on Friday.
The Tainan-based company, which counts Apple Inc and HTC Corp (宏達電) among its clients, also predicted its third-quarter revenues would increase 10 percent from the second quarter, while its fourth-quarter revenues would grow by another 10 percent, the Citigroup note showed.
“We believe the strength is from HTC’s massive new smartphone launches in the second quarter,” Citigroup Global Markets said. “The 10 percent sequential revenue growth in the third quarter and the fourth quarter will be an upside surprise to the market given huge second-quarter revenue growth.”
RISING SALES
Catcher’s new revenue growth forecasts came after the company on Friday posted last month’s sales, which rose 68.1 percent year-on-year to NT$2.99 billion.
In the first five months, its accumulated sales increased 80.16 percent from a year earlier to NT$12.77 billion, the company’s data showed.
This implies the company’s full-year revenues would expand 61.55 percent to NT$35.29 billion this year from last year, based on its projected revenues of NT$8.52 billion in the second quarter, NT$9.37 billion in the third quarter and NT$10.31 billion in the fourth quarter.
Catcher’s combined revenues for April and last month reached NT$5.68 billion, which means the company would only need to make NT$2.84 billion in sales this month if it is to achieve its second-quarter revenue predictions.
Goldman Sachs yesterday said it predicted Catcher would show strong revenue growth in addition to steady margin improvement starting this quarter, as the company would benefit from the growing adoption of light metal casing for both smartphones and notebooks.
“We believe the recent share price correction provides a good entry level for long-term investors as we continue to consider Catcher as the secular winner in the light metal casing space,” Goldman said in a separate note.
‘BUY’ RATING
Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and UBS all reiterated their “buy” ratings on the stock, with Citigroup setting a target price of NT$250 for Catcher, versus the NT$212 target price by Goldman and NT$216 by UBS.
Shares of Catcher were 2.69 percent higher at NT$172 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. This year, the stock has risen 59.26 percent, outperforming a decline of 4.92 percent in the benchmark TAIEX over the same period.
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