Analysts yesterday lowered their earnings estimates and cut target share prices on E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技) after the electronic paper display (EPD) supplier reported weaker-than-expected financial results for the second quarter.
On Tuesday, the firm reported a net loss of NT$818 million (US$27.28 million) in the second quarter, or a net loss per share of NT$0.76, which was larger than a net loss of NT$787 million, or a net loss per share of NT$0.73, in the first quarter. Gross margin also dropped to 0.6 percent from 1.1 percent in the first quarter.
Analysts like Credit Suisse’s Jerry Su (蘇厚合), JPMorgan’s Narci Chang (張恆) and Grand Cathay Investment Services Corp’s (大華投顧) Jeff Chang (張明祥) said in their latest reports that E Ink’s results were contrary to the market’s expectations that losses would narrow in the April-to-June quarter.
Su blamed the E Ink’s declining gross margin mainly to its continued low EPD utilization, an unfavorable product mix and increasing labor cost in China.
“We think the first half will be the trough for E Ink’s revenue and profitability,” Su said, “but full year could be in a loss.”
Credit Suisse forecast E Ink to report a net loss per share of NT$0.93 this year and earnings per share of NT$2.67 next year. It earlier predicted the company to report EPS of NT$1.5 this year and NT$3.39 next year.
Share price of E Ink, which has dropped 18.73 percent so far this year, ended at NT$32.1 yesterday, up 0.94 percent from Tuesday.
Credit Suisse cut its target price on the stock from NT$35 to NT$30, while JPMorgan lowered its target price to NT$23 from NT25.
“The biggest challenge for E Ink will be cannibalization from lower priced tablets, while the bullish camp is still hoping for a turnaround in the traditional peak season,” Chang said in a note.
Grand Cathay Investment's Jeff Chang said he kept a “neutral” rating on E Ink, with a target price of NT$36.8, but warned the company would not see a meaningful turnaround until the fourth quarter as the global e-reader market would remain stuck in a bottleneck this quarter.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”