Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密), which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc, yesterday posted 18.87 percent growth in revenue for last month, surpassing analysts’ forecasts.
Revenue hit a record high of NT$490.93 billion (US$16.25 billion), compared with NT$413 billion in December 2012, the company said in a statement.
Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) analyst Arthur Liao (廖顯傑) said robust sales of the iPhone 5S and iPad Air fueled Hon Hai’s revenue growth last month. He forecast Hon Hai will report NT$400 billion in sales for last month.
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“The popularity of the iPhone 5S is totally beyond our imagination,” Liao said by telephone.
“Apple’s expansion to China via selling the iPhone 5S to China Mobile (中國移動) users also helps,” he said.
Hon Hai is the sole assembler of Apple’s iPhone 5S.
With its better-than-expected sales for last month, Hon Hai posted revenue of NT$1.33 trillion for last quarter, up 45 percent from NT$919.3 billion in the third quarter.
For the whole year of last year, the company beat market expectations by boosting revenue NT$3.95 trillion, a 1.25 percent increase over the NT$3.91 trillion earned in 2012.
Liao, who predicted Hon Hai would post an annual drop in revenue for the first time last year, said the company could still see revenue drop by about 20 percent sequentially in the current quarter due to seasonal factors.
However, he retained his “buy” rating on Hon Hai, with a target price of NT$89.
Shares of Hon Hai rose 0.87 percent to NT$81.2 in trading yesterday, beating the TAIEX, which rose 0.2 percent to 8,530.03.
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