Two foreign brokerages have raised their target prices for shares of Taiwan’s leading food maker, Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), amid rising optimism over the company’s bottom line this year.
In a recent research note, Barclays Capital said Uni-President’s earnings were likely to rise this year because of an anticipated recovery in the restaurant business and easing price competition in China’s instant noodle and beverage markets.
The brokerage has upgraded its recommendation on shares of Uni-President to “overweight” from “equal weight” and raised its target price on the stock to NT$62.7 from NT$57.1.
Uni-President shares fell 0.59 percent to close at NT$50.30 on Friday.
Beyond extensive manufacturing operations, the company also invests in Starbucks, Mister Donut and 7-Eleven stores in Shanghai, and Carrefour outlets in Chongqing and Tianjin, China.
It also ranks as the second-largest ready-to-drink tea and instant noodle supplier and the third-largest diluted juice supplier in China, and Barclays expected income from those businesses to increase as a price war with rival Master Kong (康師傅) brand products loses some of its intensity.
Because Taiwan’s economy is on the way to recovery, Uni-President’s local restaurant and retail operations are also set to improve this year, Barclays said.
As a result, the brokerage has raised its forecast of Uni-President for this year and next year by 8 percent and 15 percent respectively, to NT$2.98 and NT$3.39.
In the first nine months of last year, Uni-President posted NT$2.13 in earnings per share, up from NT$1.96 recorded over the same period a year earlier.
Holding a similar upbeat mood about Uni-President’s earnings prospects, Daiwa Securities said it has raised its target price for the stock to NT$59 from NT$57, while upgrading its recommendation to “outperform” from “hold.”
Daiwa Securities said it expected Uni-President China Holdings Ltd (統一中國控股), in which Uni-President holds a 70.5 percent stake, to see its earnings for this year rise 29 percent from a year earlier, which will boost the parent company’s profitability.
Daiwa also said Uni-President shares should also benefit from bargain hunting because they have been lagging behind the broader market, and it suggested that it was time for investors to raise their holdings in the stock.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last