Despite better-than-expected sales last quarter, Largan Precision Industry Co (大立光), a camera lens supplier for Apple Inc, saw its shares plummet 2.16 percent to NT$3,630 yesterday, outpacing the local bourse’s 1.09 percent drop.
SinoPac Securities Investment Service Co (永豐投顧) said the share price fall was not unexpected given the uncertainty following the results of Greece’s referendum on Sunday, which affected most Asian bourses, including the TAIEX.
“Largan’s stock price decline is acceptable. Investors should not worry too much,” said a SinoPac analyst, who declined to be named.
The share price drop was the result of external factors rather than a reflection of the company’s business outlook, the analyst said.
She said she remains upbeat about Largan’s outlook this quarter, as it has started shipping lenses for its main client’s new product launch this quarter.
Largan reported stronger-than-expected sales of NT$5.1 billion (US$163.72 million) for last month, up 15.6 percent from the prior month’s NT$4.4 billion, which beat the company’s and consensus forecasts that revenue would be flat compared with the previous month.
That brought the company’s second-quarter revenue to NT$13.77 billion, up 37.56 percent year-on-year and 30.39 percent quarter-on-quarter, marking the second-highest quarterly result in the company’s history.
A Largan official, who declined to be named, told the Taipei Times that the surge in sales last month was mainly due to an early shipment request by one of the company’s major clients.
The official said the client is set to launch its next-generation smartphone sometime this quarter and unexpectedly requested an earlier pull-in of 1-megapixel lenses for its new model’s front camera last month.
The official said Largan was expecting this month’s sales to grow from last month, but given a higher-than-expected base last month, it now expects this month’s sales to be flat.
By shipment breakdown, 1-megapixel products, including high-definition lenses, accounted for 40 to 50 percent of last month’s total shipments, a sharp increase from the prior month, when 1-megapixel lenses made little contribution, the company said.
Higher-margin products featuring 10-megapixels and above accounted for between 20 percent to 30 percent of total shipments, while 8-megapixel lenses contributed 20 percent to 30 percent, and 5-megapixel units made up 10 percent, it said.
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