OPTICS
Largan shares drop by limit
Shares of smartphone camera lens maker Largan Precision Co (大立光) dropped by the daily maximum of 10 percent yesterday due to the firm’s cautious sales outlook for this month, sending the broader market down 1.09 percent. On Wednesday, Largan reported sales last month rose 2.9 percent to NT$5.26 billion (US$165.6 million) from June, but said guidance for this month’s sales is to be flattish from last month. According to a client note issued by Morgan Stanley, Largan believes this is only a result of model transition, rather than a concern over end-demand. Shares in Largan, a key supplier to Apple Inc, fell NT$300 in Taipei trading to end at NT$2,720.
COMPUTERS
Acer net income plummets
PC maker Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday reported net income of NT$2 million for last quarter, representing a significant decrease from NT$484 million a year ago and NT$173 million in the first quarter. Earnings per share were NT$0.0008 last quarter, compared with last year’s NT$0.18 and the first quarter’s NT$0.06 per share, according to the firm’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The earnings mark Acer’s lowest quarterly net profit over the past five quarters.
CHIP DESIGN
Faraday income falls 6.5%
Faraday Technology Corp (智原), a fabless chip designing service and silicon patent provider, yesterday said net income last quarter dropped by 6.5 percent quarter-on-quarter and 13 percent year-on-year to NT$179 million, or NT$0.43 per share, as clients’ inventory adjustments dragged down its gross margin, which fell to 44.9 percent last quarter from 50.6 percent in the first quarter. For this quarter, Faraday expects revenue to drop by 9 percent to 12 percent from last quarter’s NT$1.75 billion, due to weakening demand for its application-specific integrated circuit design solutions, according to a statement. Gross margin might improve to more than 50 percent this quarter due to product mix adjustments, it said.
MEDIA
Eastern Media shares jump
Shares of Eastern Media International Corp (東森國際) rose by their daily maximum yesterday in Taipei, beating the broader market’s 1.09 percent fall, after the company confirmed its intention to sell all of its stake in local cable network Eastern Broadcasting Co (東森電視). On Wednesday, Eastern Media issued a statement that the company and the US-based Carlyle Group plan to accept a reasonable price for all of their shares in the TV network. US-based Carlyle Group owns a 61 percent stake in Eastern Broadcasting and Eastern Media holds a 21.32 percent stake in the TV network. The share sale would be worth at least NT$20 billion, according to media reports.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Precision Silicon to merge
Precision Silicon Group (嘉晶電子), a major supplier of silicon epitaxial used in semiconductor chips and solar cells, yesterday said its board approved a merger with Episil Semiconductor Wafer Inc (漢磊半導體晶圓) through a share swap. The deal will allow each Episil Semiconductor share to be exchanged for 1.867876 shares of Precision Silicon, which is to be the surviving entity after the merger. The deal is expected to close on Feb. 1 next year, the companies said. Precision Silicon shares fell by 0.97 percent to NT$10.2 in Taipei trading, while shares of Episil Holding Inc (漢磊先進投資控股), the parent company of Episil Semiconductor, dropped by 0.55 percent to NT$7.22.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
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