Electronics component maker Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday posted a better-than-expected sales result for last quarter, mainly driven by robust shipments for camera modules last month.
Revenue was NT$55.96 billion (US$1.7 billion) last quarter, a decline of 10.43 percent from last year’s NT$62.48 billion, but 4.91 percent higher than the NT$53.34 billion made in the previous quarter.
The quarterly sales were higher than Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) estimate of NT$53.74 billion by 4.13 percent.
The company’s revenue totaled NT$159.18 billion in the first three quarters of this year, down 6.66 percent from a year earlier.
“Although the quarterly sales declined from a year earlier, Lite-On’s performance was better than our forecast,” a Yuanta analyst who declined to be named said by telephone.
The analyst said Lite-On’s smartphone clients launched new handset models last month, boosting the company’s camera module shipments.
In addition, PC shipments improved last month from August due to the launch of Intel Corp’s Skylake processor and Microsoft Corp’s Windows 10 operating system, benefiting Lite-On’s PC peripheral product shipments, the analyst said.
Last month Lite-On’s sales jumped 15 percent to NT$20.59 billion from a month earlier and 1.39 percent from a year earlier.
Lite-On said the revenue from its three main sectors — optoelectronics, information technology and storage — all increased from August due to growing demand from end markets.
Lite-On’s mild quarterly growth momentum should extend to this quarter, supported by stable demand in the market, the Yuanta analysts said. However, he did not see any specific growth catalyst to significantly boost the company’s sales this quarter.
“I expect the firm’s sales this quarter to slightly exceed my previous forecast of NT$56.3 billon,” he said, citing that markets for Lite-On’s core businesses, such as power supplies and PC peripherals, which have matured and are not expected to see exciting growth going forward.
Although the company’s camera module business accounts for the second-largest share in the Chinese market, its relatively weak production efficiency drags its competitiveness in the market, the analyst said.
“Lite-On is a large company with a complicated organization and many product lines,” he said. “It could be hard for the firm to gain significant growth in overall revenue.”
“However, Lite-On can move to improve its profitability if it is willing to carry out corporate restructure and improve its efficiency,” he said.
Lite-On shares rose 0.63 percent to NT$32.1 in Taipei trading yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which gained 1.2 percent.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Global semiconductor stocks advanced yesterday, as comments by Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) at Davos, Switzerland, helped reinforce investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI). Samsung Electronics Co gained as much as 5 percent to an all-time high, helping drive South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI above 5,000 for the first time. That came after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose more than 3 percent to a fresh record on Wednesday, with a boost from Nvidia. The gains came amid broad risk-on trade after US President Donald Trump withdrew his threat of tariffs on some European nations over backing for Greenland. Huang further
HSBC Bank Taiwan Ltd (匯豐台灣商銀) and the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance cooperation on the suspicious transaction analysis mechanism. This landmark agreement makes HSBC the first foreign bank in Taiwan to establish such a partnership with the High Prosecutors Office, underscoring its commitment to active anti-fraud initiatives, financial inclusion, and the “Treating Customers Fairly” principle. Through this deep public-private collaboration, both parties aim to co-create a secure financial ecosystem via early warning detection and precise fraud prevention technologies. At the signing ceremony, HSBC Taiwan CEO and head of banking Adam Chen (陳志堅)
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
RSS