Apple Inc’s iPhone assemblers Pegatron Corp (和碩) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday both reported the strongest September sales in their histories, supported by the US company’s new iPhone launch.
Analysts said the two firms' better-than-expected sales imply further earnings upside for the third quarter and also suggest strong iPhone demand.
Pegatron said sales totaled NT$166.08 billion (US$5.05 billion) last month, jumping 55.2 percent from a year earlier and more than doubling the previous month’s NT$75.77 billion.
The result brought the firm’s total sales last quarter to NT$308.66 billion, up 30.15 percent year-on-year and 41.17 percent quarter-on-quarter.
The quarterly revenue marks the company’s second-highest level and beat Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (日盛投顧) forecast of NT$255.7 billion and Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) estimate of NT$250.59 billion.
“The sales result last quarter exceeded our previous estimate, mainly attributed to client’s new product launch and better-than-expected notebook shipment last month,” a Pegatron investor relations official said in a telephone interview.
The official said the revenue from the non-notebook computer segment exceeded Pegatron’s forecast. The company earlier guided a 30 percent quarterly growth in sales.
Pegatron expects sales of non-notebook computer segment continues to climb this quarter after the major client’s new product launch, she said.
However, Pegatron is still unsure about the outlook of the notebook demand this quarter, she added.
Pegatron’s combined revenues totaled NT$801.28 billion in the first three quarters of this year, climbing 19.99 percent from NT$667.79 billion made in the same period last year.
Chief executive officer Jason Cheng (程建中) expects the firm’s annual sales to exceed last year’s NT$1.02 trillion.
Meanwhile, Hon Hai’s sales grew 10.95 percent annually and 57.35 percent monthly to NT$460.9 billion for last month.
Last month’s sales marks highest record over the same period in the firm’s history.
“The sales last month were mainly driven by the significant growth from the consumer electronics segment. Hon Hai’s computing and communication segments also grew from the prior month,” an investor relations official said.
Hon Hai’s revenues reached NT$1.06 trillion last quarter, which surged 12.13 percent from last year and 9.6 percent from a quarter ago.
The quarterly performance outpaced Yuanta’s forecast of NT$1 trillion for last quarter.
In the first nine months of this year, Hon Hai’s revenues totaled NT$3.05 trillion, growing 12.53 percent from NT$2.71 trillion over the same period last year.
Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) in June told shareholders that the company expects sales this year to jump 10 percent to NT$4.63 trillion from last year’s NT$4.21 trillion.
Pegatron shares dropped 1 percent to NT$79.4 in Taipei trading yesterday, while Hon Hai’s stock price also fell 0.23 percent.
The TAIEX declined 0.58 percent.
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