Largan Precision Co (大立光) shares surged 7.3 percent to close at NT$2,720 in Taipei trading yesterday, after several analysts raised their target prices to reflect ongoing camera specification migration in the smartphone industry.
JPMorgan Securities Ltd on Monday upgraded the camera lens supplier’s rating from “underweight” to “neutral” and raised its target price from NT$1,950 to NT$2,500, as it expects some near-term catalysts to provide positive momentum to Largan.
“We are ending our negative view on Largan and upgrading our rating to neutral,” JPMorgan analysts led by Narci Chang (張恆) wrote in a note.
JPMorgan said it foresees Apple Inc, one of Largan’s main clients, will make shipment requests earlier for the components of its upcoming 4-inch smartphone, which would make Largan’s near-term outlook better than expected.
Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies Co’s (華為) push for its higher-specification, dual camera flagship smartphone is also to benefit Largan’s performance, the brokerage said.
Morgan Stanley increased its target price for Largan from NT$2,700 to NT$3,187, saying that the dual camera migration trend in the smartphone industry lights up the future for Largan.
“Largan is our best dual camera prospect. Its market position is solid and the ongoing migration should underpin its pricing. Also, the execution of Largan is strong,” Morgan Stanley analyst Jasmine Lu (呂智穎) said in a note to clients on Friday last week.
Morgan Stanley’s change in Largan’s target price mainly reflects a better-than-expected average selling price trend due to contining specification migration toward dual cameras in the smartphone industry, Lu said.
Lu said Morgan Stanley’s move suggests a greater possibility of Apple adopting dual cameras for its next-generation iPhone, which would bode well for faster industry-wide adoption starting next year.
Lu forecast that revenue from dual cameras would account for 9 percent of Largan’s sales this year and 35 percent of the firm’s total revenue by next year, as more smartphone makers adopt dual cameras.
Other than the specification migration, Lu said Largan’s efficiency and yield rate have continued to improve, allowing the company to better control its cost structure, despite a reduced economic scale brought by the traditional slow season.
Sharing a similar view with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Friday last week raised Largan’s target price from NT$2,830 to NT$3,660, saying that it believes dual-camera smartphones will become mainstream by next year, which would benefit Largan’s earnings significantly.
Goldman Sachs forecast Largan’s revenue this quarter will total NT$9.61 billion (US$287.41 million) and will grow 36.62 percent quarterly to NT$13.13 billion next quarter.
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
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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