EQUITIES
US data boost TAIEX
The TAIEX closed up 96.19 points, or 0.9 percent, yesterday on gains on US markets in recent sessions as market sentiment improved on better-than-expected US employment data and an anticipated end to the trade dispute between the US and China. The TAIEX closed at 10,800.57 points, its highest level this year, after hovering between 10,807.05 and 10,759.96 during the trading session. Turnover was NT$155.624 billion (US$5.05 billion). In the short term, the stock market is expected to move into consolidation mode, Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) said. Selling pressure could set in once there is a correction, Fubon said.
ELECTRONICS
Zhen Ding revenue surges
Zhen Ding Technology Holding Ltd (臻鼎), the nation’s leading flexible printed circuit board supplier, yesterday posted revenue of NT$7.32 billion for last month, 33.01 percent growth year-on-year and the highest for March in the company’s history. It brought the company’s cumulative revenue in the first three months to NT$19.43 billion, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. However, the first-quarter figure remained 14.48 percent less than the NT$22.72 billion it made in the same period last year, due to a longer Lunar New Year holiday.
ENERGY
United Renewable bullish
United Renewable Energy Co (聯合再生能源) yesterday said its revenue grew 58.3 percent year-over-year to NT$1.7 billion last month from NT$1.07 billion. In the first three months of the year, revenue totaled NT$4.3 billion, up 71 percent from NT$2.51 billion in the same period last year, the company said in a statement. The company attributed the growth to increased shipments of solar modules and sales increases at solar projects.
ENERGY
SAS posts record revenue
Solar wafer and module maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美晶) yesterday posted revenue of NT$6.29 billion for last month, a record high thanks to the contribution from its silicon wafer subsidiary GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓). Compared with continuous growth in silicon wafer sales, solar sales fell 38.3 percent year-on-year to NT$626 million last month, the company said. In the first quarter, the company’s revenue grew 3.6 percent year-on-year to NT$17.51 billion, it said.
IT INFRASTRUCTURE
Aten sales disappoint
Aten International Co Ltd (宏正自動科技), which provides information technology infrastructure solutions, yesterday posted accumulated sales of NT$1.16 billion for the first quarter, a 9 percent fall year-on-year, as declines were seen across its major product lineups. Sales of IT infrastructure access management solutions fell 10 percent year-on-year, while professional audio/video products were 3 percent lower and USB products 24 percent lower than a year earlier, the company said.
ELECTRONICS
Lextar revenue falls 18.15%
Lextar Electronics Corp (隆達電子), which manufactures upstream LED chips and provides downstream packaging services, yesterday posted first-quarter revenue of NT$2.17 billion, an 18.15 percent decline year-on-year. The company attributed the decline to its gradual phasing out of LED lighting products manufacturing and pricing pressure. The firm said it would focus more on the development of optical semiconductors.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six