Morgan Stanley last week included Himax Technologies Inc (奇景光電) in its investment portfolio as the US brokerage house expects the world's No. 3 maker of chips used in liquid-crystal-display (LCD) panels to benefit from fast-growing demand for flat panels, largely for use in slim-screen televisions.
Himax Technologies, which has a 16 percent share of the world's US$3 billion market for large thin-film-transistor (TFT)-LCD panel drivers, is one of the fastest-growing semiconductor companies in the industry, Morgan Stanley analyst Frank Wang (
Three years ago, the company only held a 6 percent share of the global market, he said.
"The company's growth potential is not only in large panel LCD drivers. It is [also] entering new markets such as handset drivers and LCD TV controllers," Wang said.
For investors wishing to reap profits from the booming TFT-LCD industry, but avoid the potential for price volatility as a result of supply gluts, Wang said the LCD driver segment could become the "default investment choice."
Morgan Stanley gave an "overweight-v" rating on Himax Technologies with a 12-month price target of US$12, which represents a 50 percent upside from the closing price of US$8 last Monday.
The Tainan-headquartered chipmaker debuted its shares on the NASDAQ stock market on March 31. Himax Technologies and its shareholders sold 52 million American depository shares at US$9 apiece on March 31, completing the biggest technology initial public offering by an Asian company this year. Each American depository share represents one ordinary share.
Wang projected that Himax Technologies' earnings would increase at a 26 percent annual rate until 2008, while revenues would grow at 34 percent annually. The predicted annual growth rates are much higher than the 7 percent average for the industry.
Himax Technologies is expected to post earnings per share of US$0.48 for this year, up 41 percent from US$0.35 a share last year, Wang said. Revenues would grow to exceed US$1 billion next year from US$796 million this year, he added.
A new LCD TV controller would be a cash cow for Himax Technologies as TV controllers have an average selling price 10 times that of large panel drivers and boast a 50 percent gross margin, according to Wang.
The company now supplies TV controllers to vendors Chi Mei Corp (
LCD TV sales around the globe will jump to 100 million units in 2010, Morgan Stanley predicted.
However, Wang warned that Himax Technologies has a highly concentrated product mix and a short list of customers, as well as lower gross margins than other semiconductor companies.
Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), the nation's second-largest maker of LCD panels for TVs and computers, would remain Himax Technologies' top customer, Morgan Stanley said, contributing more than half of the company's total revenues this year and next year.
Himax Technologies also supplies panel drivers to local panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) and Chinese SVA-NEC (上海廣電), according to Wang.
Large panel drivers would account for more than 70 percent of the company's total revenues this year and next year, he said.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
RSS