Taiwan-based Catcher Technology Co (可成), a metal casing supplier to Apple Inc, is likely to post an almost 40 percent sequential growth in earnings per share in the fourth quarter, due to strong demand for the two new iPhones, market analysts said on Saturday.
They said that with Catcher’s yield rate for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus casing production improving, the supplier is expected to see its sales growth momentum accelerate in the fourth quarter.
According to a market forecast, Catcher is expected to post NT$7.54 (US$0.25) in earnings per share (EPS) for the fourth quarter, up 39 percent from an estimated NT$5.42 in EPS for the third quarter. In the second quarter, its EPS stood at 4.84.
Catcher has scheduled an investor conference for Thursday to announce its third-quarter results and give its guidance for the fourth quarter.
Analysts said that on the back of strong demand for the new iPhones, Catcher’s consolidated sales for the fourth quarter could rise by more than 20 percent from a quarter earlier to NT$18 billion.
In the July-to-September period, the metal casing supplier’s consolidated sales totaled NT$14.53 billion, up 9.1 percent from a quarter earlier.
Although third-quarter sales growth failed to reach a previous market forecast of a double-digit increase, the quarterly revenue still hit a record high.
Analysts said that Catcher might report a gross margin of 43.8 percent for the third quarter, down from the second quarter’s 49.2 percent, as operating costs grew to meet demand from new products launched by its clients, in particular the new iPhones.
However, as the yield rate improves, Catcher’s gross margin for the fourth quarter could beat that of the third quarter, helping the company strengthen its bottom line to vault its EPS to a new quarterly high of NT$7.54.
Due to rising global demand for metal casings, Catcher has repeatedly raised its capital expenditure (capex) plan.
So far this year, Catcher has spent more than NT$19 billion in capex, higher than the NT$9.6 billion spent last year.
The market is set to look for more clues at the investor conference about whether Catcher plans to raise its capex again.
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