Metal casing supplier Catcher Technology Co (可成科技) might post an even better sales performance this quarter after seeing record-high revenue last quarter, analysts said last week, citing the company’s increased market share in the smartphone segment and limited competition.
“We see Catcher’s sales growing by 7 percent this quarter from last quarter,” HSBC Securities Taiwan Corp analyst Carrie Liu said in a report on Monday last week.
She had previously estimated Catcher’s revenues would increase by 5 percent this quarter.
Catcher, which supplies metal casings for Apple Inc’s iPhones, last week reported sales of NT$20.11 billion (US$643.93 million) in the second quarter, a 51.08 percent surge from NT$13.31 billion in the same period last year and 15.57 percent from the first quarter’s NT$17.4 billion.
This is the first time Catcher has posted quarterly sales of more than NT$20 billion since the firm was established in 1984, the firm’s filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange show.
Last quarter’s figures also represent the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of robust sales growth and surpassed the market’s consensus estimate of NT$19.2 billion.
Daiwa Capital Markets Inc analyst Steven Tseng (曾緒良) said that he believes Catcher’s better-than-expected sales performance last quarter was due to robust demand for iPhone 6 cases.
Tseng remained positive on the company’s earnings growth outlook for the second half of the year.
“Catcher’s earnings growth is to be driven mainly by a steady increase in its iPhone casing order allocation, and likely a higher average selling price, as it is engaging more complicated casing processes for the new products,” he said in a note released on Wednesday.
He sees Catcher’s sales for this quarter growing by 5 percent from NT$20.11 billion recorded in the last quarter, he said.
Catcher is also confident about its sales outlook in the second half. After its annual general meeting last month, Catcher told a media briefing that it had revised upward its sales guidance for this quarter, citing increased orders for smartphones and notebook computer products.
Catcher chairman Allen Hung (洪水樹) said the company forecasts this quarter’s sales would grow from last quarter, rather than a flattish quarter the firm previously foresaw, citing smoother production and robust demand from new projects.
Catcher spokesman James Wu (巫俊毅) said the firm expects revenues in the fourth quarter to expand even further from this quarter, citing larger order allocations from its major smartphone clients.
In the first half, consolidated revenue totaled NT$37.52 billion, a surge of 58.12 percent from NT$23.73 billion in the same period last year, company data show.
Catcher shares closed at NT$380 on Thursday, up 2.98 percent from the previous session. The local bourse was closed on Friday due to Typhoon Chan-Hom.
Catcher shares have jumped 54.16 percent since the beginning of this year, while the TAIEX has lost 4.22 percent over the same period, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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