Surging work-from-home orders and greater demand for remote learning are expected to boost Acer Inc’s (宏碁) notebook computer sales and shipments of educational Chromebook this quarter, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, such products are forecast to help boost Acer’s revenue for this quarter 16 percent on a quarterly basis and 3 percent annually, Yuanta said in a note on Friday.
However, revenue for the second half of the year might decline after rush orders wane, it said.
Photo: Vanessa Cho, Taipei Times
Yuanta’s forecast came after Acer on Friday announced its consolidated revenues for last month jumped 41.1 percent year-on-year, but decreased 17.9 percent month-on-month to NT$19.75 billion (US$660.5 million).
“Acer demonstrated strong velocity of growth in capturing new business demand from work-from-home and distance learning needs. Year-on-year revenues for Acer Chromebooks grew 327.9 percent and thin-and-light notebooks nearly doubled,” Yuanta said.
In the first four months of this year, cumulative revenue fell by 0.1 percent year-on-year to NT$68.60 billion, as shipments were affected by production disruptions caused by the outbreak.
With decelerating growth in the traditional notebook market, Acer has since last year shifted focus to niche products — such as gaming desktops, Ultrabooks with thin and light designs and ConceptD notebooks — in a bid to improve gross margin and earnings.
However, due to a shortage of Intel Corp central processing units and the impact of COVID-19, Acer’s net profit for the first quarter fell 21 percent year-on-year to NT$557.95 million, but rose 64 percent quarter-on-quarter thanks to foreign exchange gains.
Earnings per share were NT$0.18, compared with NT$0.23 a year ago and NT$0.11 the previous quarter, Acer said on Wednesday.
Gross margin dipped to 10.1 percent, from 10.6 percent a year ago and 10.3 percent the prior quarter, company data showed.
Separately, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) on Friday posted consolidated revenue of NT$22.74 billion for last month, up 13.7 percent year-on-year, but down 1.54 percent month-on-month.
Cumulative revenue totaled NT$93.49 billion in the first quarter, a decrease of 11.74 percent on an annual basis.
Asustek is to release its first-quarter results at an earnings conference on Wednesday.
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