EQUITIES
TAIEX edges higher
The TAIEX yesterday closed slightly higher after retreating from an early high, with market sentiment reacting to lingering concerns over COVID-19 in the US and China, where spikes in confirmed cases have been reported. Buying in the bellwether electronics sector moved to select 5G concept shares, component suppliers and PC makers, while some construction companies attracted interest on the back of their large property assets, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 23.07 points, or 0.20 percent, at 11,572.93, on turnover of NT$182.069 billion (US$6.14 billion). Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$2.36 billion of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
CHIP DESIGNERS
MediaTek shares surge
Shares of handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday rose 5.49 percent to close at NT$576 in Taipei trading, the highest level in 10 years, on hopes that demand for 5G devices would boost demand for its chips. The shares closed at NT$576, giving MediaTek a market capitalization of NT$915.18 billion, exceeding Chunghwa Telecom Co’s (中華電信) NT$880.47 billion to become the third-largest listed company in the nation in terms of capitalization. Based on Taiwan Stock Exchange data, contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) remains the largest listed company with a market capitalization of NT$8.09 trillion, followed by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) NT$1.09 trillion.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Foxsemicon outlook bullish
Foxsemicon Integrated Technology Inc (京鼎精密), a semiconductor manufacturing and inspection equipment maker, yesterday posted a net profit of NT$236.39 million for the first quarter, a 174.16 percent year-on-year increase as semiconductor companies continue to expand their capacity. Earnings per share rose to NT$2.74 from NT$1.02 a year earlier, the company said in a financial statement submitted to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Revenue grew 30.46 percent year-on-year to NT$2.09 billion. Revenue this quarter could grow by more than 10 percent compared with the first quarter, analysts said.
CONSTRUCTION
Buyback program begins
King’s Town Construction Co (京城建設), one of the largest land developers in southern Taiwan, yesterday began a share buyback program in a bid to safeguard its shareholders’ interests. The company said that it aims to buy back up to 5 million — or 1.3 percent of its outstanding shares — on the open market until Aug. 21 at NT$26 to NT$38 per share, a regulatory filing said on Friday last week. Buoyed by the buyback, the shares yesterday rose 9.91 percent to close at NT$36.05 in Taipei trading. King’s Town Construction posted a net profit of NT$413.36 million for the first quarter, down from NT$471.95 million in the same period last year.
RESTAURANTS
MOS Burger to hire 600
An Shin Food Services Co (安心食品), the operator of the nation’s second-largest fast-food chain, MOS Burger, plans to hire up to 600 people in its latest recruitment drive as it continues to expand its number of outlets. The company said that it would provide a monthly salary of between NT$31,000 and NT$33,000 to the new hires, excluding bonuses, and about NT$50,000 for those who pass its exam to become an outlet manager. The company operates 281 MOS Burger outlets in Taiwan and is looking to increase that to 300.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by