EQUITIES
Tech stocks push up TAIEX
Taiwanese shares gained yesterday as the bellwether electronics sector continued its rise in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on US markets. However, some old economy stocks, in particular in the steel sector, remained in the doldrums, dampening the upturn on the broader market, dealers said. In addition, turnover kept falling amid rising concerns over escalating infections with the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 in many countries and investors fearing interruptions to the recovery of the global economy, they said. Moreover, many local companies are soon to report their sales for last month, prompting investors to wait for real numbers, they added. The TAIEX closed up 70.13 points, or 0.4 percent, at 17,623.89. Turnover totaled NT$374.025 billion (US$13.44 billion), compared with Tuesday’s NT$390.3 billion, with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$10.62 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
DISPLAYS
Innolux shares surge
Shares of LCD panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) surged yesterday after the company reported improved profitability in the second quarter. Innolux closed up 10 percent, the largest gain on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. The company on Tuesday reported net profit of NT$21.4 billion in the second quarter, its highest quarterly profit and a sequential increase of 85.1 percent. That translated to earnings per share of NT$2.05. Innolux’s consolidated sales rose 11.21 percent from the first quarter to NT$93.2 billion, while operating income rose 59.8 percent to NT$23.8 billion. Innolux said that the sales and profit numbers largely reflected increasing global demand due to many economies reopening after lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Nuvoton predicts imbalance
Semiconductor firms would continue to struggle to meet customer demand, especially from the automotive sector, in the second half of this year, Nuvoton Technology Corp (新唐科技) said yesterday. The statement came after the Hsinchu-based supplier of microcontrollers reported record revenue of NT$10.61 billion in the second quarter, up 5.38 percent from the first quarter on the back of rising product prices. Net income for the second quarter also surged 247 percent sequentially to a record of NT$939 million, thanks to improved gross margin and investment gains. Earnings per share were NT$2.37 in the second quarter and NT$3.07 in the first half of this year.
ENERGY
EU firm opens local factory
A new wind turbine assembly facility operated by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA has started production in Taichung, making it the firm’s first plant outside Europe. Siemens Gamesa in a statement on Tuesday said that the new facility would primarily provide equipment for the 900-megawatt Greater Changhua 1 and 2a offshore wind farms, which are under development by the Danish firm Orsted A/S. Siemens Gamesa’s 30,000m2 assembly plant “reinforces our local footprint in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region,” the German-Spanish joint venture said. The plant would assemble the SG 8.0-167 DD turbines for the Changhua sites, it said. The Greater Changhua 1 and 2a wind farms are 35km to 50km off the coast of Changhua County.
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
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