Delivery times for chips rose last month, signaling persistent component shortages that have hit growth for months in industries that span the economy.
The lead times — a closely watched gap between when a semiconductor is ordered and when it is delivered — increased by six days to about 25.8 weeks from November, research by Susquehanna Financial Group showed.
That lag marks the longest wait time since the firm began tracking the data in 2017.
Susquehanna recently changed the method it uses to calculate lead times, adding more data sources, and has revised its previous estimates based on the new system.
“The rate of lead time expansion has been choppy, but picked up again in December,” Susquehanna analyst Chris Rolland said in a research note on Tuesday. “Lead times for nearly every product category witnessed all-time highs, with power management and MCUs [microcontrollers] leading the charge.”
In the past, lengthening lead times have been followed by painful periods of oversupply. The concern is that customers might try to purchase more than they need now in an effort to ensure they get chips and later cancel the requests, which the industry calls double ordering.
While average times stretched again, some major suppliers are delivering products to their customers in a more timely manner, the research showed.
Broadcom Inc’s lead times “modestly fell” last month to 29 weeks, the report said.
Semiconductor stocks on Friday took a beating after a grim profit warning from Idaho-based Micron Technology Inc sparked fresh worries about the US’ earnings power as the country is potentially heading for a recession. Despite a broader stock market rally, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index dropped 3.8 percent after Micron, the largest maker of memory semiconductors in the US, flagged that demand was cooling for chips used in computers and smartphones. The index — which is home to US chip giants Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Nvidia Corp, as well as Micron — is down 38 percent this year. Historically, semiconductor
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