EQUITIES
TAIEX dips on profit-taking
The TAIEX closed slightly lower yesterday, after coming off a historical intraday high, as investors locked in their gains from the first two sessions of this year, dealers said. Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which had been a driver of the main board’s gains in the previous two sessions, was affected by profit-taking, dealers said. TSMC fell 0.91 percent to close at NT$650. Buying rotated to select old economy and financial stocks, which lent support to the broader market, they said. The TAIEX closed down 26.39 points, or 0.14 percent, at 18,499.96. Turnover totaled NT$337.983 billion (US$12.24 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$9.34 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
AUTO PARTS
BizLink revenue up 6.59%
Wire harness maker BizLink Holding Inc (貿聯控股) yesterday posted revenue of NT$2.88 billion for last month, up 6.59 percent month-on-month and 44.13 percent year-on-year. BizLink, the sole supplier of wiring harnesses for battery management systems in Tesla Inc Model 3s, said in a statement that last month’s revenue rose above US$100 million for the first time in the company’s history. “Healthy year-end demand boosted sales, with shipments to data center customers rising, but shipments to electrical appliance customers slowing, while shipments to customers in our other segments stayed stable,” the company said. Total revenue for the whole of last year grew 27.03 percent year-on-year to NT$28.68 billion, the company said.
MANUFACTURING
Airtac profit up despite virus
Pneumatic components supplier Airtac International Group (亞德客) yesterday reported consolidated revenue of NT$2.25 billion for last month, up 16.87 percent month-on-month and 13.74 percent year-on-year, as the company’s shipments gradually returned to normal, despite the unstable COVID-19 situation and power restrictions. “Although the [COVID-19] pandemic situation in some cities in China [has been] unstable recently, the company’s production and shipments have not been affected, with both orders and shipments remaining good in the first couple days of January,” Airtac said in a statement. The company said its overall revenue for the whole of last year grew 32.96 percent to a record of NT$25.4 billion. It is optimistic about its operations this year, so it aims to maintain a 110 percent production utilization rate to increase inventory and meet traditional peak-season demand from March, Airtac said.
ELECTRONICS
Lite-On posts record revenue
Electronic components supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported record revenue of NT$15.06 billion for last month, up 0.94 percent from a month earlier and 12.04 percent from a year earlier. The company said its information technology and consumer electronics business, which accounted for 56 percent of its total sales, posted annual growth of 15 percent in sales last month. That was thanks to healthy shipments of notebook PC power adapters and power supplies for gaming, as well as keyboards and mice, coupled with smooth delivery of laser models of multifunction peripherals, it said. The company’s optoelectronics, and cloud and artificial intelligence of things segments reported 8 and 5 percent increases in sales respectively. Due to solid demand from its core business, cumulative sales for whole of last year totaled NT$164.83 billion, up 4.91 percent from 2020.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new