EQUITIES
TAIEX falls 313.27 points
The TAIEX yesterday fell more than 300 points, after concerns over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine drove heavy losses on US markets at the end of last week. Selling occurred across the board, with investors dumping liquid large cap tech stocks in the bellwether electronics sector, in particular in the semiconductor industry, pushing the main board below 18,000 points. The TAIEX closed down 313.27 points, or 1.71 percent, at 17,997.67. The electronics sector led the downturn, falling 2.19 percent, with the semiconductor subindex down 2.30 percent. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$259.44 billion (US$9.31 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$20.67 billion of shares, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners invest NT$15.5bn
Foreign investors last week bought a net NT$15.5 billion of local shares in the first week after the Lunar New Year holiday, compared with a net NT$62.08 billion of shares sold prior to the week-long holiday, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$22.17 billion of local shares from the beginning of this year, it said. Last week, the top three shares that foreign investors bought were EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) and CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控), while the top three sold were United Microelectronics Corp (聯電), Innolux Corp (群創) and Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), the exchange said. As of Friday, the market cap of shares held by foreign investors was NT$24.8 trillion, or 43.72 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
UMC halts some production
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said that operations at its subsidiary in Suzhou, China, have been partially suspended after a factory worker tested positive for COVID-19. UMC said in statement that it would gradually suspend production at the unit run by HeJian Technology (Suzhou) Co (和艦科技) to assist local authorities in screening all workers for COVID-19, after which full operations would resume. UMC said it remained upbeat about its first-quarter sales despite the incident, given that HeJian’s monthly production only accounted for about 5 percent of the company’s total revenue. UMC also predicted that its first-quarter shipments would remain stable, and that product prices and gross margin would also rise.
PLASTICS
FPG posts mixed results
The four major subsidiaries of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) yesterday posted mixed revenue results for last month, as rising global crude oil prices boosted sales at Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC, 台塑石化) and Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠), while the Lunar New Year holiday and low seasonal demand dragged down sales at Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC, 台灣塑膠) and Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC, 台灣化學纖維). FPCC reported that revenue increased 5.7 percent month-on-month to NT$64.42 billion as revenue from its refining business increased 4.5 percent and naphtha cracking grew 15.7 percent. Nan Ya’s revenue rose 2.1 percent to NT$35.27 billion, but FPC’s sales declined 5 percent to NT$23.93 billion, while FCFC registered a 3.1 percent revenue drop to NT$30.31 billion.
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
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