EQUITIES
TAEIX closes higher
The TAIEX closed higher yesterday even as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) remained weak amid lingering concerns over inventory adjustments in the global IC industry. Investors tended to exit large-cap tech stocks such as TSMC while buying into old economy stocks, including machinery companies involved in renewable energy development and companies holding large amounts of carbon credits, keeping the main board in positive territory. The TAIEX closed up 57.30 points, or 0.37 percent, at 15,636.48, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Turnover totaled NT$224.355 billion (US$7.29 billion), with foreign institutional investors buying a net NT$3.40 billion in shares on the main board, exchange data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners sell NT$38.13bn
Foreign institutional investors last week sold a net NT$38.13 billion of local shares after selling a net NT$30.30 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were AUO Corp (友達), China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) and Innolux Corp (群創), while the top three bought were Wistron Corp (緯創), Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子) and First Financial Holding Co (第一金控), the exchange said. As of Friday, foreign investors had bought NT$171.03 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of the shares held by foreign investors was NT$19.51 trillion, or 39.93 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
SHIPBUILDING
Jong Shyn wins defense bid
Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Co (中信造船) has won a Ministry of National Defense tender to build prototypes of two light frigates, the company said on Monday. It secured the contracts, valued at NT$9.05 billion, after two rounds of bidding and a review by the navy to build an anti-air light frigate and an anti-submarine light frigate, Jong Shyn said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing. Local media reported that the firm would start building the prototypes in the first half of this year, with delivery scheduled for October 2026. Jong Shyn, which is listed on the Emerging Stock Board, posted consolidated sales of NT$305 million in March, up 2.46 percent from a year earlier. In the first quarter of this year, its cumulative sales were NT$789 million, down 28.24 percent from a year earlier.
SEMICONDUCTORS
GlobalWafers’ net profit falls
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said gross margin fell to 40.6 percent in the first quarter, down 2.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, due to rising electricity and depreciation costs. While first-quarter revenue rose 1.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$18.62 billion on the back of robust demand in the automotive and industrial sectors, net profit fell 13.7 percent to NT$5 billion, or earnings per share of NT$11.49, the company said. Its 8-inch and 12-inch wafer plants operated at a higher utilization rate of at least 95 percent in the first quarter, and it could remain above 90 percent in the second quarter despite some expected headwinds, it said. The company said it is cautiously optimistic about the market outlook for the second half of the year. Its board of directors proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$9.5 per share for the second half of last year, with a total payout of NT$4.13 billion.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
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