Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), one of the world’s leading contract notebook computer makers, yesterday reported that its net profit last month was flat from a year earlier at NT$3.87 billion (US$123.44 million), but totaled nearly 60 percent of the profit it made in the first quarter.
The company earned NT$1 per share last month, while revenue declined 27.1 percent year-on-year to NT$90.18 billion, Quanta said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
In the first quarter, Quanta’s net profit decreased 4 percent year-on-year to NT$6.47 billion, with earnings per share of NT$1.68, while revenue fell 12 percent to NT$266.18 billion, it said.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Quanta, also a major artificial intelligence (AI) server maker, released its earnings and revenue data at the request of the stock exchange regulator due to an unusual spike in its stock price.
Its shares surged 10 percent to close at NT$248.5 in Taipei trading yesterday, the highest in 23 years.
They have jumped 243.71 percent since the beginning of the year, as investors expect the firm, along with several other local computer hardware makers, to benefit from the increase in AI server adoption by US cloud service providers, such as Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.
Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday forecast that Quanta would secure a share of up to 25 percent of the global AI server market this year, with shipments of 43,000 units.
Shipments next year would likely rise to 99,000 units, Yuanta said in a note, adding that as the average selling price of AI servers is much higher than that of traditional servers, they would significantly contribute to Quanta’s revenue.
Yuanta predicted that Quanta’s AI server sales would grow 139 percent year-on-year to NT$160 billion this year, and increase 129 percent to NT$366.4 billion next year, contributing to 13 percent and 22 percent of the firm’s total sales over the period respectively.
Quanta’s revenue growth would also be driven by its automotive products, such as electronic control units, center consoles, in-vehicle entertainment devices and advanced driver-assistance systems, which have cut into tier-1 supply chains in the US, Europe, and Japan, Yuanta said.
The consultancy estimated that Quanta’s sales in the auto sector would grow 18 percent year-on-year this year and increase 51 percent annually next year.
Given the positive long-term growth outlook for automotive and server demand, Yuanta raised its 12-month target price on Quanta to NT$300, the note said.
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