Semiconductors

Nvidia would gain if watchdogs bite its Arm off

17 Nov 2021

A near-150% stock run for the graphics-chip maker has turned its $40 bln deal for Britain-based Arm into a $72 bln splurge. Regulators in the UK and elsewhere are alarmed. With Arm now implicitly valued far more highly than its peers, Nvidia could be better off solo.

TSMC’s global expansion will chip away at its edge

12 Nov 2021

The world’s biggest semiconductor maker is building a $7 bln plant with Sony in Japan, and it has similar U.S. plans underway. Diversifying production outside Taiwan offers a useful geopolitical hedge. The trade-off is higher costs, which threaten to erode its valuation premium.

Qualcomm struts an eye-catching post-5G look

3 Nov 2021

The $156 billion U.S. semiconductor giant has left M&A dramas and legal tangles largely behind. The firm is now making more money from producing chips than from royalties. Qualcomm is riding the 5G wave, but new boss Cristiano Amon has deal-driven growth in his sights, too.

Stellantis has chance to close in on Volkswagen

28 Oct 2021

Hit by a chip shortage, quarterly sales at the Jeep maker fell harder than at the $140 bln German giant. But its operating margin is better, and boss Carlos Tavares is tackling a weakness in battery electric cars. That should help Stellantis narrow a valuation gap with its rival.

Ford shareholders hit the accelerator too hard

28 Oct 2021

The $61 bln carmaker reinstated its dividend, boosted its earnings outlook and even overtook GM by revenue. That’s all good news, but doesn’t justify the after-hours share rally that widened the valuation gap with its larger rival. Ford is still losing the profit margin race.

Capital Calls: Apollo, god of basically everything

19 Oct 2021

Concise views on global finance: The asset manager firm’s new CEO Marc Rowan wants to oversee $1 trillion in funds by 2026. The market is at least giving him credit for trying.

GlobalFoundries is no chip off the TSMC block

5 Oct 2021

The Abu Dhabi-owned chip manufacturer has filed for a U.S. IPO. It has tailwinds thanks to industry capacity shortages and Western countries’ desire to produce semiconductors at home. But it’s plagued by persistent losses and a reported $25 billion valuation looks a stretch.

Europe’s chip champion can weather tech cold war

30 Sep 2021

ASML, which supplies machines to semiconductor makers, expects sales to grow 11% a year for a decade. That’s key to the Dutch company’s $310 bln market value. Despite restrictions on exports to China, countries seeking to secure chip supplies will provide an extra boost.

Alphawave crash exposes fragility of UK tech hype

30 Sep 2021

The chip designer’s market value halved after a media report raised fears about related party transactions. Its punchy $4 bln IPO in May was a high point of London’s push to attract startups. Even then, a reliance on a handful of customers left a worryingly thin margin for error.

Chip investment boom is just getting started

8 Sep 2021

Intel’s plan to invest up to $95 bln in Europe is the latest sign that the race is on to address global semiconductor shortages. Capital expenditure has risen, especially at giants like TSMC and Samsung Electronics, but is still short of the splurges that triggered past gluts.

Xiaomi is primed to scale Mount Microchip

26 Aug 2021

The $82 bln Chinese company shipped 53 mln handsets in the second quarter, overtaking Apple to become the world’s No. 2 producer behind Samsung. With greater heft, boss Lei Jun’s ambitions in semiconductors should be within reach soon. Favourable policies from Beijing will help.

Capital Calls: Amazon, Robinhood, GlobalFoundries

19 Aug 2021

Concise views on global finance: The e-commerce giant may open its own version of department stores; contrary to the stereoptype, Robinhood IPO buyers may be holding rather than flipping; a successful IPO by chipmaker GlobalFoundries would bolster the case for an Arm listing.

Capital Calls: Moderna, Qualcomm, US tax, ViacomCBS

5 Aug 2021

Concise views on global finance: The Covid-19 vaccine maker is looking past the pandemic; the telecoms group is offering $4.6 bln for Veoneer; U.S. Democrats are trying to close the carried-interest loophole; ViacomCBS is betting "South Park" can boost its streaming service.

European tech titans’ sweet spot may turn sour

21 Jul 2021

Both $300 bln ASML and $170 bln SAP upped their revenue-growth projections. They’re riding trends like soaring demand for chips and cloud computing. But much of the good news is already priced in to their expensive shares. The next surprise for investors may be less encouraging.

Capital Calls: BBQGuys go easy on the hot sauce

20 Jul 2021

Concise views on global finance: An e-commerce company for grill connoisseurs is going public via a blank-check company with a valuation that befits its side-dish status.

Capital Calls: Intel, SPAC lobby

16 Jul 2021

Concise views on global finance: Buying GlobalFoundries would boost Intel’s ambitions to make chips for other firms, but spinning it off afterward might please investors more; a new D.C. group sets up shop to defend the blank-check craze.

Taiwan’s top diplomat is a $567 bln chipmaker

15 Jul 2021

Tensions between Beijing and the self-ruled island are spiking amid vaccine squabbles and fighter jet sorties. Enter TSMC, whose economic and geopolitical clout has risen amid the semiconductor shortage. It could be Taipei’s best political advantage against a hostile neighbour.

China chip crash helps fine-tune tech policy

14 Jul 2021

Lavish government funds fuelled the rapid expansion of semiconductor darling Tsinghua Unigroup. It now faces bankruptcy with $31 bln of debt piled up. Letting it fail reflects Beijing's new, more selective strategy of developing industry champions. It may yield better results.

UK credibility on China inward M&A gets wafer-thin

8 Jul 2021

Britain’s government initially declined to review Chinese-owned Nexperia’s $87 mln deal to buy the country’s largest semiconductor plant. It has now U-turned, which makes sense given the world chip shortage. But the mixed messages hardly inspire confidence in the process.

Blocked Nvidia-Arm M&A would hit SoftBank hard

8 Jun 2021

CEO Masayoshi Son agreed to sell his chip designer to the U.S. giant for $40 bln. If governments or competition authorities scupper the deal, an IPO would be the obvious Plan B. Based on sector valuations, $20 bln may be a realistic public price tag, landing SoftBank with a loss.