- Brean's Mike Burton left a talk with RF Micro (RFMD) IR chief Doug Delieto believing "some of the recent investor concerns about a ‘coming deterioration in pricing and/or margins’ looks like ‘healthy paranoia’ (we share the feeling, but it doesn’t look likely).”
- Meanwhile, CFO William Priddy stated he believes Qorvo, as RF Micro and TriQuint (TQNT) will be known post-merger, can hold its margins steady in calendar Q1 even if revenue falls 10%-15% Q/Q due to seasonality. He adds
- Burton adds TriQuint "continues to see tightness" in the BAW and TC SAW filter markets, and that "conversations with other supply chain management and investor reps lead us to believe that, for those that are exposed to Apple, this quarter is playing out as well or better than was expected." Avago's recent numbers point in the same direction.
- Rising Chinese 4G phone sales are also viewed as a tailwind, given the higher RF content of 4G devices relative to 3G counterparts. Fast-growing Xiaomi was TriQuint's 2nd-biggest BAW filter customer last quarter.
- RF Micro rose 3.5% in regular trading, and TriQuint rose 3.6%. The Philadelphia Semi Index was up 1.2%.