- Several Apple suppliers are seeing major gains after iPhone power amplifier supplier Skyworks (SWKS +5.5%) and iPhone LCD driver IC supplier Synaptics (SYNA +10.6%) delivered their calendar Q4 reports yesterday afternoon - Skyworks beat estimates, while Synaptics (initially lower) missed on sales and beat on EPS.
- Both companies provided soft Q1 guidance (I, II) - Synaptics also suggested it's seeing weakness at multiple top smartphone OEMs . But with nearly every other iPhone supplier to have reported (not to mention Apple itself) having also guided light, shares are rallying nonetheless.
- Big gainers include mobile DRAM supplier Micron (MU +11.1%), microphone supplier Knowles (KN +11.2%), motion sensor supplier InvenSense (INVN +7.5%), audio codec chip supplier Cirrus Logic (CRUS +6.6%), NFC chip/motion co-processor supplier NXP (NXPI +5.9%), and RF chip suppliers/Skyworks rivals Qorvo (QRVO +6.8%) and Avago (AVGO +5.6%). The Nasdaq is up 1.8%.
- Micron could also be getting a lift from the market-pleasing reports delivered by hard drive giants Seagate and Western Digital, given Micron is exposed to many of the same end-markets as Seagate/Western.
Cirrus Logic is adding to the big Thursday gains seen after the company provided encouraging FY17 comments in its FQ3 earnings call. InvenSense has more than recovered the Thursday losses seen after the company provided soft FQ4 guidance and suggested it had lost share at Samsung.
- Possibly helping Synaptics out: When asked about M&A reports on the earnings call, CEO Rick Bergman didn't quite shoot them down. "[W]e're not going to comment on rumors or market speculation ... at the end of the day it is our job to maximize shareholder value so we'll listen to any great ideas that can do that and evaluate them appropriately."
Meanwhile, Bergman asserted Synaptics' TDDI (integrated touch controller/display driver) sales are due to ramp strongly thanks to numerous design wins at top LCD panel makers, and that its ClearForce pressure-response tech will be "a significant differentiator" for Synaptics' TDDI offerings.