Semiconductors mixed even as Mobileye jumps on strong Q3, guidance
sankai
Semiconductors were mixed in early trading on Wednesday, even as Mobileye (NASDAQ:MBLY) spurred optimism amongst investors after it reported strong third-quarter results and guidance.
Intel (INTC), which spun off part of Mobileye (MBLY) in late October, saw its shares fall nearly 1% shortly before 11 a.m. EST, while other chip companies, such as Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Micron Technology (MU) fell a similar amount.
The CEOs of Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Micron Technology (MU) attended an event on Tuesday that saw semiconductor foundry Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) announce an expansion of its Arizona plant, more than tripling its investment to $40B.
At the event, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) Chairman Mark Liu said he sees $10B in revenue coming from the Arizona plant, as more than 600,000 wafers will go to the aforementioned companies, as well as other clients such as Apple (AAPL).
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) shares fell slightly less than 1% to $78.95 in early Wednesday trading.
Apple (AAPL) suppliers Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Qorvo (QRVO) and Qualcomm (QCOM) oscillated between fractional gains and losses even as Morgan Stanley lowered its iPhone shipment forecast for the present quarter for the second time in less than a month, citing issues with the supply chain out of China.
Mobileye (MBLY) shares rose more than 7.7%, though off their best levels of the session, after the Israeli-based semiconductor company said it lost 6 cents per share during the third-quarter on $450M in sales. Analysts were expecting a loss of 10 cents per share on $447.19M.
The company added that its backlog continues to grow through October 1, with projections of more than 54M systems by 2030.
It generated $395M in cash from operating activities during the 9 months ended October 1, but added that adjusted gross margin and adjusted operating margins fell 380 and 720 basis points, respectively, in the third-quarter, compared to the year-ago quarter.
Looking ahead, Mobileye (MBLY) expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between $525M and $545M, with adjusted operating income between $169M and $184M.
On Monday, investment firm Tigress started coverage on Mobileye (MBLY), with a buy rating, noting its "leading position" in both advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicle technology.