Tech Roundup: Chips and Chinese techs are in the sun
BING-JHEN HONG
Semiconductor companies grabbed a lot of the tech-sector spotlight this week as the world's biggest foundry had some big-name guests on hand to mark the start of a big new factory in Arizona.
Taiwan Semicondutor (NYSE:TSM) held the equivalent of a ground-breaking event at the site of a second chipmaking plant it is building outside of Phoenix. And Taiwan Semi (TSM) said it would boost its investment in the facility to $40B. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) were reported to be among the first customers to use chips from the plant when production begins in 2024.
And not wanting to miss a chance for some high-profile attention Taiwan Semi (TSM) had a host of dignitaries at it chip-plant event, including Apple (AAPL) Chief Executive Tim Cook and Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang. Oh, and U.S. President Joe Biden was there, too.
Apple (AAPL) was busy with other matters as well. Foxconn, which builds iPhones for Apple (AAPL) at a massive city-sized factory in Zhengzhou, China, said it was dropping its "closed loop" system that was instituted as part of an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the region. The practice included restricting workers to their dormitories or work facilities.
Meanwhile, reports emerged that said Foxconn's founder had urged Chinese officials to ease up on the country's "Zero-COVID" policies.
As China began to roll back its COVID restrictions, Chinese tech stocks such as Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), JD.com (JD) and Baidu (BIDU) put in a strong performance as investors found more enthusiasm for the sector.
While Chinese tech stocks got a lift, Salesforce (CRM) continued to stagger in the wake of its so-so sales outlook, and the departure of co-CEO Bret Taylor and other high-level executives. Salesforce (CRM) shares fell to their lowest point in almost three years.
Meta Platforms (META) also had a rough week as its shares took a hit due to a series of issues involving the company and the broader economy.
Netflix (NFLX) continued to ride high after its most-recent earnings as co-CEO Ted Sarandos told attendees at a UBS tech conference that the streaming TV leader expects to see growth return significantly in 2023. Netflix (NFLX) also got a lift as Wells Fargo analyst Steve Cahall raised his rating on the company's stock due to improvements in its customer base.
One of the biggest tech-sector acquisitions in recent years hit a snag that could derail the deal. The Federal Trade Commission filed suit to block Microsoft's (MSFT) $69B acquisition of videogame publisher Activision (ATVI) on the grounds that it would allow Microsoft (MSFT) to block competitors' access to the company's Xbox gaming console.
Separately, Microsoft (MSFT) and Nintendo reached a deal that would ensure Activision's Call of Duty game franchise will be available for Nintendo's gaming platforms for the next 10 years.
And, in case anyone was wondering was former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani was up to, well...He got sentenced to 13 years in prison for his role in the Theranos fraud.