Embedded microprocessor intellectual property (IP) supplier Andes Technology Corp (晶心科技), a subsidiary of leading Taiwanese integrated circuit designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科), saw its shares soar on the company’s Taiwan Stock Exchange debut yesterday.
Buying was fueled by hopes that MediaTek would place more orders with the subsidiary, boosting its sales, while many investors have been attracted by the high profit margin enjoyed by the supplier, dealers said.
Andes shares rose 191.09 to close at NT$189.5 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, whie the TAIEX ended up 0.48 at 9,744.21.
Shares soared about 107 percent from their issue price of NT$65.1 soon after the main board opened and continued to rise until the close of trading.
“Many investors chased Andes shares because of its rich parent — MediaTek — in the hope that Taiwan’s largest IC designer will continue to patronize its subsidiary,” Hua Nan Securities Co (華南永昌證券) analyst Kevin Su (蘇俊宏) said.
MediaTek chairman Tsai Ming-kai (蔡明介) is also chairman of Andes.
Apart from intellectual property used in communications chips, smartphone touch chips and storage chips, Andes said it also supplies products for the Internet of Things, automotive electronics and Internet equipment.
According to Andes, eight of the top 15 IC designers in Taiwan are its customers, with MediaTek being the largest, while three of the 10 leading IC design houses in South Korea are also placing orders.
Andes said it has secured orders from IC designers owned by large telecom operators and home-appliance firms in Japan and from Internet equipment suppliers in the US, with more than 165 sales contracts.
Andes said in its main board listing prospectus that it generated 66.37 percent of its sales in the domestic market and the remainder overseas.
The company is the fifth-largest intellectual property supplier in the world after ARM, Synopsys, Imagination and Cadence.
“Strong interest in Andes shares reflects its high profit margin, since an IP supplier has no need for production, but receives royalties on products it provides. I think the listing will prompt institutional investors to follow the shares,” Su said.
Andes said its gross margin is more than 98 percent.
Andes shares were previously traded on the emerging market from Aug. 6, 2015.
The popular Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) arbitrage trade might soon see a change in dynamics that could affect the trading of the US listing versus the local one. And for anyone who wants to monetize the elevated premium, Goldman Sachs Group Inc highlights potential trades. A note from the bank’s sales desk published on Friday said that demand for TSMC’s Taipei-traded stock could rise as Taiwan’s regulator is considering an amendment to local exchange-traded funds’ (ETFs) ownership. The changes, which could come in the first half of this year, could push up the current 30 percent single-stock weight limit
EARLY TALKS: Measures under consideration include convincing allies to match US curbs, further restricting exports of AI chips or GPUs, and blocking Chinese investments US President Donald Trump’s administration is sketching out tougher versions of US semiconductor curbs and pressuring key allies to escalate their restrictions on China’s chip industry, an early indication the new US president plans to expand efforts that began under former US president Joe Biden to limit Beijing’s technological prowess. Trump officials recently met with their Japanese and Dutch counterparts about restricting Tokyo Electron Ltd and ASML Holding NV engineers from maintaining semiconductor gear in China, people familiar with the matter said. The aim, which was also a priority for Biden, is to see key allies match China curbs the US
Teleperformance SE, the largest call-center operator in the world, is rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) system that softens English-speaking Indian workers’ accents in real time in a move the company claims would make them more understandable. The technology, called accent translation, coupled with background noise cancelation, is being deployed in call centers in India, where workers provide customer support to some of Teleperformance’s international clients. The company provides outsourced customer support and content moderation to global companies including Apple Inc, ByteDance Ltd’s (字節跳動) TikTok and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. “When you have an Indian agent on the line, sometimes it’s hard
‘SACRED MOUNTAIN’: The chipmaker can form joint ventures abroad, except in China, but like other firms, it needs government approval for large investments Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp. Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back