Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), which designs application-specific ICs for other companies, yesterday saw its shares fall by the maximum daily limit of 10 percent for the fourth consecutive session after a key customer was blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security on Thursday last week.
Alchip on Tuesday said that it had stopped shipments to Chinese semiconductor company Phytium Information Technology Co (飛騰信息技術), which was placed on the US entity list along with six other Chinese companies.
However, the company’s share price yesterday, after continuing to fall, closed at NT$593, down 9.88 percent.
Photo: Aly Song, Reuters
Its share price has plunged 34.26 percent over the past four sessions, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
Yesterday, in a filing with the stock exchange regulator — required due to the volatility of the share price over the past few sessions — Alchip reported that net profit last month increased 85.75 percent year-on-year to NT$143 million (US$5.03 million), while revenue increased 66.06 percent to NT$1.033 billion.
Earnings per share last month were NT$2.05, up 70.45 percent from a year earlier, the company filing said.
In the first quarter, net profit increased 122.79 percent to NT$388 million from a year earlier, while revenue rose 74.92 percent to NT$2.66 billion, the company said.
Earnings per share in the first quarter jumped 98.03 percent to NT$5.68, it added.
Alchip, with 39 percent of its revenue coming from Phytium last year, on Tuesday said that this latest development could affect its revenue by as much as 25 percent this year.
The company — which forecast that revenue this year would still grow at least 20 percent from NT$7.08 billion last year — said that it is working with its US counsel to gain a clearer understanding of whether its products are subject to US export regulations.
A US Bureau of Industry and Security “permit will be obtained for Phytium’s products if necessary,” it added.
Yesterday, analysts at Capital Investment Management Corp (群益投顧) and Jih Sun Securities Investment Consulting Co (日盛投顧) said that they held a “neutral” rating on Alchip’s shares, as the company is expected to face headwinds in the near term in light of the Phytium ban, while revenue generated outside of China is unlikely to see a marked increase in the near term.
However, in the medium to long term, the company is still expected to benefit from rising demand for artificial intelligence and high-performance-computing chips, as well as the revenue contribution from 5 and 7-nanometer ASIC chips for data centers, analysts said.
Separately yesterday, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said that the nation’s chip companies would adhere to US rules after Washington last week added seven Chinese supercomputing entities to an economic blacklist.
“Our companies, whether producers or exporters, must comply with our country’s rules. Of course, the United States has new rules, and our companies will pay attention and comply with key criteria of the US rules,” Wang told reporters in Taipei.
Additional reporting by Reuters
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his