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☆ ASML China sales dip in Q1 but seen stronger next nine months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMSTERDAM, April 19 (Reuters) - Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS) expects sales to mainland China to pick up for the remainder of 2023 following a dip in the first quarter, it said on Wednesday. ASML's sales in mainland China, its third biggest market after Taiwan and South Korea, have been the subject of a high profile geopolitical tug-of-war. Dassen reiterated that would affect one slice of potential exports to mainland China, but demand from chip makers who make slightly older chips remains strong. "Domestic China accounts for more than 20% in our backlog," despite a dip in first quarter sales to about 8% of the company's total, he said in a statement accompanying the earnings. "That means you will see a significant pick up of the sales into domestic China for the quarters to come this year."

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Tesla, Las Vegas Sands, IBM and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Las Vegas Sands — The stock rose 4.3% after the casino and resort company issued quarterly results. The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.36, beating the consensus estimate of analysts polled by Refinitiv by 10 cents. For its fiscal fourth quarter, the company anticipates adjusted earnings of $5 per share and $3.1 billion in revenue. Zions reported earnings per share of $1.33, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.53, according to Refinitiv. Alphabet preliminarily reported between $108 million and $109.5 million in first-quarter revenue, while analysts polled by FactSet estimated $101.6 million.

☆ Morgan Stanley just revealed its best long-term stock picks in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Despite their underperformance in recent years, " quality" stocks have been persistent outperformers within European stock markets for decades, according to research from Morgan Stanley . The bank has revealed its "35 for 2025" list, featuring the bank's 35 best long-term picks in Europe. Notwithstanding recent price moves, quality stocks also look reasonably valued, with average relative valuations for the MSCI Europe Quality index below their 10-year average," Morgan Stanley's analysts, led by Giorgio Magagnotti, wrote in a note on Mar. British alcoholic beverage maker Diageo also makes an appearance, with Morgan Stanley confident of Diageo's ability to deliver "superior" growth. Within the semiconductor space, ASML is Morgan Stanley's top pick.

☆ Japan Restricts Semiconductor-Equipment Exports as Ties With China Chill
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Peter Landers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO—Japan said it would restrict the export of advanced semiconductor equipment, a measure that could hamper development of China’s industry and marks a further cooling of relations after the detention of a Japanese pharmaceutical-company employee in Beijing. Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will visit Beijing Saturday to meet with his Chinese counterpart, the Japanese government said Friday. It didn’t disclose the purpose of the visit, the first by a Japanese foreign minister to China since December 2019, but Tokyo has called for the quick release of the detained Japanese man.

☆ Japan Curbs Semiconductor-Gear Exports as Ties With China Chill
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Peter Landers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

REUTERS/Nacho DoceTOKYO/SEOUL, March 31 (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) is considering setting up a chip test line in Japan, five people said, to bolster its advanced packaging business and forge closer ties with Japanese makers of semiconductor equipment and materials. It would be the first such test line in Japan for Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips. Companies are racing to develop advanced packaging techniques, which involve placing chips with different functions into a single package, to enhance overall capabilities and limit the added cost of more advanced chips. The test line would involve the so-called back-end process of chipmaking, according to the five people, which refers to a process in which semiconductors are cut and assembled into products. Samsung last year set up an advanced packaging team in South Korea.

☆ Morgan Stanley has upgraded a raft of stocks to overweight — here are 5
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Despite the market volatility, Morgan Stanley upgraded a raft of stocks in March, including both U.S. and global picks. Here are five of the stocks upgraded by the investment bank: Pinduoduo Morgan Stanley upgraded Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo to an overweight rating in a Mar. Furthermore, Morgan Stanley said Pinduoduo's user base has enlarged "significantly," and user stickiness has strengthened. Meta Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from equal weight to overweight , and raised its price target to $250 – implying upside of 21%. Sarepta Therapeutics Morgan Stanley upgraded Sarepta Therapeutics to overweight with a price target of $187, giving the stock potential upside of 43%.

☆ A longtime bear is ‘creeping back’ into tech — and has some picks to play it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Tech investor Paul Meeks — an unabashed longtime tech bear — is also beginning to warm to the sector. "I'm creeping back into the sector after long advocating an underweight position in it," he said in notes to CNBC on Friday. Chip makers NXP Semiconductors and STMicroelectronics also made Meeks' list, with the tech investor saying they are two stocks that he "likes very much." Outside of semiconductors, Meeks is also looking at German software firm SAP . "Keep an eye on SAP because this windfall for them could be a really nice blessing, a game-changer," he added.

☆ Where Paul Wick, seasoned tech stock investor, is raising his bets now
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

So when a position opened up at the Seligman Communications and Information fund, the firm's then-chief investment officer asked Wick to take it over. Today, the Columbia Seligman Technology and Information fund (CCIZX) that Wick began running on New Year's Day in 1990, has $8.5 billion in assets under management. "It's really hard to guess how will the technology industry change in five years. By now, Wick has relationships going back decades in the tech industry. As of January, the Technology and Information fund held 2.96% of its assets in Bloom, up from 2.36% in October.

"This is an encouraging set of data, but still is only one month, and challenges remain." Global oil prices went higher, underlining how a strong Chinese recovery could fuel global inflation through increased energy demand. STUBBORN INFLATIONIn Europe, German data showed the fight against inflation still has some way to go. Factory activity continued to shrink in Taiwan and Malaysia in February, and expanded at a slower pace in the Philippines, surveys showed. Separate data showed South Korea's exports fell 7.5% in February from a year earlier, marking the fifth straight month of declines, partly due to a plunge in semiconductor exports.

☆ Asia's factory activity stalls, but China a bright spot
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

China's manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than a decade in February, according to an official index, while a private sector survey also showed activity rising for the first time in seven months. India and Australia saw economic growth slow in the quarter to December, and South Korea's exports fell in February for a fifth straight month, highlighting the pain slowing global demand was inflicting on the region's manufacturers. The region's weaker data underscores the challenge Asian policymakers face in reining in inflation with higher interest rates, without choking off their economic recoveries already facing pressure from the global economic slowdown, analysts say. Factory activity continued to shrink in Taiwan and Malaysia in February, and expanded at a slower pace than in January in the Philippines, surveys showed. Policymakers hope China's re-opening from COVID-19 curbs, and resilience seen so far in U.S. and European economies, will underpin global growth this year.

☆ Japan's factory output posts biggest fall in 8 months on weak autos, chips sectors
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Kantaro Komiya | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In contrast, retail sales posted their fastest growth in nearly two years, separate data showed, highlighting the divergent paths between soft manufacturing and robust service-sector activity. Factory output fell 4.6% in January from a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis, government data showed on Tuesday. Separate data showed Japanese retail sales rose 6.3% in January from a year earlier, beating a median market forecast for a 4.0% gain and posting an eleventh consecutive month of expansion. Despite the production cuts, retail sales of autos rose 19.3% year-on-year, suggesting strong pent-up demand among domestic consumers caused by delivery delays. Compared with the previous month, retail sales expanded 1.9% in January, following a 1.1% rise in December, the data showed.

☆ Wall St Week Ahead U.S. economic resilience could add luster to semiconductor shares
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index (.SOX) is up about 16% so far this year, dwarfing the 3% year-to-date gain for the S&P 500 (.SPX) and the Nasdaq Composite’s (.IXIC) 8.5% rise. With semiconductors a key component in countless products, some investors are betting economic strength could help the shares outperform. "If that’s the case, then I think semiconductors can do very well.”Of course, economic strength has been a double-edged sword for stocks lately. Semiconductor shares have pulled back recently along with broader markets on worries of a "no landing" economic scenario in which strong growth keeps inflation elevated and prompts the Fed to raise interest rates higher for longer. And if tighter Fed policy eventually brings on a recession in the second half of the year, as some fear, semis could suffer.

☆ Wall St Week Ahead: U.S. economic resilience could add luster to semiconductor shares
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

☆ Morgan Stanley: This semiconductor stock is soaring — and is set to rise another 20%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Investor interest in the semiconductor sector has rebounded in recent months with the iShares Semiconductor ETF up nearly 50% from its October lows. Shares in the Dutch firm have risen more than 23% year-to-date, but Morgan Stanley believes its rally still has legs. This gives the stock potential upside of over 20% to its price of around 628 euros on Thursday. Why ASML is a top pick Morgan Stanley said ASML is a "high-quality" name that dominates its segment. The semiconductor sector is notorious for its cyclicality and boom-bust cycles, but Morgan Stanley said 2023 will be a "recovery year" for semiconductors, as macro headwinds subside and demand for consumer devices remain sticky.

Taipei/Hong Kong CNN —Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company fell as much as 4% on Wednesday, after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it had sold most of its holdings in the chip giant. Just months before, in November, the company held about 60 million American depository shares of TSMC worth $4.1 billion, according to an SEC filing. Berkshire Hathaway did not provide a reason for the sale and did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. Shares in TSMC, which accounts for an estimated 90% of the world’s super-advanced computer chips, ended Wednesday more than 3% lower. TSMC announced last year that it’s building a second semiconductor factory in Phoenix and increasing its investment there.

☆ US-China trade defies talk of decoupling to hit record high in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Trade between the United States and China hit a record high in 2022, even as political tension heightened between the world’s top two economies. The bilateral goods trade between the countries rose to $690.6 billion last year, according to official US data, which was released Tuesday. Exports to China increased by $2.4 billion to $153.8 billion, while imports of Chinese products rose by $31.8 billion to $536.8 billion according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. “Supply chains are sticky, particularly those linked to China,” Nick Marro, lead analyst for global trade at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNN. In October 2022, his administration imposed sweeping new curbs designed to curtail China’s access to technology critical to its growing military power.

☆ 'The worst is over': Tech investors are bullish on investing in China again
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Liu Ranyang | China News Service | Getty ImagesTech investors say the worst is over as China reopens and exits its zero-Covid policy. The firm raised nearly $500 million for a new China tech fund set to close by early this year — more than earlier plans for $400 million. Tech companies see government supportInvestors are not worried of new challenges on the regulatory front. Gobi's Tang said, "I do think that they're going to do everything they can to try to spur the economic growth. "There's still a lot to catch up [in semiconductor tech] for China.

☆ Chip equipment maker MKS Instruments says it is investigating ransomware attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - MKS Instruments Inc (MKSI.O) said on Monday it was investigating a ransomware attack that occurred last week and affected the semiconductor equipment maker's production-related systems. The company said it was in the early stages of investigating the attack that it identified on Feb. 3, adding that costs related to the incident have not been determined. Ransomware is a form of malicious software deployed by criminals which works by encrypting data, with hackers offering the victim a key in return for payments. MKS said it would temporarily suspend operations at some of its facilities, as part of its containment efforts. Italy's National Cybersecurity Agency warned on Sunday that thousands of computer servers had been targeted by a global ransomware hacking attack targeting VMware (VMW.N) ESXi servers.

☆ Japan's chip equipment makers in the dark about new China export restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Japanese makers of semiconductor manufacturing machinery and materials used to make chips said on Monday they had yet to hear from Japan's government about export restrictions that could directly or indirectly affect their business in China. Without knowing the details of any new restrictions it is impossible to know their impact, he said. Its statement followed a Bloomberg report that the United States had secured a deal with the Netherlands and Japan. Among them was Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T), Japan's biggest semiconductor manufacturing machinery maker. Shares of Japanese semiconductor equipment makers were mostly flat on Monday, with Tokyo Electron up 0.68% while Advantest Corp (6857.T) fell 0.32%.

☆ ASML says ‘rules are being finalized’ on chip export controls to China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —ASML, a Dutch maker of semiconductor equipment, says “rules are being finalized” on export controls, amid reports that the Netherlands and Japan have joined the United States in restricting sales of some computer chip machinery to China. Bloomberg reported that the deal “would extend some export controls the US adopted in October” to Dutch and Japanese companies, including ASML (ASML), Nikon (NINOY) and Tokyo Electron. In recent months, the Dutch government has faced pressure from the United States to limit chip-related exports to China, particularly from ASML, according to Xiaomeng Lu, director of geo-technology at the Eurasia Group. It noted that it mainly sold “mature” products to China, and its most advanced lithography technology had already been restricted since 2019. Those machines had been prohibited from being sent to China because the Dutch government had “refused to grant it a license under US pressure,” Lu previously told CNN.

☆ Japan tightens Russia sanctions after deadly missile strikes in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Japan tightened sanctions against Russia on Friday following its latest wave of missile attacks in Ukraine, adding goods to an export ban list and freezing the assets of Russian officials and entities. The decision comes after Russia launched missile attacks in Ukraine killing at least 11 people on Thursday following a pledge by Germany and the United States to supply tanks that could help Ukraine counter any new Russian offensive. Among the new sanctions, Japan will prohibit shipments of items to 49 organizations in Russia from Feb. 3 that could be used to enhance its military capability. Those will include products ranging from water cannons, gas exploration equipment and semiconductor equipment to vaccines, X-ray inspection equipment, explosives and robots, the ministry said. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Tim Kelly Editing by Chang-Ran Kim, Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Dutch defence ministry advised against ASML exports to China in 2020 -FD
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Eva Plevier/File PhotoAMSTERDAM, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The Netherlands' defence ministry advised the government in 2020 not to allow semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV (ASML.AS) to export any of its most modern machines to China, Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad reported on Friday. The advice has been heeded, as ASML has not shipped EUV technology to Chinese customers. The publication comes as the Dutch government is weighing additional restrictions on ASML's exports of older equipment to China. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Jan. 17 he expected a "good outcome" to discussions with the United States on the matter after meeting with President Joe Biden in Washington. "In addition our most important strategic security partner, the United States, has made an urgent appeal to the Netherlands not to export the EUV technology to China."

☆ Dutch trade minister: won't summarily agree to U.S. rules on China exports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

AMSTERDAM, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The top Dutch trade official said the Netherlands will not summarily accept new U.S. restrictions on exporting chip-making technology to China, and is consulting with European and Asian allies. Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher spoke on Sunday on the television show Buitenhof ahead of a visit to the U.S. by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday, when he is expected to discuss export policy with President Joe Biden. The Netherlands' largest company is ASML Holding, a key supplier to semiconductor equipment makers. ASML has said that the U.S. rules could impact roughly 5% of its group sales. She said the Netherlands is also talking with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and France.

☆ Fund manager says a recession is ‘imminent’ — and names cheap stocks to play it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The yield curve is already signaling that a recession could be on the horizon. I think that's pretty clear," fund manager Steven Glass told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia" Monday. So, we think the bond market suggests that could likely be a recession in probably the next year," Glass added. An inverted yield curve occurs when interest rates on shorter-term U.S. Treasury bonds are higher than longer-term ones. With inflation likely to remain higher-for-longer in the near term and companies facing earnings pressure, Glass said he is focusing on companies with earnings visibility.

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