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Japan's Kioxia and U.S. chipmaker Western Digital have been hit hard by plunging market demand and oversupply. Combining their flash memory businesses could boost competitiveness against rivals like South Korea's Samsung Electronics (005930.KS). Western Digital did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Kioxia, previously Toshiba Memory, was sold by Toshiba Corp (6502.T) in 2018 to a consortium led by Bain Capital for $18 billion. Kioxia and Western Digital were in merger talks in 2021 before the negotiations stalled over a series of issues including valuation discrepancies.

☆ Micron Revives Some of Its Worst Memories
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Even during sharp downturns, chip makers can’t fully shut down all their fabrication facilities. Micron Technology Inc.’s latest results give new meaning to the phrase “darkest before the dawn.”The memory-chip maker said late Tuesday that fiscal second-quarter revenue plunged 53% from a year earlier to about $3.7 billion. That follows a 47% drop the previous quarter, and the company projected a 57% slide for the current period that ends in May. The memory business has long been one of volatile swings, but Micron hasn’t seen a sustained sales downturn of the same degree since the industry was reeling from the dot-com crash in 2001, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Operating losses were also $2.3 billion—the most Micron has ever lost in a single quarter.

☆ Samsung Expects Sluggish Demand to Drag On as Profit Slides
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jiyoung Sohn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SEOUL— Samsung Electronics Co. expects demand for semiconductors and smartphones to remain sluggish as macroeconomic challenges and fears of a recession continue to hurt sales, but it said a recovery could be possible in the second half. Economic uncertainties are weakening momentum for any short-term rebound in demand for memory chips, Samsung’s main cash cow, said Kim Jae-june, executive vice president for global sales and marketing at the company’s memory business, in an earnings call on Tuesday.

☆ Samsung Expects Sluggish Demand to Continue After Posting 69% Drop in Profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jiyoung Sohn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The dismal profit estimate by the world's largest memory chip, smartphone and TV maker - a bellwether for global consumer demand - sets a weak tone for other technology firms' quarterly results. Samsung's profits are expected to shrink again in the current quarter, analysts said, after the South Korean company announced its October-December operating profit likely fell 69% to 4.3 trillion won ($3.37 billion) from 13.87 trillion won a year earlier. It was Samsung's smallest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2014 and fell short of a 5.9 trillion won Refinitiv SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate. Quarterly revenue likely fell 9% from the same period a year earlier to 70 trillion won, Samsung said in a short preliminary earnings statement. Shares of rival memory chip maker SK Hynix (000660.KS) rose 2.1%.

The world's largest memory chip, smartphone and TV maker estimated its profit slumped to 4.3 trillion won ($3.37 billion) in October-December from 13.87 trillion won a year earlier. It was Samsung's smallest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2014 and fell short of a 5.9 trillion won Refinitiv SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate. Revenue likely fell 9% from the same period a year earlier to 70 trillion won, Samsung said in the short preliminary earnings release. Samsung said that memory chip prices also declined throughout the quarter due to increased inventory at memory suppliers, leading to a greater-than-expected drop in chip prices. Its mobile business profit declined in the fourth quarter as smartphone sales and revenue decreased due to weak demand resulting from prolonged macroeconomic issues, Samsung added.

☆ Samsung Elec to expand chip production at largest plant next year - media
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) plans to increase chip production capacity at its largest semiconductor plant next year, despite forecasts of an economic slowdown, a South Korean newspaper reported late on Sunday. Samsung plans to expand its P3 factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, by adding 12-inch wafers capacity for DRAM memory chips, the Seoul Economic Daily reported, citing unnamed industry sources. It will also expand the plant with additional 4-nanometre chip capacity, which will be made under foundry contracts - that is, according to clients' designs - the paper said. P3, which started production of cutting-edge NAND flash memory chips this year, is the company's largest chip manufacturing facility. In October it said it was not considering intentionally cutting chip production, defying the broader industry's tendency to scale back output to meet mid- to long-term demand.

☆ Goldman Sachs downgrades Western Digital, says stock can tumble nearly 15% in memory industry downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

It's time to offload shares of Western Digital as the memory industry faces a severe slowdown, according to Goldman Sachs. Analyst Toshiya Hari downgraded the chip stock to sell from neutral in a note to clients Thursday, citing high inventory and slowing demand in the NAND flash memory business. The stock tumbled nearly 6% before the bell Thursday. Along with the downgrade, Hari trimmed estimates and cut the bank's price target on the stock to $31, implying more than 13% downside from Wednesday's close. In the same note, Hari reiterated Goldman's buy rating on Micron Technology , citing favorable tailwinds in the dynamic access memory, or DRAM business, which creates chips to store data within memory cells.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Netflix, Snap, Warner Bros. Discovery, AT&T, Novavax and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Netflix — Netflix tumbled more than 9% following a report from Digiday that said the streaming stock's early-stage advertising business is missing viewership targets. Verizon , AT&T — The communication technology stock added 1% after Morgan Stanely upgraded it to overweight from equal weight, saying its shares were attractive compared with historical levels. AT&T shares fell more than 2% following a separate downgrade from Morgan Stanley that cited the stock's recent outperformance. Madison Square Garden Entertainment — Shares rose more than 2% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to equal weight from underweight. Lockheed Martin — Shares dropped 1.5% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from overweight to equal weight, saying its outperformance should somewhat cool in 2023.

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