Managing Director, Zero One, Zero One

Vincent Fernando, CFA

Managing Director, Zero One

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Intel and Brookefield Asset Management recently announced that they intend to jointly invest US$30 billion into building Intel foundries in Arizona, leveraging on the US CHIPS Act.</li>
<li>Although inflation and declining consumer demand continue to affect all chipmakers, U.S. strategic objectives and policies will set Intel on a new growth trajectory and competitive position in our view.</li>
<li>A Long Intel/ Short Taiwan semiconductor strategy present a compelling opportunity. We prefer Long Intel vs. Short UMC, however, we expect Long Intel vs. Short TSMC to also be profitable.</li>
</ul>


Intel and Brookefield Asset Management recently announced that they intend to jointly invest US$30 billion into building Intel foundries in Arizona, leveraging on the US CHIPS Act.
Although inflation and declining consumer demand continue to affect all chipmakers, U.S. strategic objectives and policies will set Intel on a new growth trajectory and competitive position in our view.
A Long Intel/ Short Taiwan semiconductor strategy present a compelling opportunity. We prefer Long Intel vs. Short UMC, however, we expect Long Intel vs. Short TSMC to also be profitable.


US CHIPS Act: Long Intel Vs. Short TSMC or UMC?

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>We look at where Taiwan tech sits in the cycle and which companies appear better or worse placed to weather the coming inventory correction.</li>
<li>Semiconductor inventory to sales and gross margins near record levels, hardware metrics are high as well but less extreme.</li>
<li>Formosa SUMCO, Macronix, Nanya Technology, Hon Hai Precision, and Flexium appear ahead of the inventory correction curve and well-placed as long positions for the current phase of the cycle.</li>
</ul>


We look at where Taiwan tech sits in the cycle and which companies appear better or worse placed to weather the coming inventory correction.
Semiconductor inventory to sales and gross margins near record levels, hardware metrics are high as well but less extreme.
Formosa SUMCO, Macronix, Nanya Technology, Hon Hai Precision, and Flexium appear ahead of the inventory correction curve and well-placed as long positions for the current phase of the cycle.


Taiwan Tech: Who's Ahead of the Inventory Cycle?

Equity Long-Short Analyst

Pyari Menon

<ul>
<li>Relative underperformance of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/intel-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16764:1" rel="noopener">Intel Corp (INTC US)</a>  versus <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/advanced-micro-devices-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19009:1" rel="noopener">Advanced Micro Devices (AMD US)</a>  over the last decade should reverse.  We discuss what it would take in the note.</li>
<li>Intel leads in number and quality of innovations versus AMD in core areas of Design and Manufacturing, but AMD's use of TSMC has been a huge part of AMD's outperformance</li>
<li>If Intel adapts to new realities and uses <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/taiwan-semiconductor-manufacturing-company" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:11230:1" rel="noopener">TSMC (2330 TT)</a>  for next-gen products, outperformance versus AMD is highly likely otherwise given TSMC's very significant lead in manufacturing very doubtful. </li>
</ul>


Relative underperformance of Intel Corp (INTC US)  versus Advanced Micro Devices (AMD US)  over the last decade should reverse.  We discuss what it would take in the note.
Intel leads in number and quality of innovations versus AMD in core areas of Design and Manufacturing, but AMD's use of TSMC has been a huge part of AMD's outperformance
If Intel adapts to new realities and uses TSMC (2330 TT)  for next-gen products, outperformance versus AMD is highly likely otherwise given TSMC's very significant lead in manufacturing very doubtful. 


Long Intel/Short AMD; Analysis of Technical Publications Suggests TSMC Will Play a Critical Role

Asia biased macro & technical analysis, Untying The Gordian Knot

Untying The Gordian Knot

Asia biased macro & technical analysis

A differentiated process with a primary focus on Asia. Technical Analysis as core and Macro drivers that could bring the view to fruition & changes that could make the idea fall apart. The objective is to be the best in class, hence corner shop.

Technical Analysis

<ul><li>While much focus has been on EURO/USD cross, Asian currencies haven’t seen that much focus due to range-bound markets.</li><li>That is until two weeks ago when the USD/YEN breakout caught the imagination and became the centre of all things foreign exchange. Bonds &amp; short-term interest rates have been the macro focus of 2022.</li><li>The extent to which US bond yields have risen signals that the bond sell-off is not about to end despite the inverted yield curve. It is likely to cause more pain for EM countries.</li></ul>

While much focus has been on EURO/USD cross, Asian currencies haven’t seen that much focus due to range-bound markets.That is until two weeks ago when the USD/YEN breakout caught the imagination and became the centre of all things foreign exchange. Bonds &amp; short-term interest rates have been the macro focus of 2022.The extent to which US bond yields have risen signals that the bond sell-off is not about to end despite the inverted yield curve. It is likely to cause more pain for EM countries.

Taiwan Tech Focused Senior Analyst

Patrick Liao

United Microelectron Sp Adr / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>It is continuing to raise wafer price, and revenue/GM to reach ~NT$58billion/~39% and NT$60billion/~41.5% in 4Q21/1Q22 respectively. </li>
<li>It will plan to add 5-8k 28nm production capacity in 12A Tainan during 2H22, and we consider it is to secure customers’ demands.</li>
<li>We do not see any sign to deteriorate for the 2nd half at this moment. </li>
</ul>


It is continuing to raise wafer price, and revenue/GM to reach ~NT$58billion/~39% and NT$60billion/~41.5% in 4Q21/1Q22 respectively. 
It will plan to add 5-8k 28nm production capacity in 12A Tainan during 2H22, and we consider it is to secure customers’ demands.
We do not see any sign to deteriorate for the 2nd half at this moment. 


UMC (UMC.US, 2303.TT): 1Q22 Earnings Preview- Continuous Growth

Taiwan

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. manufactures integrated circuits based on its proprietary designs.  The Company offers a comprehensive set of integrated circuit fabrication processes to manufacture CMOS logic, mixed-mode, volatile and non-volatile memory and BiCMOS chips.  Taiwan Semiconductor is an affiliate of Philips Electronics N.V.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) - ADR (TSM US)

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Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) - ADR (TSM US)

US CHIPS Act: Long Intel Vs. Short TSMC or UMC?

Intel plans to invest US$30bn into building foundries in the US. This could set Intel on a new growth trajectory and creates an opportunity for a...

Vincent Fernando, CFA

Taiwan Tech: Who's Ahead of the Inventory Cycle?

We look at where Taiwan tech sits in the cycle and which companies appear better or worse placed to weather the coming inventory correction.

Vincent Fernando, CFA

Long Intel/Short AMD; Analysis of Technical Publications Suggests TSMC Will Play a Critical Role

We analyze the relative innovation strengths of Intel and AMD in design and manufacture and how much ahead TSMC is in manufacturing innovations...

Pyari Menon

A powder keg

While much focus has been on EURO/USD cross, Asian currencies haven’t seen that much focus due to range-bound markets. That is until two weeks ago...

Untying The Gordian Knot

UMC (UMC.US, 2303.TT): 1Q22 Earnings Preview- Continuous Growth

UMC’s sales/GM would reach to ~NT$58billion/~39% and NT$60billion/~41.5% in 4Q21/1Q22 respectively, a bit higher than Bloomberg consensus of...

Patrick Liao

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