Asia and Global Semiconductor and Tech Research

Andrew Lu

Equity Bottom-Up

Vanguard Intl Semiconductor / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Shortage/Oversupply, price hike/cut, automotive/industrial demand and inventory corrections are still cyclical. Gross margin should double from 22-24% now once utilization returning to 100% and no more free wafer by 2025.</li>
<li>LCD driver foundry is facing a structural competition as China panel customers are building a local supply chain.</li>
<li>Attractive below NT$70 as: 1. inventory correction should be done by 2Q24; 2. global 8" foundry sales y/y improvement began 3Q23; 3. closing to cyclical low P/BV of 2.5x.</li>
</ul>


Shortage/Oversupply, price hike/cut, automotive/industrial demand and inventory corrections are still cyclical. Gross margin should double from 22-24% now once utilization returning to 100% and no more free wafer by 2025.
LCD driver foundry is facing a structural competition as China panel customers are building a local supply chain.
Attractive below NT$70 as: 1. inventory correction should be done by 2Q24; 2. global 8" foundry sales y/y improvement began 3Q23; 3. closing to cyclical low P/BV of 2.5x.


Why Is Vanguard Semi Becoming to a Bad Student, Cyclical or Structural?

Taiwan Tech Focused Senior Analyst

Patrick Liao

<ul>
<li>It remains cautiously optimistic for the 2024 outlook despite limited order visibility.  </li>
<li>The Vanguard wafer shipment has decreased by 8-10% QoQ, with the ASP declining by 0-2% QoQ. The GM for 4Q23F is projected to be 22-24%. </li>
<li>The smartphone and computing/NB/TV sectors have returned to normal levels.</li>
</ul>


It remains cautiously optimistic for the 2024 outlook despite limited order visibility.  
The Vanguard wafer shipment has decreased by 8-10% QoQ, with the ASP declining by 0-2% QoQ. The GM for 4Q23F is projected to be 22-24%. 
The smartphone and computing/NB/TV sectors have returned to normal levels.


Vanguard (5347.TT): The Smartphone and Computing/NB/TV Sectors Have Turned to Normal.

<ul>
<li>TSMC's manufacturing value only accounts for 1/4 of H100 HGX bill of materials but HBM3 accounts for more than half;</li>
<li>ABF substrate, SXM5 module, UBB and CCL vendors should be benefited, especially for Ibiden Co Ltd (4062 JP) on ABF substrate/OAM and Elite Material (2383 TT) on OAM/UBB CCL;</li>
<li>Nvidia AI GPU likely doubling each year in next two years; Our estimates on Nvidia 2025 AI GPU EPS contribution are exceeding Bloomberg consensus earnings estimates, suggesting room to raise.</li>
</ul>


TSMC's manufacturing value only accounts for 1/4 of H100 HGX bill of materials but HBM3 accounts for more than half;
ABF substrate, SXM5 module, UBB and CCL vendors should be benefited, especially for Ibiden Co Ltd (4062 JP) on ABF substrate/OAM and Elite Material (2383 TT) on OAM/UBB CCL;
Nvidia AI GPU likely doubling each year in next two years; Our estimates on Nvidia 2025 AI GPU EPS contribution are exceeding Bloomberg consensus earnings estimates, suggesting room to raise.


BOM Cost and CoWoS Demand Analysis on Nvidia AI GPU HGX for 2023-2025, Room to Raise Estimates

Managing Director, Zero One, Zero One

Vincent Fernando, CFA

Managing Director, Zero One

Zero One

Founded in 2015, Zero One produces independent investment research and provides corporate finance advisory services with a focus on both listed and private technology companies. Founder Vincent Fernando has over 20 years of experience in US and Asia capital markets.

Independent Investment Research

<ul>
<li>Intel's results last week beat expectations by a wide margin, with margins recovering better than expected by the Street and guided to keep improving through 4Q23E.</li>
<li>New Meteor Lake chips for PCs, branded as 'Intel Core Ultra' will officially launch December 14th and are expected to drive demand for new AI-optimized PCs in 2024E.</li>
<li>Intel said that the PC industry completed its inventory digestion in 1H23, drove sequential demand growth in 3Q23, and this is expected to continue into 4Q23E.</li>
</ul>


Intel's results last week beat expectations by a wide margin, with margins recovering better than expected by the Street and guided to keep improving through 4Q23E.
New Meteor Lake chips for PCs, branded as 'Intel Core Ultra' will officially launch December 14th and are expected to drive demand for new AI-optimized PCs in 2024E.
Intel said that the PC industry completed its inventory digestion in 1H23, drove sequential demand growth in 3Q23, and this is expected to continue into 4Q23E.


PC Monitor: Inventories Healthy & Intel Expects Over 100 Million AI PCs In Two Years

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>Both TSMC and UMC saw about 20% cut in automotive industry wafer sales in 3Q23, which was 20% worse than customers' guidance.</li>
<li>Reasons for discrepancies: 1. IDMs cut foundry orders but keep in house utilization higher; 2. Worse than expected US auto factories strike; 3. Rate hike results in worse car sales.</li>
<li>We suggest clients to be cautious on the investment of automotive supply chain for the next 3-6 months</li>
</ul>


Both TSMC and UMC saw about 20% cut in automotive industry wafer sales in 3Q23, which was 20% worse than customers' guidance.
Reasons for discrepancies: 1. IDMs cut foundry orders but keep in house utilization higher; 2. Worse than expected US auto factories strike; 3. Rate hike results in worse car sales.
We suggest clients to be cautious on the investment of automotive supply chain for the next 3-6 months


Top Foundries See Cut in Automotive Industry Wafer Sales, Implications

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)

Why Is Vanguard Semi Becoming to a Bad Student, Cyclical or Structural?

Why Is Vanguard Semi Becoming to a Bad Student? Some Cyclical or some Structural reasons for the weaknesses coupled with three reasons suggested...

Andrew Lu

Vanguard (5347.TT): The Smartphone and Computing/NB/TV Sectors Have Turned to Normal.

It remains cautiously optimistic for the 2024 outlook despite limited order visibility. The smartphone and computing/NB/TV sectors have returned...

Patrick Liao

BOM Cost and CoWoS Demand Analysis on Nvidia AI GPU HGX for 2023-2025, Room to Raise Estimates

After conducting our in depth bill of materials and CoWoS demand analysis on Nvidia H100 AI GPU HGX for 2023-2025, we conclude Bloomberg estimates...

Andrew Lu

PC Monitor: Inventories Healthy & Intel Expects Over 100 Million AI PCs In Two Years

New Meteor Lake chips launching in December are anticipated to boost demand for AI-optimized PCs in 2024. The PC industry's inventory digestion is...

Vincent Fernando, CFA

Top Foundries See Cut in Automotive Industry Wafer Sales, Implications

Top foundries see worse than expected automotive wafer sales, implying more automotive supply chain members are going to miss earnings expectation...

Andrew Lu

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