| Author | Message | ||
     Entrepreneur Kurra Bewarse Username: Entrepreneur Post Number: 3355 Registered: 05-2011 Posted From: 65.35.45.47 Rating: N/A |
HIMX is a supplier of semiconductors and a market leader in display driver ICs and timing controllers used in TVs, laptops, monitors, mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, car navigation, virtual reality (VR) devices and many other consumer electronics devices. Himax also provides controllers for touch sensor displays, in-cell TDDI single-chip, LED driver ICs, power management ICs, scaler products for monitors etc. HIMX says the foundry industry appears to be going through a structural change in supply-demand for the mature process nodes - both 8" and 12". Himax is experiencing major foundry supply shortage in quite a few business areas, including TDDI and DDIC for smartphone, tablet and automotive applications as well as CMOS Image Sensor. For next year's wafer demands, Himax has secured with its foundry partners a capacity which is already larger than the total shipment for this year. In mid-November, Himax provided upbeat Q4 gross margin guidance mainly due to tight foundry capacity which results in better pricing and more favorable product mix. HIMX believes the current tightness is likely to persist throughout the next few years. The stock has been moving higher as these dynamics are leading to margin expansion, however, we see Himax as more on the speculative side given its somewhat small size and limited sell side coverage. |