Morning morning,
2 points of interest today:
1. Infineon last night announced that they plan to invest € 2bn into a new factory in Kulim. This should significantly expand their GaN and SIC output. Should be positive for Aixtron and supports our thesis. "The fab will be ready for equipment in summer 2024". That means large orders for Aixtron equipment in H2-23 i suspect. I cannot identify from the press release the potential magnitude for Aixtron equipment orders.
www.infineon.com/cms/en/about-infineon/...NFXX202202-053.html2. Jefferies initiates coverage on Aixtron with 16€ target and Hold rating.
This is interesting, the analyst is ex Liberum where he was always an Aixtron bull. He starts his Semi coverage with a cautious view and some sell ratings (among others for Infineon). He talks about some cool-off in the industry in 2022/23 after strong growth in previous years. I think that is the main concern for the market at the moment, "peak semi capex" and resulting slower growth in the next years. That is why the stock is back at 16 in my opinion and no longer at 20-25 range. Obviously the negative sentiment in the Tech sector and rising US rates are not helping either.
And I can see his point, against those perceived risks, talking about potential 10% sales growth in 2022 will not really excite potential new buyers after strong growth in 2020/21. I think he also wanted to take a different position (and rating) than most other analysts who rate Aixtron Buy.
So in essence I think we might see the stock lingering a bit at current levels with good Q4 results and solid 2022 guidance (8-10% sales growth and slightly increasing margins?) against the headwinds named above.
I remain fundamentally very bullish, given the business opportunity and low valuation, but I am personally a bit concerend about a potential further sell-off in US stocks, in particular tech against rising US interest rates and a potential policy mistake by the FED... lets see. I may be wrong, but certainly issues to keep focus on.
Regards!
Fel
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