[ET Net News Agency, 13 November 2019] Jefferies Research raised its target price for
Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347) to HK$18 from HK$17.2 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house said Hua Hong's 3Q revenue and GPM were in line. Net profit beat by
3.5% due to government subsidy.
Major positives are (1) Utilization returned to 96.5%, driven by MCU (microcontroller
unit) strength from ETC (electronic toll collection) adoption in China, and (2) Power
discrete remained stable, thanks to localization demand. Major negatives are (1) Smart
card IC and general MOSFET demand remained weak, and (2) Wafer ASP came down 3.4% QoQ, due
to product mix.
Management's 4Q guidance are revenue growth of 1% QoQ and GPM of 26-28% (-4pp QoQ at
mid-point). Jefferies raised its FY2019/20 net profit forecasts by 16%/5.6% to reflect
government subsidy and FX gains. (KL)