Semiconductors – Limiting Factors; Supply Chain & Talent- Will Limit Stock Upside

Semiconductors – Limiting Factors; Supply Chain & Talent- Will Limit Stock Upside
by Robert Maire on 10-07-2021 at 6:00 am

Semiconductor shortage

– If chips are “as good as it gets” so are the stock prices
– Are we at a near term ceiling that stocks have bounced off of?
– If growth slows do valuations also slow?
– Are we in a holding pattern waiting for a down cycle?

Second order derivative investing

As we have said many times in the past, investors… Read More


Lam Research performing like a Lion – Chip equip on steroids

Lam Research performing like a Lion – Chip equip on steroids
by Robert Maire on 04-29-2021 at 10:00 am

NASDAQ LRCX LAM

– Business is about as good as it gets- $75B WFE in 2021?
– China remains strong at 32% despite SMIC lack of license
– NAND remains 48% of revs versus 31% foundry
– DRAM steady @ 14% – Service was record $1.3B

Strong results in a strong market

Lam reported revenues of $3.85B and EPS of $7.49 for the March… Read More


Coronavirus Remains Good for Semiconductors but not China

Coronavirus Remains Good for Semiconductors but not China
by Robert Maire on 10-24-2020 at 6:00 am

COVID Semiconductors
  • LCRX puts up a solid QTR and slightly soft guidance
  • China Concerns weigh on future but COVID remains driver
  • Memory spend could be better & help offset China
Solid September Quarter

Lam reported Non GAAP EPS of $5.67 versus $5.19 street and Revenues of $3.18B which was $70M better than street expectations. Lam obviously does … Read More


Is a US Semiconductor Manufacturing Revival on the Way?

Is a US Semiconductor Manufacturing Revival on the Way?
by Anish Tolia on 08-13-2020 at 9:00 am

Is a US Semiconductor Manufacturing Revival on the Way

Two bits of recent news has excited people in the semiconductor manufacturing space. First TSMC (bit.ly/384joVr) announced their intention to invest $12 B dollars in a Fab in Arizona. Then came the Corona-driven bipartisan proposed $23B federal government investment in semiconductor manufacturing (nyti.ms/2YZzFqnl). … Read More


LRCX Strong Beat and Guide

LRCX Strong Beat and Guide
by Robert Maire on 08-02-2020 at 6:00 am

Robert Maire

Lam reported strong beat & guide, memory returns-
China trade and Covid impact near zero-
Looking at a strong H2 with WFE in mid $50B+-

Back on Cruise Control

Lam reported a great quarter, easily beating expectations coming in at $2.79B and $4.78 in non GAAP EPS-
Guide is for $3.1B +-$200M and EPS of $5.06+-$0.40-
Margins and all… Read More


Comparing Applied Materials with Lam Research

Comparing Applied Materials with Lam Research
by Robert Castellano on 10-13-2019 at 8:00 am

Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) will announce its quarterly earnings on October 23, 2019, and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) the following month on November 14, 2019. Both companies make equipment used to manufacture semiconductor devices. While private and institutional investors often own both individual stocks, this article… Read More


Semiconductor Equipment Revenues To Drop 17% In 2019 On 29% Capex Spend Cuts

Semiconductor Equipment Revenues To Drop 17% In 2019 On 29% Capex Spend Cuts
by Robert Castellano on 04-25-2019 at 7:00 am

The semiconductor equipment market grew 37.3% in 2017 on the heels of capex spend by memory companies in order to increase bit capacity and move to more sophisticated products with smaller nanometer dimensions. Unfortunately these companies overspent resulting in excessive oversupply of memory chips. As memory prices started… Read More


ASML and Memory Loss 2019

ASML and Memory Loss 2019
by Robert Maire on 01-25-2019 at 7:00 am

ASML reported a more or less in line quarter as expected, coming in at EUR3.14B in revenues and EPS of EUR1.87. However, guidance was worse than most analysts were expecting with Q1 revenues expected to be EUR2.1B or down about one third.

This cut is something we have been talking about for a while as we have expected sharp memory CAPEX… Read More


Apple as Apex of chip industry portends weaker 2019

Apple as Apex of chip industry portends weaker 2019
by Robert Maire on 01-04-2019 at 7:00 am

On the first day of trading in the new year Apple just announced, after the close, that revenues will be lower than previously expected coming in at $84B versus the expected range of $89B to $93B and analyst estimates of the current quarter at $91.5B. Ugly….. The blame was laid squarely on China as slowing sales and trade tensions… Read More


The Shape of Semiconductor Things to Come

The Shape of Semiconductor Things to Come
by Robert Maire on 10-15-2018 at 7:00 am

Given that the semiconductor industry is clearly in the midst of a down cycle (even though there are cycle deniers, also members of the flat earth society…), most investors and industry participants want to know the timing of the down cycle and the shape of the recovery as we want to know when its safe to buy the stocks again. … Read More