Global semiconductor sales to see double-digit year-on-year increase as early as 1Q20

The global semiconductor industry has had a stellar run since the start of 2019. Looking ahead, we expect to see double-digit year-on-year sales growth by 1Q20, reversing the downtrend that has plagued the industry throughout 2019.

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  • Published on 26 Oct 2019

Global semiconductor sales to see double-digit year-on-year increase as early as 1Q20  | Open a FREE FSM account and manage all your investments conveniently in ONE place
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The share prices of semiconductor companies have had a stellar run so far, rising by more than 40% year-to-date. 
The industry is on the verge of a recovery as inventory levels normalise and chip sales start to rebound.
We expect the positive sales momentum to continue, and should produce double-digit year-on-year growth as early as 1Q20. 
TSMC, the bellwether stock of the industry, reported a strong set of 3Q19 result, raised its guidance for the next quarter, and increased its capex budget by 40%, a sign of better times ahead for chipmakers. 
Our target price for the Vaneck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SMH) is USD 158, which translates to a potential upside of 25% (as of 24 Oct 19).


Semiconductor stocks have had a stellar run year-to-date

Semiconductor stocks – measured by the Vaneck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SMH) – have had a stellar performance so far, rising by an impressive 41% that dwarfs the 19% delivered by the S&P 500 Index (Figure 1). 

Despite the remarkable overall performance, the industry has experienced its fair share of ups and downs along the way. The month of May, in particular, was an extremely challenging month for chipmakers, as a series of unfortunate events sent share prices diving, during which the SMH lost nearly -20% of its value in a matter of weeks.

Figure 1: On a total return basis, chipmaker stocks have outpaced the broader market by over 20% year-to-date 


The rout in May started when President Trump decided to raise tariffs on Chinese goods, on grounds that China was attempting to renegotiate the trade deal and were backsliding on commitments. This prompted the world’s largest exporter to retaliate in kind. The sudden escalation in trade tensions came as a surprise to investors, many of whom were expecting both countries to reach a trade deal soon, as the two sides seemed to have made good progress during trade talks held earlier in April. 

While markets were still reeling from the shock of the sudden escalation in trade tensions, President Trump announced that Huawei will be placed on the entity list, effectively banning the company from doing business with US firms. The ban had a profound impact on US chipmakers, as many of them are suppliers of Huawei. This double whammy sent share prices of US chipmakers on a downward spiral.

However, much has changed since the month of May as the share prices of semiconductor companies staged an incredible comeback, rallying behind a barrage of good news. On the trade front, both US and China expressed optimism after the latest round of negotiations, as both countries reportedly made substantial progress towards a “phase one trade deal” that could be signed as early as mid-November. 

Several chipmakers also reported better financial performance in their latest earnings report, with some citing lower inventory levels and stronger market demand. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSMC), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) are among the few that guided for better revenue numbers ahead. While share prices have already risen by over 40% year-to-date, we have reasons to believe that there is room for them to rise further, with strong sales momentum driving the next leg of the cycle.

The semiconductor industry is on the verge of a recovery 

The semiconductor cycle is characterised by fluctuating sales growth numbers, largely caused by distortions to supply and demand dynamics. After experiencing ten consecutive quarters of positive sales growth, semiconductor sales have begun to falter as manufacturers cut back on production and lowered average selling prices (ASP) in an effort to clear excess inventory accumulated over the previous cycle. 

This led to a down-cycle that started in 1Q19, and has continued over the course of the year, with sales growth falling by double-digits year-on-year. The latest sales growth data (3Q19) came in at -16%. We expect the trend of negative sales growth to continue for the remainder of 2019, before recovering by double digits in early 2020 (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Global semiconductor sales to see positive double digit year-on-year growth by 2Q20


Figure 3: Global semiconductor sales forecasted to increase by roughly 17% year-on-year in 2020


At this point in time, we are already observing several encouraging signs indicating that a recovery is underway. Global semiconductor sales, which bottomed out in March 2019, is now on an uptrend, with the latest monthly sales numbers coming in at USD 34.2 billion for August 2019 compared to USD 32.2 billion five months before.

Rising monthly revenue, higher capex and better forward guidance points to an impending recovery

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM), arguably the most important player in the global semiconductor value chain, delivered near-record high monthly revenues of TWD 102 billion in September 2019, exhibiting a trend very similar to global semiconductor sales (Figure 4). Due to its close correlation with global semiconductor sales, TSMC’s monthly revenue can be viewed as a leading indicator for the overall semiconductor industry.

Figure 4: TSMC’s monthly revenue is highly correlated with global semiconductor sales 


TSMC is the world’s largest foundry, and has business relations with almost every major fabless semiconductor company around the world. As such, TSMC is widely regarded as the industry’s bellwether stock, and its monthly revenue and capital expenditure (capex) plans are key metrics investors should pay close attention to when assessing the health of the overall semiconductor industry.

On top of that, TSMC reported a very strong set of result for 3Q19, another tell-tale sign of an impending recovery in the semiconductor cycle. Both revenue and net profit grew by 10.7% and 13.5% year-on-year respectively, beating consensus estimates. The management also expects a quarter-on-quarter revenue growth of approximately 9% for 4Q19.

More importantly, the company also announced plans to increase its capex by USD 4 billion for the remainder of 2019, bringing the total capex to USD 14-15 billion, up from the previously planned USD 10-11 billion. Out of the USD 4 billion, USD 1.5 billion will be allocated for expanding 7nm capacity, and the remaining USD 2.5 billion on 5nm capacity.

The heavy investment in the smaller node comes as the company is expecting the 5nm technology ramp to be even faster than 7nm, boosted by the growing demand for new technologies such as 5G infrastructure and high performance computing. The new capacity is expected to be ready by the second half of 2020. 

TSMC plans its capex according to a few factors, including its own assessment of the overall semiconductor industry, as well as customer demand. Customer demand is one of the more important factors TSMC considers, and is determined by working closely with each individual customer, understanding their capacity needs and actively monitoring their inventory levels. 

Thus, the fact that TSMC is planning for such a huge increase in capacity now is a sign that the company is confident of inventory levels normalising and demand returning in the near future. Based on these indicators, we believe that the industry is now on the verge of a recovery (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Based on several indicators, we believe that the industry is on the verge of a recovery


Factors that could derail the recovery 

While the overall health of the semiconductor industry has improved tremendously since the beginning of the year with many indicators pointing to a continuing recovery, investors should also be aware of the risk factors that could derail the industry’s current trajectory. 

Major economic events, such as a global recession or a financial crisis, could cause end user demand to collapse – as we have seen in the past – and this could potentially delay the recovery by a few quarters. Also, any escalation in the US-China trade war, especially if the US continues to target Chinese tech firms, could cause a slowdown in demand, which in turn, could negatively impact the US semiconductor industry as many of these Chinese tech firms source a portion of their chips from US-based companies.

However, as we have pointed out previously in the case of Huawei, the ban did nothing more than to temporarily depress share prices, allowing investors an opportunity to enter the market. This is because on a weighted-average basis, Huawei, the world’s largest manufacturer of networking gear, only accounts for less than 2% of the revenues for companies within SMH (Table 1). Moreover, with China still far from being able to develop its own semiconductors, it is likely that they will still have to rely on the US for the time being until its technology gets up to speed. 

Table 1: SMH constituents do not have significant exposure to Huawei
Company Weight (%) Exposure to Huawei (%)
Qorvo 0.88 15
Micron 4.18 13
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing 9.48 6.42
Broadcom  5.07 5.34
Skyworks Solutions  1.86 4.89
Analog Devices 4.16 4.77
Maxim Integrated Products 2.04 4.46
Qualcomm 7.04 2.63
Marvell Technology 2.08 2.59
STMicroelectronics 1.71 2.35
*Weighted average exposure to Huawei 1.98
Source: Bloomberg, Company Data, iFAST Compilations
*Excluding TSMC

25% upside expected by the end of 2020 

While share prices of semiconductor companies have risen quite a fair bit since the beginning of the year (Figure 1), we strongly believe that there is still room for further gains, especially as the industry emerges from a down-cycle, led by a gradual recovery in sales and an a further uplift in sentiment. Based on our estimates, we anticipate double-digit sales growth as early as 1Q20.

At this juncture, valuations still remain on the low end, with the MVIS US Listed Semiconductor 25 Index (MVSMHTR index) trading at just 13.2X 2020 earnings. Our USD 158 target price for the Vaneck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSE:SMH) is derived by applying an 18X multiple to our forecasted 2020 aggregate earnings per share for the semiconductor industry. Based on SMH’s closing price as of 24 Oct 2019, the industry offers a potential upside of roughly 25%.

As the world we live in continues to see more and more breakthroughs in technology, the demand for semiconductors will only grow further. Investors who truly believe in the long term growth story of the semiconductor industry should take this opportunity to invest before the upswing begins. Those who do will most likely see this investment turning out as one of their biggest winners in the years ahead. 

Figure 6: Share prices of semiconductor companies are closely tied to their earnings. 


Table 2: Strong earnings growth expected for 2020 and 2021 as the industry swings into an upcycle 
MVSMHTR Index 2018 2019 2020 2021
PE Ratio 16.9 19.3 13.2 11.6
Earnings Growth 44.80% -12.50% 45.90% 13.70%
EPS 138.3 121 176.6 200.7
Projected Fair Price - 2166.3 2955.9 3162.8
Potential Upside - -7.30% 26.40% 35.30%
Source: Bloomberg, iFAST Estimations



Declaration:

For specific disclosure, at the time of publication of this report, IFPL (via its connected and associated entities) holds a NIL position in the abovementioned securities. The analyst who produced this report holds a position in the abovementioned securities.

The Research Team is part of iFAST Financial Pte Ltd.



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