Business

Semiconductor sales up 1.1% 2022 macroeconomic factors and supply chain issues

Published

2 months ago

January 29, 2023

automatischer Roboter für Leiterplatten (<a href= — Kynny

Global semiconductor sales increased by 1.1% in 2022 to a total of USD 601.7 billion compared to the previous year. according to preliminary Gartner reports.

Memory was the underperforming device category, accounting for around 25% of semiconductor sales in 2022, and saw sales decline by 10%. Non-memory revenue grew 5.3% in 2022. The strongest growth came from analogue up 19%, closely followed by Discrete up 15%.

Samsung electronics (OTCPK:SSNLF) (OTCPK:SSNNF) occupies a 10.9% market share, while Intel (INTC) takes second place with a 9.7% market share.

“2022 began with shortages of many semiconductor devices, leading to extended lead times and rising prices, leading to reduced production of electronic devices for many end markets. As a result, OEMs began to hedge against shortages by hoarding their chip inventories,” said Andrew Norwood, VP Analyst at Gartner. “However, in the second half of 2022, the global economy began to slow under the strain of high inflation, rising interest rates, higher energy costs and ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns in China, impacting many global supply chains. Consumers also started cutting back on spending, with demand for PCs and smartphones suffering, and then companies started cutting back on spending in anticipation of a global recession, all of which impacted overall semiconductor growth.”

Separately, Smartphone shipments down 18% in Q4, sharpest decline in nine years.

Expectations for 2023 also look bleak, with a 3% decline expected as the economy deteriorates and consumer demand is weak.

Some of the best semiconductor ETFs include: VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH); iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX); SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD); Invesco Dynamic Semiconductors ETF (hp); ProShares Ultra Semiconductors (USD); First Trust Nasdaq Semiconductor ETF (FTXL).

Top Semiconductor Names: Intel (INTC); Micron technology (mu); Texas Instruments (TXN); Qualcomm (QCOM); NXP Semiconductors (NXPI); microchip technology (MCHP); Applied materials (AMAT); Sam

Up Next

7 tips to succeed as newbie manager

Don't Miss

Will I Owe Capital Gains Taxes on Irrevocable Trusts?

Click to comment

Business

Rocket Lab targets Neutron launch price to challenge SpaceX

Published

32 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

rocket lab is building a larger, reusable launch vehicle called the Neutron and is targeting a price near $50 million per launch to challenge it Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“We are positioning Neutron to compete head-to-head with the Falcon 9,” Rocket Lab’s chief financial officer Adam Spice said earlier this week while speaking at a Bank of America event in London on Tuesday.

The company announced Neutron when it went public in 2021, with Spice saying the rocket remains on track to debut in 2024 its fourth quarterly report last month, Rocket Lab said it has begun production of Neutron’s first armor structures, as well as construction of the launch pad for the rocket. The company plans to conduct the first “hot-fire test” of an Archimedes engine that will power Neutron “by the end of the year,” Spice said.

Sign up here to receive weekly issues of Centre County Report’s Investing in Space newsletter.

SpaceX is touting a $67 million Falcon 9 launch, and Spice says Rocket Lab is aiming to match that on a cost-per-kilogram basis for satellite customers. That means Neutron is “targeting a launch service cost of $50 million to $55 million,” Spice said.

Spice also noted that Rocket Lab expects to fly the reusable Neutron boosters “10 to 20 times” each, within range of the current reusable performance of a Falcon 9 booster.

“We ultimately expect margins on Neutron launches to be in the range of about 50%,” added Spice. He estimated the commodity cost of each neutron at $20–$25 million, with “nearly half of that” coming from the rocket’s upper, non-reusable second stage.

Additionally, with SpaceX pushing hard to develop its massive Starship rocket, Spice alluded to the potential for the company to veer away from flying Falcon 9 missions.

“We don’t have any hard data on that, but if that were to happen, that would certainly be an incredibly optimistic thing for Neutron,” Spice said.

In the meantime, Spice said Rocket Lab aims to maintain its position as the “dominant player” in the small satellite launch market sub-sector with its Electron vehicles. The company expects to launch three Electron missions in the second quarter, two of which have already been completed, and is “on track” to launch 15 missions this year, Spice said.

More than rockets

Spice also stressed to the Bank of America audience that Rocket Lab is “much more than” just a rocket company. In fact, the company’s acquisitions and expansion into building satellite components and spacecraft have become the majority of its quarterly revenue.

“All of this leads to the biggest opportunity in space that’s really on the application side,” Spice said.

As CEO Peter Beck has previously notedRocket Lab’s goal is to create an “end-to-end platform for customers” who need space-based services. Spice said the company wants to operate satellites and “deliver data to our customers and develop a recurring revenue stream from it,” essentially eliminating the need for other companies to build and operate their own satellites.

“A lot of the companies that we are [launching to orbit on Electron] are very unnatural space facility owners,” Spice said, adding that “the best space facility owner is someone who can launch.”

Rocket Lab CEO on the importance of the US Space Force mission to the company

Business

Rivian Automotive wants more engineers working at its manufacturing plant

Published

33 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

Electric vehicle company Rivian plans to go public — News from Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) is reportedly planning to move more of its manufacturing engineering team to its Normal, Illinois manufacturing facility to accelerate production of electric trucks and SUVs

Sources indicate a will to reorganize May be announced Soon, a “significant portion” of the engineering team working on manufacturing issues will relocate to either the Illinois site or Rivian’s headquarters in Irvine, California. That would be a departure from the pandemic years, when engineers could work from different parts of the US. Rivian is just one of many companies trying to improve efficiency by having employees work remotely and geographically.

Rivian Automotive (RIVN) currently has around 14,000 employees.

Shares of Rivian (RIVN) closed 0.66% on Friday but still managed a gain of more than 7% for the week.

Observation of the automotive industry: Buy or sell? Auto stocks face supply, demand and inflation stalls

Business

Tesla Stock: Cathie Wood Sells $27 Million Of TSLA To Buy The Dip On Coinbase, Block

Published

34 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

Fund manager Cathie Wood and her firm ARK Invest Management sold millions of Tesla shares on Thursday, inviting shares of Tesla coin base (COIN) as the crypto exchange stock fell after receiving a Securities and Exchange Commission warning.

Tesla Stock Sale

Wood unloaded a total of 139,642 Tesla (TSLA) shares on Thursday were valued at $26.84 million based on the closing price of 192.22, according to an investor update on Thursday night. The company sold 119,630 shares of its ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) and 20,012 shares from the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW).

Coinbase stock crashes as SEC turns aggressive

The sale ended a Tesla buying streak for Wood. Added ARC Tesla shares valued at $12.6 million on March 8th after buying 1.3 million shares in December and January, according to Barron’s data. Tesla shares closed Thursday 5.5% higher than their March 8 close and 1% below their Dec. 1 close. Tesla stock is up 76% so far this year.

TSLA shares tumbled 0.9% on Friday.

Buy the Coinbase Dip

Meanwhile, ARK Invest added 268,928 shares of Coinbase worth $17.83 million based on Thursday’s close of 66.30. ARK added 230,599 shares to ARKK and 38,329 shares to ARKW, respectively.

COIN shares fell 14% on Thursday after the company announced it received a Wells Notice from the SEC late Wednesday, warning that the regulator intends to recommend enforcement action for potential securities violations. Coinbase and its executives remain firm in their belief that their products are compliant.

On March 21, Wood sold 160,887 shares of Coinbase from the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) to mark ARK’s first COIN stock sale of the year.

COIN stock rose 2.3% on Friday. Coinbase shares have rocketed 101% year-to-date. Still, shaken by crypto panics, Coinbase stock remains well below its all-time high of 368.90 set on Nov. 9, 2021.

Wood and ARK also bought 320,557 shares of the payment processor block (Q), valued at $19.84 million based on Thursday’s close of 61.88. SQ stock slipped 2% on Friday.

Square drops short seller fees, company considers legal action

Follow Harrison Miller on Twitter for more stock news and updates @IBD_Harrison

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Is Tesla Stock a Buy Now? Here’s what revenue charts show

A fund gives Cathie Wood a run for the money

Get an edge in the stock market with IBD Digital

Find stocks to buy and watch with the IBD Leaderboard

Identify bases and buy points with MarketSmith’s pattern recognition