At present, the local epidemic situation in China is sporadic and sporadic.
It was reported on February 14 that there were 7 newly confirmed cases and 1 asymptomatic infection in Suzhou. Meanwhile, Shenzhen added 2 locally confirmed cases on the 14th, which is a closed-loop manager closely connected with previous cases.
In addition, the center for health protection of the Department of health of the HKSAR government announced on the 14th that as of 0:00 on the same day, 2071 new cases of covid-19 pneumonia had been confirmed in Hong Kong, of which 2052 were local infections.
According to the “Shenzhen Port release”, on February 14, 12 cross-border truck drivers were tested positive for nucleic acid at Shenzhen port. The 12 patients were the 24th to 35th cross-border driver positive cases detected at Shenzhen port since February 4.
the epidemic in Suzhou also affected liandian, a large foundry of wafers. Liandian’s subsidiaries and shipyards were shut down because an employee was suspected of being infected with the disease. According to the notification of 19 cases of pneumonia confirmed by the joint command of science and technology of Suzhou and the staff of the joint command of science and technology of Suzhou, there were 5 confirmed cases of pneumonia.
What will be the impact of the shutdown of large chip factories?
Suzhou chip factory shut down and one employee confirmed
The epidemic in Suzhou affected liandian, a large foundry of wafers. Because an employee was suspected of being infected with the disease, its Hejian chip manufacturing company (hereinafter referred to as “Hejian factory”) stopped work. Public information shows that according to the notice issued by Suzhou covid-19 pneumonia epidemic prevention and control headquarters, five of the seven confirmed cases were confirmed by Hejian science and technology staff.
On February 14, liandian announced on its official website that the company’s Suzhou 8-inch wafer factory and ship chip manufacturing company are cooperating with the local competent authority to carry out full inspection because one employee is suspected of being infected with the disease. Therefore, the production activities are gradually suspended. After the inspection, the company will fully resume work with the approval of the competent authority.
The monthly output value of Hejian shipyard accounts for about 5% of the overall consolidated revenue. Liandian reiterated that the performance outlook of the first quarter remains unchanged. The quarterly average selling price increases by 5%, the shipment volume is flat, the quarterly gross profit margin is about 40%, and the market share of the global wafer foundry industry will continue to expand. The event has no significant impact on the company’s financial business.
According to the recently disclosed financial report, in the fourth quarter of 2021, the revenue of liandian was NT $59.1 billion (US $2.14 billion), a record high, with a month on month increase of 5.7% and a year-on-year increase of 30.5%; The gross profit margin was 39.1%, up 2.3 percentage points month on month; The net profit attributable to the parent company was NT $15.95 billion (US $576 million).
or will directly affect downstream customers
It is understood that Hejian technology currently has two wafer factories, 8 inches in Suzhou (i.e. Hejian factory) and 12 inches in Xiamen.
Chip industry new media “core intelligence news” analysis said that if the shipyard can recover in a short time, it will not have a big impact. If it takes a week or more to fully resume work, the shortage of chips will be further exacerbated under the current tight supply of mature process chips.
So, what downstream customers will be affected by the shutdown of and shipyard? According to the previously disclosed information, the top five customers of Hejian chip in 2016 were Lianyong, silijie, Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd(300327) , Lianhua electronics and zhanrui. The chip supply of these customers may be directly affected.
It is also understood that the main competitors of Hejian factory in China are TSMC, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation(688981) , Huahong semiconductor and the subsidiaries set up in China by overseas wafer foundry giants. Some analysts pointed out that if the Hejian shipyard stops production for a long time, its competitors are expected to benefit from it.
It is worth noting that Hejian chip manufacturing (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. disclosed the prospectus on March 22, 2019 and originally planned to apply for listing on the science and Innovation Board of Shanghai Stock Exchange. However, after four months and three rounds of inquiries, the company terminated its listing application on the science and Innovation Board on July 23, 2019.
A-share listed companies also speak
On February 14, the GEM listed company Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd(300327) announced that covid-19 epidemic occurred in Suzhou Industrial Park on February 14, and nucleic acid detection was carried out for all employees in the park. The production activities of the supplier Hejian chip manufacturing (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hejian”) and Jinglong Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jinglong”) located in Suzhou Industrial Park are suspended, which will have an impact on the company’s product production. The product supply may be delayed for a short time due to the delayed resumption of work by the supplier and poor logistics.
Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd(300327) said that Hejian is one of the important suppliers of the company’s wafer foundry, while Jinglong (packaging and testing foundry) accounts for a small proportion of the company’s business volume. The impact on the company’s production and operation is mainly related to the resumption schedule of Hejian. If Hejian fails to resume work due to the epidemic, it will have a significant impact on the company’s production and operation. Please pay attention to the investment risk. The company will timely adjust its production and operation strategy according to the epidemic situation and market changes.
According to official data, Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd(300327) is a chip design company focusing on the field of MCU and lithium battery management chips. Its main products are industrial control level microcontroller chips and OLED display driver chips. The main control single chip of the company’s microcontroller system is mainly used in the fields of home appliance main control, lithium battery management, motor control, smart meter and Internet of things. OLED display driver chip is mainly used for screen display driver of mobile phones and wearable products.
In the secondary market, Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd(300327) was once a bull stock. From 2019 to 2021, the company’s share price rose for three consecutive years, with a cumulative increase of 415%. However, since December 2, 2021, the company’s share price has continued to adjust, with a decline of more than 31% so far. The latest market value is 16.5 billion yuan.
According to the latest performance forecast, Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd(300327) expects the annual net profit in 2021 to be 365 million yuan – 385 million yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 74.3% – 83.8%. Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd(300327) said that in 2021, the capacity of the semiconductor industry chain was tight, the capacity of wafer foundry and packaging and testing plant was in short supply, and the lack of core in various application fields was heard from time to time. The company’s sales are mainly limited by the upstream capacity. Based on the long-term and stable partnership between the company and the upstream OEM, the company can achieve a certain sales growth.
It is understood that the main competitors of Sino Wealth Electronic Ltd(300327) appliance MCU are mainly European, American, Japanese, Korean and China Taiwan manufacturers, such as Renesas, Italian semiconductor, etc. The competitors of lithium battery management chips are mainly Texas Instruments, eplink, etc.
the world is increasing investment in semiconductor manufacturing
Some research institutions pointed out that the “lack of core” in the past two years has made countries all over the world re recognize the strategic value of semiconductor production. Supply chain security is driving the global wafer factory capacity from concentration to distribution.
At present, the world is increasing investment in semiconductor manufacturing. On February 4 and February 8, the United States and the European Union issued their own chip bills respectively, with plans to invest US $52 billion / 43 billion euros respectively to encourage local semiconductor production. At the same time, TSMC, Texas Instruments, Intel and other global semiconductor leaders have raised capital expenditure guidelines.
Huatai Securities Co.Ltd(601688) pointed out that the global semiconductor production capacity is undergoing a new expansion cycle, and it is optimistic about the opportunities for semiconductor OEM enterprises such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation(688981) and Huahong to rise both in volume and price in 2022. At the same time, it is optimistic that Naura Technology Group Co.Ltd(002371) , shengmei Shanghai and other equipment sectors will benefit from the investment opportunities of upward capital expenditure.
Guosheng Securities said that by combing the global semiconductor companies that have released the fourth quarter financial report of 2021, judging from factors such as orders, revenue, inventory and price, the sustainability of this round of global semiconductor boom is expected to further exceed expectations. The limitation of equipment link lies in the shortage of supply chain, the shortage of silicon wafer lies in the pattern of supply and demand, and the cumulative orders are abundant; Midstream manufacturing generally guides further price increases in the first quarter of 2022, and the growth rate of capital expenditure of major global OEM plants in 2022 is as high as 42%; Downstream, such as automobile and industrial chips, will continue to be tense. The world’s top five automobile chip manufacturers all said that the pattern of short supply in 2022 will continue.
