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JPM Upgrades SMIC (00981.HK) to Neutral, Raises TP to HKD67
JPMorgan issued a research report stating that SMIC (00981.HK) reported 1Q gross margin slightly above expectations, benefiting from selective price increases.
Its 2Q revenue guidance significantly exceeded expectations, reaching QoQ growth of 14% to 16%.
The bank noted that although AI-related demand and localization trends have driven price hikes for certain products such as BCD, analog chips, power management and memory products (together accounting for about 40% to 50% of revenue), with part of the impact already reflected in 1Q and to be further realized in 2Q, it also expects consumer electronics demand to weaken in 2H due to front-loaded shipments in 1H and higher end-product prices.
The bank raised its 2026 and 2027 earnings forecasts for SMIC by about 15% to reflect broader price increases.
It now expects EPS to reach USD0.1363 and USD0.1445 for 2026 and 2027, representing YoY growth of 59% and 6%, respectively.
Related News Citi Raises SMIC (00981.HK) and HUA HONG SEMI (01347.HK) TPs, Positive on 90-Day Performance
Despite risks to consumer demand in 2H, given the broader-than-expected scope of price hikes, JPM upgraded SMICs investment rating from Underweight to Neutral and raised its TP from HKD57 to HKD67, implying about 2.8x price-to-book ratio.
The bank believes a clearer margin recovery path (such as broader price increases sufficient to offset rising depreciation) would be needed to drive further re-rating, while downside risks stem from weaker-than-expected consumer demand weighing on pricing.
Source: AASTOCKS Financial News
http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN
