China/Asia TMT

Shawn Yang

China growth and global non-US Internet equities

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Blue Lotus Research is a Hong Kong Type 4 Licensed investment advisory firm focusing on Chinese growth equities and global non-US Internet equities

Equity Bottom-Up

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) / Equity Bottom-Up

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC)

<ul>
<li>SMIC reported C2Q23 top-line, EBIT, and non-IFRS net profit in-line, (10%), and (20%) vs. our est., and in-line, (35%), and (8%) vs. cons., respectively.</li>
<li>SMIC guided 3Q revenues up 3-5% QoQ, but gross profit flattish QoQ. This suggests SMIC is shipping 8” wafers with low, or negative profit per wafer.</li>
<li>We maintain BUY on Huawei exposure but cut our TP to HK$ 24 to reflect the low profitability of 8” wafer orders that could persist given weak demand.</li>
</ul>


SMIC reported C2Q23 top-line, EBIT, and non-IFRS net profit in-line, (10%), and (20%) vs. our est., and in-line, (35%), and (8%) vs. cons., respectively.
SMIC guided 3Q revenues up 3-5% QoQ, but gross profit flattish QoQ. This suggests SMIC is shipping 8” wafers with low, or negative profit per wafer.
We maintain BUY on Huawei exposure but cut our TP to HK$ 24 to reflect the low profitability of 8” wafer orders that could persist given weak demand.


[SMIC (981 HK, BUY, TP HK$24) TP Change]: Margins Will Decline on No-Profit 8” Wafers Orders

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist, Ingenuity

William Keating

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>Foundry segment is on track to decline 15% YoY with no prospects of a meaningful H2 recovery</li>
<li>Inventory levels across smartphone, PC and consumer electronic supply chains remain elevated, plagued by lack-lustre end user demand. </li>
<li>At least some of the key players appear to be lowering prices but this is highly unlikely to stimulate end user demand and may actually make things worse</li>
</ul>


Foundry segment is on track to decline 15% YoY with no prospects of a meaningful H2 recovery
Inventory levels across smartphone, PC and consumer electronic supply chains remain elevated, plagued by lack-lustre end user demand. 
At least some of the key players appear to be lowering prices but this is highly unlikely to stimulate end user demand and may actually make things worse


Q2'23 Foundry Flounders As Inventory Stubbornly Lingers

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech, Aequitas Research

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

Asia Pac IPO & Placement Research, China biotech

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

Quantitative Analysis

<ul>
<li>We analyze the monthly Hong Kong Connect flows with our data engine.</li>
<li>We tabulate the top stocks by inflows, outlfows, and holding by mainland investors.</li>
<li>We highlight flows for Meituan, Kuaishou, CNOOC, PetroChina, Tencent, BYD, HSBC, HKEx.</li>
</ul>


We analyze the monthly Hong Kong Connect flows with our data engine.
We tabulate the top stocks by inflows, outlfows, and holding by mainland investors.
We highlight flows for Meituan, Kuaishou, CNOOC, PetroChina, Tencent, BYD, HSBC, HKEx.


Hong Kong Connect Flows (July): Meituan, Kuaishou, CNOOC, PetroChina, Tencent, BYD, HSBC, HKEx

External broker reports(aggregated public sources), CMB International

CMB International

External broker reports(aggregated public sources)

Incorporated in Hong Kong, supported by the mainland and targeting in global market, CMB International Capital Corporation Limited (“CMBI”) is an integrated financial institution providing comprehensive and professional services. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank ("CMB"), by leveraging on the Group’s synergy and coordination in domestic and overseas markets, as well as CMB’s strong resources and outstanding social reputation, CMBI and its subsidiaries have been actively implementing diversified business strategies and set up an overall layout of main business segments including Corporate Finance, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Global Markets and Structured Finance, etc. Adhering to the philosophy of “being clients oriented and increasing our own values by the way of creating value for clients”, CMBI endeavors to provide quality and integrated financial services to institutional, corporate and individual customers both domestic and overseas including Hong Kong IPO sponsorship and underwriting, share placement and rights issue for listed companies, financial advisors, bonds issuance services, asset management, direct investment, wealth management, equity sales and trading, etc.

<ul><li>Lam Research and KLA reported in-line 2Q23 results but better GPM on improved product mix.</li><li>Looking into 2023, while Lam raised WFE spending on China-related and HBM demand, KLA maintained forecast of 20% YoY decline.</li><li>Both stayed cautious on low UTR in memory market (guidance of 40% to mid-40% YoY decline), but positive on AI demand to boost packaging business in FY23E. </li></ul><p><em>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.</em></p>

Lam Research and KLA reported in-line 2Q23 results but better GPM on improved product mix.Looking into 2023, while Lam raised WFE spending on China-related and HBM demand, KLA maintained forecast of 20% YoY decline.Both stayed cautious on low UTR in memory market (guidance of 40% to mid-40% YoY decline), but positive on AI demand to boost packaging business in FY23E. Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

China Technology – Implications of Lam Research and KLA 2Q23 results

<ul>
<li>We expect SMIC to report C1Q23 top-line and non-IFRS net income 2% and 16% vs. consensus, respectively.</li>
<li>We suggest SMIC’s ability to supply sanctioned firms with 14/7nm nodes provides it with significant pricing power. We expect the decline in SMIC’s wafer ASP to slow.</li>
<li>We expect overall 2H demand to improve due to (1) normalizing fabless inventory levels, and (2) stabilized smartphone demand. We maintain BUY rating and raise our TP to HK$ 26.</li>
</ul>


We expect SMIC to report C1Q23 top-line and non-IFRS net income 2% and 16% vs. consensus, respectively.
We suggest SMIC’s ability to supply sanctioned firms with 14/7nm nodes provides it with significant pricing power. We expect the decline in SMIC’s wafer ASP to slow.
We expect overall 2H demand to improve due to (1) normalizing fabless inventory levels, and (2) stabilized smartphone demand. We maintain BUY rating and raise our TP to HK$ 26.


[SMIC (0981 HK, BUY, TP HK$26) Target Price Change]: Pricing Power Courtesy of Export Restrictions

China

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation operates a semiconductor foundry. The Company provides integrated circuit foundry and technology services including the testing, development, design, manufacturing, packaging, and sale of integrated circuits. Semiconductor Manufacturing International offers its products and services around the world.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK)

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Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) (981 HK)

[SMIC (981 HK, BUY, TP HK$24) TP Change]: Margins Will Decline on No-Profit 8” Wafers Orders

We maintain BUY on Huawei exposure but cut our TP to HK$ 24 to reflect the low profitability of 8” wafer orders that could persist given weak demand.

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Q2'23 Foundry Flounders As Inventory Stubbornly Lingers

Foundry heading for 15% YoY decline with no prospect of a meaningful H2 recovery. Some key players may be lowering prices. This is unlikely to...

William Keating

Hong Kong Connect Flows (July): Meituan, Kuaishou, CNOOC, PetroChina, Tencent, BYD, HSBC, HKEx

We analyzed the Hong Kong Connect Scheme for July and highlight flows for Meituan, Kuaishou, CNOOC, PetroChina, Tencent, BYD, HSBC, HKEx.

Ke Yan, CFA, FRM

China Technology – Implications of Lam Research and KLA 2Q23 results

Looking into 2023, while Lam raised WFE spending on China-related and HBM demand, KLA maintained forecast of 20% YoY decline.

CMB International

[SMIC (0981 HK, BUY, TP HK$26) Target Price Change]: Pricing Power Courtesy of Export Restrictions

We expect overall 2H demand to improve due to (1) normalizing fabless inventory levels, and (2) stabilized smartphone demand, per peer guidance. We...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

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