Technology / Semiconductor / Internet Research

Nicolas Baratte

Nicolas Baratte has been a financial analyst since 2000, covering the Semiconductor sector and Global Technology. Nicolas has worked on the sell-side for JPMorgan, CLSA. On the buy-side for a Tiger fund and Prudential. Nicolas has covered semiconductors, Asian hardware and components, and the Global Tech supply chain. Nicolas lives mostly in Taiwan, sometimes in France and is in New York regularly.

Taiwan Tech Weekly: Mediatek's Power Move for 2nm Chips; Yet More TSMC Pricing Power

Margin Call at 2nm: What TSMC's Price Hike Means for the Chip Ecosystem

Asian Equities: Model Portfolio Outperformed Sharply; Less China Consumption, More Korea Defence

Smartphone 3Q25: A Little Bit Better, Just a Little

PC Monitor: Nvidia GB10 PCs Poised to Redefine the AI PC Category

MediaTek: Satellite Connectivity the Next Strategic Battleground for Mobile SoCs (Structural Long)

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Weak 3Q reported, weak 4Q guidance (Operating Margin) due to wafer price, some TSMC tightness (5-3nm), Opex increase. This should continue into 2026. Consensus too high. That should be negative.</li>
<li>But Management provides a very upbeat ASIC guidance: $1bn revenue in ’26, several bn in ‘27 , OP margin accretive at some point. Short-term pain, long-term gain.</li>
<li>MTK posits itself as the next ASIC disruptor, has several codesigns with Nvidia. But that’s material in ’27. The stock is down -8% YTD. Underperformance continues at least in 1H26.</li>
</ul>


Weak 3Q reported, weak 4Q guidance (Operating Margin) due to wafer price, some TSMC tightness (5-3nm), Opex increase. This should continue into 2026. Consensus too high. That should be negative.
But Management provides a very upbeat ASIC guidance: $1bn revenue in ’26, several bn in ‘27 , OP margin accretive at some point. Short-term pain, long-term gain.
MTK posits itself as the next ASIC disruptor, has several codesigns with Nvidia. But that’s material in ’27. The stock is down -8% YTD. Underperformance continues at least in 1H26.


Mediatek 3Q25: Good News (ASIC Revenue) But Weak Margins Getting Weaker. Stock Not Attractive.

Mediatek Inc

Mediatek 3Q25: Good News (ASIC Revenue) But Weak Margins Getting Weaker. Stock Not Attractive.