Key Takeaways from KeyBanc Analyst John Vinh's Semi-Coverage Universe
This past week, eight companies within KeyBanc analyst John Vinh's semi-coverage universe reported their earnings. Vinh highlighted several key takeaways from these reports, which provide insights into the current state of the semiconductor industry.
Vinh noted that analog cyclical semiconductors are showing incremental signs of stabilization and bottoming. Booking trends are improving, and channel inventory is decreasing. This suggests that the industry may be nearing the end of a downturn.
Distributors Arrow Electronics and Avnet reported mixed signals. While some segments, such as transportation in North America, aerospace and defense in Europe, and data centers in Asia, showed signs of improvement, other segments, such as consumer electronics in Asia, remain weak. This suggests that the recovery in the semiconductor industry is likely to be uneven.
The automotive sector is experiencing a correction, but the situation is not as bad as feared, with the exception of Tesla. The industrial sector appears to be further through the destocking process and is showing some signs of recovery.
AI data centers remain robust, and traditional demand is gradually recovering, as evidenced by new CPU platform ramps. iPhone demand is mainly in line with expectations, with China's strength offsetting weakness in other markets.
High-end Android demand remains strong, while the mass market segment is weak. This suggests that the premium smartphone market is holding up better than the lower-end market.
This week, five more companies in Vinh's coverage universe are scheduled to report their earnings. Vinh expects solid results for ARM and Cirrus Logic, while Synaptics is likely to report in-line results and slightly lower guidance. For Microchip Technology, Vinh expects solid results and guidance, similar to NXP Semiconductors and Texas Instruments. Indie Semiconductor is projected to report in-line results, but there may be modest risks to guidance due to weakness in the automotive sector.