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QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM)
| Previous close | 162.42 |
| Open | 164.32 |
| Bid | 0.00 x 900 |
| Ask | 0.00 x 800 |
| Day's range | 161.73 - 167.04 |
| 52-week range | 58.00 - 167.94 |
| Volume | 5,018,533 |
| Avg. volume | 8,221,286 |
| Market cap | 186.717B |
| Beta (5Y monthly) | 1.37 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | 36.37 |
| EPS (TTM) | 4.52 |
| Earnings date | 03 Feb 2021 |
| Forward dividend & yield | 2.60 (1.60%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 03 Mar 2021 |
| 1y target est | 167.71 |
- Bloomberg
Samsung Considers $10 Billion Texas Chipmaking Plant, Sources Say
(Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co. is considering spending more than $10 billion building its most advanced logic chipmaking plant in the U.S., a major investment it hopes will win more American clients and help it catch up with industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.The world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker is in discussions to locate a facility in Austin, Texas, capable of fabricating chips as advanced as 3 nanometers in the future, people familiar with the matter said. Plans are preliminary and subject to change but for now the aim is to kick off construction this year, install major equipment from 2022, then begin operations as early as 2023, they said. While the investment amount could fluctuate, Samsung’s plans would mean upwards of $10 billion to bankroll the project, one of the people said.Samsung is taking advantage of a concerted U.S. government effort to counter China’s rising economic prowess and lure back home some of the advanced manufacturing that over the past decades has gravitated toward Asia. The hope is that such production bases in the U.S. will galvanize local businesses and support American industry and chip design. Intel Corp.’s troubles ramping up on technology and its potential reliance in the future on TSMC and Samsung for at least some of its chipmaking only underscored the extent to which Asian giants have forged ahead in recent years.The envisioned plant will be its first in the U.S. to use extreme ultraviolet lithography, the standard for next-generation silicon, the people said, asking not to be identified talking about internal deliberations. Asked about plans for a U.S. facility, Samsung said in an email no decision has yet been made.“If Samsung really wants to realize its goal to become the top chipmaker by 2030, it needs massive investment in the U.S. to catch up with TSMC,” said Greg Roh, senior vice president at HMC Securities. “TSMC is likely to keep making progress in process nodes to 3nm at its Arizona plant and Samsung may do the same. One challenging task is to secure EUV equipment now, when Hynix and Micron are also seeking to purchase the machines.”Read more: Intel Talks With TSMC, Samsung to Outsource Some Chip ProductionIf Samsung goes ahead, it would effectively go head-to-head on American soil with TSMC, which is on track to build its own $12 billion chip plant in Arizona by 2024. Samsung is trying to catch TSMC in the so-called foundry business of making chips for the world’s corporations -- a particularly pivotal capability given a deepening shortage of semiconductors in recent weeks.Under Samsung family scion Jay Y. Lee, the company has said it wants to be the biggest player in the $400 billion chip industry. It plans to invest $116 billion into its foundry and chip design businesses over the next decade, aiming to catch TSMC by offering chips made using 3-nanometer technology in 2022.It already dominates the market for memory chips and is trying to increase its presence in the more profitable market for logic devices, such as the processors that run smartphones and computers. It already counts Qualcomm Inc. and Nvidia Corp. as customers, companies that historically relied on TSMC exclusively. It has two EUV plants, one near its main chip site in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, and another coming online nearby at Pyeongtaek.To close a deal, Samsung may need time to negotiate potential incentives with U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration. The company has hired people in Washington D.C. to lobby on behalf of the deal and is ready to go ahead with the new administration in place, the people said. Tax benefits and subsidies will ease Samsung’s financial burden, but the company may go ahead even without major incentives, one of the people said.Samsung has been looking into overseas chipmaking for years. Intensifying trade tensions between the U.S. and China and now Covid-19 are stoking uncertainty over the reliability and economics of the global supply chain. Plants in the U.S. could help the Korean chipmaker strike better deals with key clients in the U.S., particularly in competition with TSMC.From Microsoft Corp. to Amazon.com Inc. and Google, the world’s largest cloud computing firms are increasingly designing their own silicon to power their vast data centers more efficiently. All need manufacturers like TSMC or Samsung to turn their blueprints into reality.Samsung’s U.S. branch purchased land in October next to its existing Austin fab, which is capable of running older processes. The Austin City Council held a meeting in December to discuss Samsung’s request to rezone that parcel of land for industrial development, according to meeting minutes.The Korean company’s existing Texas facility is too small to to meet increasing orders for outsourced chips coming from Qualcomm, Intel and Tesla, according to research by Citibank. Intel in particular is likely to funnel more orders toward Samsung to offset any reliance on TSMC for its foundry needs, the brokerage said in a report.Late Thursday, Intel’s incoming Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger told investors he was likely to keep most production of the company’s best processors in-house and that the delayed introduction of new manufacturing technology was showing signs of improving. Still, his comments disappointed some investors who have been lobbying for more outsourcing by the world’s largest chipmaker. Intel shares dropped as much as 9% in New York trading Friday, the most since October. Rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which relies on TSMC for production, gained as much as 4.8%.Read more: Samsung Intensifies Chip Wars With Bet It Can Catch TSMC by 2022Some analysts question Samsung’s ability to carve out a significant share of a market dominated by TSMC, which is spending a record $28 billion this year to ensure it remains at the forefront of technology and capacity. For its part, Samsung’s semiconductor division spent $26 billion on capital expenditure in 2020, but that’s been largely in support of its dominant memory business and not all of its expertise in making memory is directly relevant to creating advanced logic chips.Processors are more complex to manufacture than memory and their production yields are harder to control and scale up in the same way. Foundry customers also require bespoke solutions, imposing another barrier to rapid expansion and also making Samsung dependent on customers’ designs. But the Korean giant can draw confidence from its work with Nvidia, whose chief executive officer has sung Samsung’s praises in collaborating on the manufacturing for its latest graphics card silicon.(Updates with Intel plans in 14th paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
Huawei's Honor Spinoff Unveils 5G Smartphones With Intel, Nvidia Chips
(Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co.’s smartphone spinoff unveiled new devices Friday featuring chips from Intel Corp., MediaTek Inc. and Nvidia Corp., saying it reached agreements with its global partners to resume supplies cut off by U.S. sanctions on its former parent.Most of the suppliers of Honor Device Co., the budget phone brand sold by Huawei last November, have resumed doing business with the newly created company, Honor’s chief executive George Zhao said. There’s no restriction when choosing component and software suppliers, said Zhao, adding that it’s in talks with other firms including Qualcomm Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.Huawei had hived off Honor to a Chinese government-backed consortium last year as the technology giant grappled with Trump administration sanctions that cut off its supply of mobile chipsets. The Shenzhen-based company is said to have safeguarded its core telecom equipment business by stockpiling critical components to continue supplying its home country’s 5G rollout but it lacks inventory for its smartphone business, which was once larger than Samsung’s.Honor’s latest smartphones featuring fifth-generation wireless capability use mobile chips developed by Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek, the company announced on Friday. Its new laptop is equipped with Intel’s central processing units and a graphic processor made by Nvidia.“Based on global consumer needs, Honor has the flexibility and independence to choose the best solutions for its global supply chain,” the company said in a statement announcing its newest line-up. “Honor has already confirmed partnerships with leading suppliers such as AMD, Intel, MediaTek, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung, SK Hynix and Sony.”A MediaTek spokesman didn’t immediately reply to questions about whether it had entered into an agreement with Honor. Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm didn’t immediately respond to emails from Bloomberg News seeking comments.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
Nokia (NOK) Powers Mobily's Network With 4G/5G FWA Network Slicing
Nokia (NOK) extends its partnership with Mobily to conduct the world's first 4G and 5G fixed wireless access network slicing pilot run in a bid to boost the latter's mobile broadband connectivity.
