Wall Street Transcript Interview with William Stein, Managing Director at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey: Increased Semiconductor Use indicates Slow but Steady U.S. Economic Growth Prospects
67 WALL STREET, New York - June 5, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Semiconductors Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: Semiconductor Capital Equipment - Cloud Computing, Mobile Device Consumer Demand - Semiconductor Inventory Burnoff - Improvement from Cyclical Bottom - Semiconductor Capital Equipment Spending - New Computing Platform Demand
Companies include: Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), Linear Technology Corp. (LLTC), Altera Corp. (ALTR), Xilinx Inc. (XLNX), Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM), Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP), Atmel Corp. (ATML) and many others.
In the following excerpt from the Semiconductors Report, an award winning sector analyst discusses the outlook for the semiconductor sector for investors:
TWST: You had a thesis that we'd see a cyclical recovery in early 2013, but Q1 results and increasingly volatile consumer sentiment data have changed your view a bit. What is your updated outlook for the sector over the remainder of 2013?
Mr. Stein: The economic data, my channel checks and now companies' comments are all saying essentially the same thing, which is we've passed through the bottom of the current cycle, but the recovery is going to be very modest, at least as far as we can see it today. So a perfect example is Microchip (MCHP), one of the companies I cover, which is considered an expert in the cycle.
The company has historically been very fair and nonpromotional and accurate when calling turns in demand. On its CQ4 conference call, management said December would be the bottom. Then on its CQ1 conference call, it was even more bullish about demand and about the cycle turning, and yet it guided June quarter revenue growth inline to perhaps one percentage point below normal seasonality.
So at the bottom, but not growing meaningfully more than seasonal is, in my book, really still very close to the bottom and only arguably seeing a real recovery, and I think that's where we are now. I'm looking more or less for normal seasonal through the rest of the year, which is an upturn relative to what we have had, or it's a stabilization relative to what we've seen, which is declining markets for the last couple years.
TWST: What is the level of investor interest in the semiconductor sector right now, and is investor sentiment largely in line with your view? How or where does it diverge?
Mr. Stein: Interest in the semiconductor stocks remains robust because there are so many ways to invest in this space. There are over 100 public companies...
For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
