Taiwan Semi, UMC Feb Revs Drop Vs. January Levels
Revenues at semiconductor fabs Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) and United Microelectronics (UMC) fell in February from January, the two companies reported.
Taiwan Semi reported revenues were up 38% year-over-year for the month, but down 6.3% from January. UMC reported revenues for the month were about flat year-over-year, but down 11.2% sequentially.
Nomura analyst Andrew Beswick says the weak month was attributed to short working days during the Chinese New Year holiday as well as fab maintenance.
TSMC shares are down 3 cents at $10.04; UMC is down 2 cents at $3.11.
I wonder if the key point here is that there were 29 days in February and 31 days in January this year. 29 divided by 31 gives .935 or surprisingly 6.45% less days in February for production. With a fab running 24/7 and underloaded the reduction is more likely to be due to the shorter month than maintenance or the Chinese New Year.
Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written from Palo Alto, California by long-time Barron's West Coast Editor Eric J. Savitz. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields.
