Bapcha's Stocks.

Five issues that will survive the semiconductor industry’s nuclear winter – Part-II.

Posted on March 7th, 2009 in ACTL., ALTR, AMAT, Actel, Altera, BRCM, Broadcom, INTC, Intel, KYO, Kyocera, LLTC, LRCX, LSCC, Lam Research, Lattice, Linear Tech, MRVL, MU, MXIM, Marvell, Maxim, Micron, NVDA, NVLS, Novellus, SNDK, SSTI, SanDisk, TXN., Texas Instruments, Uncategorized, XLNX, Xilinx, nVidia Actel, ACTL., Altera, ALTR, AMAT, BRCM, Broadcom, INTC, Intel, KYO, Kyocera, Lam Research, Lattice, Linear Tech, LLTC, LRCX, LSCC, Marvell, Maxim, Micron, MRVL, MU, MXIM, Novellus, NVDA, nVidia, NVLS, SanDisk, SNDK, SSTI, Texas Instruments, TXN., Uncategorized, Xilinx, XLNX

Among the companies that we looked at in the prior article, many can be eliminated with ease. So, let’s get the job done systematically.

The five companies that will survive this down-turn in the semiconductor market, and thrive afterwards, have a few things in common.
a. A strong balance sheet, with a large cash position [or in Linear's case, a manageable debt, and a fantastic competitive position as reflected by gross margins].
b. An excellent competitive position.
c. Strong management that is still “invested” in the company.
d. Has survived prior attacks on its competitive position.
and finally,
e. Pass my rigorous standards.

Five issues that will survive the semiconductor industry’s nuclear winter – Part-I.

Posted on February 27th, 2009 in ACTL., ALTR, AMAT, Actel, Altera, BRCM, Broadcom, INTC, Intel, KYO, Kyocera, LLTC, LRCX, LSCC, Lam Research, Lattice, Linear Tech, MRVL, MU, MXIM, Marvell, Maxim, Micron, NVDA, NVLS, Novellus, SNDK, SSTI, SanDisk, TXN., Texas Instruments, Uncategorized, XLNX, Xilinx, nVidia Actel, ACTL., Altera, ALTR, AMAT, BRCM, Broadcom, INTC, Intel, KYO, Kyocera, Lam Research, Lattice, Linear Tech, LLTC, LRCX, LSCC, Marvell, Maxim, Micron, MRVL, MU, MXIM, Novellus, NVDA, nVidia, NVLS, SanDisk, SNDK, SSTI, Texas Instruments, TXN., Xilinx, XLNX

Yesterday morning, Gartner and IDC had sobering news for the semiconductor business. Sales will be down anywhere from 15% to 33% from about $250 Billion in 2008, and with sales exceeding 2008 levels only in 2012 or 2013. ASP’s [average selling price] for all memory makers is in the trash, and even high margin companies are seeing their market share contract. So, who can survive this nuclear winter ? Obviously, the ones with a better competitive position, and a huge cash hoard.