(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. forecast revenue growth of roughly 30% this quarter, suggesting the chipmaker to Apple Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co. is confident of resilient demand for advanced semiconductors during a pandemic-induced downturn.The world’s largest contract chipmaker expects revenue of between $10.1 billion and $10.4 billion from April to June, at a time Covid-19 is spreading across the globe. That forecast followed a near-doubling of net income to NT$116.99 billion ($3.9 billion) for the three months ended March, when demand for advanced silicon remained steady during the pandemic.The robust results from TSMC, a barometer for the tech industry thanks to its heft and place in the supply chain, underscore resilient demand for the semiconductors in datacenters that are hosting an unprecedented surge in online activity globally. Taiwan’s largest company commands a growing position in the production of the high-end chips needed in server capacity for everything from gaming...
Moderna Inc (MRNA) has hosted a virtual Vaccines Day- following which four analysts reiterated their buy ratings on the stock. Roth Capital’s Yasmeen Rahimi also boosted her MRNA price target from $33 to $41. This wave of bullish sentiment sent shares soaring over 7% in Wednesday’s trading.At the event company management and infectious disease key opinion leaders discussed scientific, regulatory, and commercial considerations with respect to Moderna’s vaccine programs and the vaccine space more broadly.“Not surprisingly, SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind the Covid-19 outbreak featured prominently, with discussions of the virus itself, Moderna’s clinical plan (now enrolling the highest [250 µg] dose cohort in the phase I trial, and an amendment to add elderly participants), and manufacturing scale-up” wrote Chardan analyst Geula Livshits following the event.Livshits, who has a buy rating and $40 price target on MRNA, anticipates initial phase I immunogenicity data in the summer, aiming for a rapid move into phase II, with phase...
Shares of cancer therapy researcher Arcus Biosciences (RCUS) traded up over 50% in after-hours trading on Wednesday following a Bloomberg report indicating that Gilead Sciences (GILD) is considering acquiring a stake in the company.Arcus, which is partly backed by GV, Alphabet’s (GOOGL) venture capital investment unit, had previously dropped 7% in Wednesday’s trading.RCUS has a number of I/O [immuno-oncology] clinical assets, with AB154 (anti-TIGIT) receiving considerable attention following the advancement of a competitor candidate (Roche’s tiragolumab) into Phase III studies earlier this year.According to Mizuho Securities analyst Mara Goldstein such a move would make sense for Gilead. According to the analyst, RCUS boasts a big pipeline for a small company, with interesting I/O assets that could fit well into many different companies’ pipelines.“The focal point for RCUS today for investors is AB154, an anti-TIGIT, which could be on a path to be the “next checkpoint” approved for cancer; and RCUS does have a...
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd's (TSMC) first-quarter net profit almost doubled, beating analyst estimates, as strong demand for faster chips helped offset disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The world's largest contract chipmaker, whose clients include tech companies such as iPhone maker Apple Inc, said profit in the January-to-March period was T$116.987 billion ($3.89 billion), up 90.6% from a year earlier. Buoyed by demand for advanced chips from clients investing in 5G technology and artificial intelligence, TSMC's revenue rose 45.2% to $10.31 billion, versus its forecast range of $10.2 billion to $10.3 billion....
Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed. Xilinx makes programmable chips used in telecommunications equipment such as base stations made by Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. However, it was prevented from shipping some products to Huawei by U.S. authorities. Samsung, known by consumers mainly for its mobile phones, has been building and expanding a business in the network equipment industry, powering many of the 5G networks rolled out in Korea....
(Bloomberg) -- The physical oil market, where millions of barrels of real cargoes are traded each day, needed OPEC+’s historic cuts to global crude production months ago.On Sunday, producer nations pledged to limit output by an unprecedented 10% of global supply. While there’s skepticism the cuts will prove deep enough -- demand has plunged by far more -- a more pressing issue is one of timing: the real market, the one that underpins headline prices, has a huge glut and the output curbs won’t even begin until May. Before then, it’s pump at will so the curbs won’t really affect physical oil supply for months.Signs of weakness abound. Key North Sea crude swaps are trading more than $6 a barrel below the headline Brent futures price of about $28 -- the biggest discount in almost a decade. The critically important Dated Brent benchmark that shapes the price of millions of barrels...
