The utilisation rate of the world's microchip plants rose for a second straight quarter in July-September, an industry group said on Thursday, sending shares in Advantest and other chip gear makers soaring.
The higher utilisation rate is another good news for chip equipment makers after a flash memory alliance between Intel Corp and Micron Technology Inc on Monday stirred up expectations for stronger equipment demand.
The usage rate rose to 90.1 percent in the three months from 89.1 percent in April-June and 84.8 percent in January-March, underlining a steady recovery in the global chip industry.
The data was published by the Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) group, which comprises more than 40 global chip makers, including the top three, Intel, Samsung Electronics Co and Texas Instruments Inc.
"Cutting-edge plants are virtually running at full-capacity, bringing up the overall utilisation rate ... The data tells us recovery in capital spending will likely be strong one," Macquarie Securities analyst Yoshihiro Shimada said.
Shares in Advantest Corp, which holds a 70 percent share in the global market for memory chip testers, closed up 10.0 percent to 10,870 yen, outperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index IELEC, which rose 1.6 percent.
Tokyo Electron Ltd, the world's second-largest supplier of tools used to make microchips behind Applied Materials Inc gained 6.1 percent to 7,310 yen.
The SICAS data followed an upbeat chip demand forecast by another industry group, World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), which said last month that global chip demand is expected to grow 6.6 percent this year, followed by 8 percent growth in 2006.
"As the latest WSTS figures showed, the chip market has emerged from the downtrend that started in early autumn last year, and is in the process of bottoming out," a SICAS official said.
Bullish sentiment spilled over into makers of chip materials.
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd, the world's biggest maker of silicon wafers, put on 6.0 percent to 6,370 yen, and second-ranked SUMCO Corp gained 5.77 percent. Analysts warned, however, some shares might be advancing too quickly.
"Up until now, (semiconductor stocks) didn't move at all, they just trod water. For them to all go up at once like this does seem a little overdone," said Ken Masuda, a senior dealer in equities dealer at Shinko Securities.
Comments
Comments are closed.