WDC - Micron surge leads chip stocks higher even as PC sales data highlights concerns

2023-04-10 12:14:57 ET

Micron Technology ( NASDAQ: MU ) shares surged on Monday, leading the semiconductor industry higher, even as the sharp decline in first-quarter PC sales highlighted worries about the global economy.

Micron ( MU ) gained more than 8% in mid-day trading after Samsung ( OTCPK:SSNLF ) announced it would cut memory production by a significant amount. Following the announcement, investment firm Citi said the move could be the "last piece" of the recovery for the dynamic random access memory market.

"We believe the cuts to both capex and production by the three DRAM providers [Samsung, Micron and Hynix] should help ensure a DRAM recovery beginning in the [second-half of 2023], especially considering PC demand (roughly 10% of DRAM) appears to have stabilized and we expect both data center demand (roughly 40% of DRAM) and handset demand (roughly 30% of DRAM) to both stabilize in [the second-half of 2023]," Citi analyst Christopher Danely wrote in an investor note.

Samsung's ( OTCPK:SSNLF ) announcement also spurred sharp moves higher for Western Digital ( NASDAQ: WDC ) and Seagate Technology ( STX ), including an 8% gain for Western Digital.

Over the weekend, research firm IDC said PC sales declined 29% year-over-year to 56.9M units in the first-quarter, as weak demand, excess inventory and the continued deterioration of the global economy continued to weigh on consumer electronics.

IDC added that Apple ( AAPL ) Mac sales performed worse than the overall PC market, dropping 40.5% year-over-year to 4.1M units.

Intel ( INTC ) shares fell 1.3% , while AMD ( AMD ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ) gained 2% and 1.3% , respectively.

Taiwan Semiconductor ( NYSE: TSM ) shares fell nearly 3% after the company released March revenue figures that showed a 15% year-over-year decline.

Smartphone-related semiconductor stocks Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) and Qorvo ( QRVO ) hugged the flat-line amid the results from Taiwan Semiconductor ( TSM ).

Additionally, Taiwan Semiconductor ( TSM ) said on Monday that it was working with the Biden Administration on "guidance" on how to proceed with its application for U.S. CHIPs Act funding.

Other semiconductor stocks were most higher on Monday, as Broadcom ( AVGO ), Qualcomm ( QCOM ), Texas Instruments ( TXN ) and Analog Devices ( ADI ) each saw fractional gains.

Last month, Micron ( MU ) CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said he was "confident" in the company's long-term demand outlook .

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