2024-04-06 13:26:10
‘Semiconductor powerhouse’ Taiwan’s Gangjin
Concerns regarding TSMC supply chain hit
Dow drops the most in a year
Major domestic and overseas semiconductor stocks plummet
New York Stock Exchange, USA [사진 = 연합뉴스]
The stock prices of Korean, American, and Japanese semiconductor companies, including NVIDIA, appear to be shaking significantly due to the decline in the US stock market due to the decline in the possibility of an interest rate cut and the strong earthquake that struck Taiwan, a ‘semiconductor powerhouse’. As the stock prices of these companies have continued to decline recently, the concerns of individual investors who have belatedly started investing in major semiconductor stocks at home and abroad are deepening.
On the US stock market on the 4th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 38,596.98, down 530.16 points (1.35%), as key figures at the US Federal Reserve (Fed) mentioned the possibility that the benchmark interest rate would not be lowered within the year. It is the largest drop in a year since March 22nd of last year. On the same day, the S&P 500 index fell 1.23% to 5,147.21, and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 1.4% to 16,049.08, with all three major indices falling more than 1%.
In particular, semiconductors such as NVIDIA (-3.44%), AMD (-8.26%), Qualcomm (-2.39%), Broadcom (-3.35%), and Micron (-3.06%) were on the rise along with the artificial intelligence (AI) craze on this day. The stock prices of related companies fell simultaneously. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which indexes the stock prices of semiconductor companies, also dropped 3.01% from the previous day to 4756.07 points.
NVIDIA and AMD, leading AI semiconductor companies, fell 4.5% and 7.6%, respectively, over the past five trading days.
Due to this, the domestic stock market also closed weakly on the 5th. The KOSPI closing price was recorded at 2714.21, down 27.79 points (-1.01%) from the previous day. The KOSDAQ index also closed at 872.29, down 10.61p (-1.20%) from the previous trading day. At one point during the day, the KOSPI index fell to the 2705 level due to selling by both institutions and foreigners.
In particular, the stock price of SK Hynix, a leading domestic semiconductor company, closed at 182,800 won per share, down 2.77% from the previous day. Hynix’s stock price recently fell by regarding 2%, fluctuating repeatedly over the past week.
While the Taiwanese stock market was closed on this day, the stock prices of Tokyo Electron, the world’s fourth largest semiconductor equipment company, and Advantest, another equipment company, fell 5.60% and 4.85%, respectively, from the previous day in the Japanese stock market. As of the last five trading days, they fell by 6.5% and 11.9%, respectively, in that order. According to the Korea Securities Depository, the two companies ranked 3rd and 4th in Japanese stocks, in that order, the most net purchased by Korean investors this year.
As the stock prices of major semiconductors have recently slowed, the concerns of domestic investors who have invested in these companies are deepening. There is a sentiment in the securities market that for the time being, investors should be cautious regarding investing in related stocks, taking into account uncertainties such as TSMC’s production disruption due to the followingmath of the Taiwan earthquake and the possibility of an interest rate cut. Gene Munster, a researcher at Loop Ventures, said, “TSMC production uncertainty is a key variable that will halt the stock prices of AI-related companies in the short term,” and advised, “Be careful of hasty catch-up purchases until the specific followingmath is confirmed.”
In fact, in the industry, the impact is quite significant, with American semiconductor company Micron postponing the announcement of the provisional price of DRAM semiconductors due to the followingmath of the Taiwan earthquake. Kim Dong-won, a researcher at KB Securities, predicted, “With Micron’s Taiwanese factory affected by the earthquake, customers are concerned regarding a DRAM supply shortage in the second quarter of this year, so if they increase orders for DRAM, the price is expected to rise.”
Previously, on the evening of the 4th, TSMC said in a statement, “Due to the earthquake, some equipment at some semiconductor fabs (factories) were damaged, and more than 70% of the factory equipment was restored within 10 hours,” but “some production lines took a considerable amount of time to resume operation.” “It will take this,” he said.
Since TSMC produces not only semiconductor chips for automobiles and smart devices, but also Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI semiconductors, production disruptions will have a significant impact not only on the manufacturing industry but also on the information and communications (IT) industry, including AI. Regarding cutting-edge semiconductors, the company’s management noted, “Important facilities, including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure equipment, were not affected.”
In the mid- to long-term, the fact that the global semiconductor supply chain is concentrated in Taiwan, represented by TSMC, appears to be emerging as a risk. On the 4th, NVIDIA said regarding the supply and demand of semiconductors, “There is no major disruption caused by the Taiwan earthquake, and in the future, semiconductors will be procured from the TSMC plant in Arizona, USA, beyond the TSMC plant in Taiwan.” However, TSMC founder Maurice Chang stated, “If semiconductors are made in Arizona, USA rather than Taiwan, the cost will be at least 50% more.”
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