Weekly News

Catalog

1.iPhones Continue to Be a Bright Spot for Apple, Even in a Tough Economy.??

2.Germany's Bosch has acquired America's TSI, adding to the global semiconductor business.

3.UK New Car Sales Keep Growing for 9th Consecutive Month in April.

4.Aptiv reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit.

5.Ford Gains Profits in Q1 and Announces Major Restructuring.

①iPhones Continue to Be a Bright Spot for Apple, Even in a Tough Economy.

Apple has released its earnings report for its second fiscal quarter of 2023, and despite a fall in revenue and profits, CEO Tim Cook is upbeat about the numbers. After that, the Apple’s shares rose by 2% in after-hours trading because its revenue and profit beat the average expectation of analysts.

For the quarter ending on April 1, Apple says its revenue dropped year-over-year by around 3% to $94.8 billion. Previously, Refinitiv’s estimated $92.96 billion as Apple’s income in the quarter; Diluted earnings per share were $1.52 as much as last year, and the market forecast of $1.43. The firm’s net profit was $24.16 billion, down 3% from $25.01 billion in the same period of last year.

iPhone sales stood out, rising by 2% from the same period last year, while the entire smartphone industry contracted almost 15% yera-on-year in the first quarter, according to IDC.????????

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"We are pleased to report an all-time record in services and a March quarter record for iPhone despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, and to have our installed base of active devices reach an all-time high," Apple CEO Tim Cook said.?

②Germany's Bosch has acquired America's TSI, adding to the global semiconductor business.

Germany's Bosch Group said it will buy the assets of US chipmaker TSI Semiconductor to expand its semiconductor business in silicon carbide chips (SiC), foreign media reported. Bosch and TSI have reached an agreement, but did not disclose details of the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval. According to the data, TSI is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) foundry. Currently, it mainly develops and produces a large number of chips on 200mm silicon wafers for applications in the mobile, telecommunications, energy and life sciences industries.

Bosch has been producing semiconductors for more than 60 years and has invested billions of euros worldwide, particularly in water plants in Reutlingen and Dresden, Germany. Bosch believes the acquisition will strengthen its international semiconductor manufacturing network. After the acquisition, Bosch said it would invest $1.5 billion over the next few years to upgrade TSI Semiconductor's manufacturing facilities in Roseville, California. Beginning in 2026, the first chips will be produced on 200mm wafers based on silicon carbide.?

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Bosch Chief Executive Stefan Hartung also said the growth in electric vehicles showed demand for silicon carbide chips was "exploding". According to market research firm TrendForce Consulting, the overall SiC power component market will grow 41.4 percent year-on-year to $2.28 billion in 2023, as related major manufacturers and automotive and energy industry cooperation projects become clear.

③UK New Car Sales Keep Growing for 9th Consecutive Month in April.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said on May 4 that while the overall outlook for new car registrations in the UK is set to improve, sales of pure electric vehicles in 2023 are expected to be hit by inflationary pressures and a shortage of charging facilities, so the SMMT has revised its forecast for the share of pure electric vehicles in UK new car sales down from its previous estimate of 19.7% to 18.4%.

Despite the SMMT's lowered outlook for UK pure electric vehicle sales, the segment still delivered a strong performance in April, with UK deliveries of pure electric vehicles surging by more than half year-on-year to 20,522 units in April, jumping to 15.4% market share from 10.8% a year earlier.?

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Industry figures released by the SMMT show that new car registrations in the UK rose for the ninth consecutive month in April this year, up 11.6% to 132,990 units compared to the same month last year. Hawes said the new car market would continue to be increasingly bullish as supply pressures eased, providing a much-needed boost to new car sales.

④Aptiv reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, Aptiv reported U.S. GAAP revenue of $4.8 billion, an increase of 15% from the prior year period. Adjusted for currency exchange, commodity movements and acquisitions, revenue increased by 15% in the first quarter. This reflects growth of 24% in Europe, 14% in North America, 7% in Asia, which includes an increase of 2% in China, and 11% in South America. The Company reported first quarter 2023 U.S. GAAP net income of $146 million and earnings of $0.54 per diluted share, compared to $73 million and $0.27 per diluted share in the prior year period. The first quarter adjusted net income, a non-GAAP financial measure defined below, totaled $258 million, or earnings of $0.91 per diluted share, compared to $180 million, or $0.63 per diluted share, in the prior year period.?

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"We had a strong start to the year with record revenue and near-record bookings in the first quarter, underscoring Aptiv's increasing competitive differentiation and strategic value to our customers as the industry transitions further towards the fully-electrified, software-defined vehicle," said Kevin Clark, chairman and chief executive officer. "Bolstered by our recent acquisitions of Wind River and Intercable Automotive, we continue to gain commercial traction across our portfolio, particularly in our Smart Vehicle ArchitectureTM and high voltage platforms. Combined with our relentless focus on execution and operational excellence, we remain confident in our ability to deliver on our outlook for 2023."

⑤Ford Gains Profits in Q1 and Announces Major Restructuring.

Ford has announced a new $1.5-$2 billion restructuring plan to help its electric vehicle (EV) business, Blue Oval, become profitable as soon as possible, according to a foreign media report.

Ford is already ahead of its traditional rivals and ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting, introducing and developing EVs. Now, Blue Oval wants to double down on its efforts to become profitable with EVs as soon as possible and has launched a new financial plan for a major restructuring of the business in the coming months and years.

Ford announced this new restructuring plan in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which says the company expects to spend $1.5-$2 billion on the restructuring, specifically, Ford will exit loss-making regions and cut jobs as well as other changes being implemented.

Last year, Ford first announced an overhaul of its business structure as a starting point for the creation of three business units, one for EVs, one for internal combustion engine vehicles and one for commercial products. Since then, Ford has also issued plans to revamp its dealer network, which will involve significant job cuts and a move to an online ordering system with virtually no inventory in dealership shops.???????????

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Ford's first-quarter financials exceeded investor expectations. The company reported Q1 total revenue of $41.5 billion, operating profit of $3.4 billion and earnings per share of $0.63. According to Barrons, this far exceeded analysts' expectations for its $39.2 billion in total revenue, $2.5 billion in profit, and $0.38 in earnings per share. In addition, Ford has announced a new workforce structure that the company hopes to reduce costs and increase total production, and the plan will move engineering staff from Asia and Europe to the United States. Ford also has withdrawn from unprofitable markets such as India in order to further focus its efforts on the best-performing regions.