Macronix: 1Q19 operation is expected to be very difficult

Macronix (2337-TW), a memory giant, announced its 4Q18 and FY18 earnings report today on January 24th. Its pull-in momentum was affected by the US-China trade war, so that its ROM peak season failed to materialize. However, catalyzed by the non-operating gains from Toshiba’s royalties, its 4Q18 net profit reached NTD2.867bn (+50% QoQ, +11% YoY), with EPS of NTD1.57, setting a new quarterly high. Its FY18 net profit was NTD8.893bn (+63% YoY) with EPS of NTD4.94.

In FY19, Chih-Yuan Lu, general manager of Macronix, said that affected by market uncertainty, operation in 1Q19 could be very difficult. He hopes that US and China are able to reach a conclusion in early March. If the US-China trade war ends in 1H19, Macronix’s 2H19 revenue/earnings is expected to rebound sharply.

Macronix 's 4Q18 revenue was NTD8.981bn (-10% QoQ, -15% YoY). Its GM was 28% (-7% QoQ, -15% YoY). Its 4Q18 operating margin was 7% (-11% QoQ, -18% YoY).

Regarding Macronix 's 4Q18 revenue proportion, Flash accounted for 51%, ROM accounted for 44%, and foundry accounted for 5%. Although the ROM pull-in momentum was below expectation, the revenue increased by 50% YoY.

Macronix told that although ROM has entered its peak season in 4Q18, the market was full of uncertainties due to the US-China trade war and the customers become more conservative, leading the pull-in momentum to decline. Moreover, after ZTE case, the orders from China has not returned to normal, affecting its NAND Flash shipment. Its 4Q18 GM declined QoQ, mainly due to the changes in product mix.