Iqe Share Discussion Threads

[aphrodites] 26/11/2018 21:36

AIMINGUPWARD

Good to hear your views are much like mine. On 3 September I posted:

For what it is worth my Hedge Fund contact, who believes IQE will be taken over, has been short Intel and long AMD in a big way. And this last week the trade delivered massive profits as he closed the position!

As a matter of interest, one of the big US banks has recently been pushing Intel as a major buy to its clients. My contact told me he had visited them a couple of weeks ago and questioned their logic and explained why he suggested Intel should be a sell.

After explaining the rationale to the analyst, he was told, "you are far more familiar and expert than us with the technical science involving these businesses"!!!!!!!!

A week later they changed their Intel buy recommendation to a SELL!!

I think this highlights the point you and I make. Many of these so-called expert analysts who write up company “BUYS” & “SELLS” and attempt to put a value on the shares, really haven’t got the foggiest idea about real sciences involved in the businesses they cover.

Don't listen to them. Listen to the market.

[thecrunk] 26/11/2018 19:23

Lumentum up 7%

[aimingupward2] 26/11/2018 19:23

Brokers target prices have been ‘all over the place’ with this share which is a salutary warning for me not to take too much notice of what they say in respect of any stock. Their views are interesting, but but one shouldn’t place much, or any, reliance on them.

[regasclockwork] 26/11/2018 17:54

JamesRowe26 Nov '18 - 13:39 - 23222 of 23222

"I am sure that management gave Edison everything significant that they knew about/could publicise for use in their latest report. I would be surprised if we have many surprises in the Dec trading update." -End-

I wonder if also, management gave its HOUSEBROKER Peel Hunt 'everything significant that they knew about' prior to them reducing their target from 154p to 137p on 14-Nov.

I think I'm right in saying that Peel Hunt has reduced, over the past year from 225p? to the present 137p.

Housebroker, Peel Hunt COULD have been fed more information regarding IQE's future earnings/profits than the other 6 or 7 brokers who are 'guessing' what the future holds.

I hope so as the most recent targets from Deutsche Bank [14-Nov] and Barclays Capital [16-Nov]are far lower. DB reduces from 100p to 80p and BC reduces from 170p to 84p.

A few months back we would have shuddered if one of the 'main' brokers had posted a target of 137p, but now it represents a 107% increase from today's close of 66p.

Nice 3p rise today making it 6-blue days in a row. Let's hope it hits 7-tomorrow. GLA!

[tomduck] 26/11/2018 17:49

Nice price action over past week, bottom even more looking like it’s in the rearview mirror now 😉

[shabbadabbadoo2] 26/11/2018 17:41

tonsil - if you really want a laugh, google 5g Gateshead. Apparently they have rigged up a test in the lampposts that is causing cancer. The Council have denied anything is going on - but they would, wouldn't they? HAHAHAHAH

Some right nutters around.

[tonsil] 26/11/2018 17:11

Looks like 5G May have to go back to the drawing board. Lethal to wildlife. https://youtu.be/ah8Bpg6ep1kSurely this could have been found out earlier.

[adejuk] 26/11/2018 14:12

i agree james
i would be surprised if they hadn't emptied the gun
don't take a knife to a gunfight

[jamesrowe] 26/11/2018 13:39

I am sure that management gave Edison everything significant that they knew about/could publicise for use in their latest report. I would be surprised if we have many surprises in the Dec trading update.

[bocase] 26/11/2018 12:17

Given that most of the share price action has been from the US of late and that the US futures are way up, I am hopeful of a positive afternoon's trading with the share price continuing it's slow recovery from it's oversold position.

Not too long until the December trading update when we might get updated further on the prospects for next year and the expected ramp in production.

[maxwellsdemon] 26/11/2018 11:53

...Automotive lidar
Much like the way that Apple’s new “Face ID” iPhone security feature maps out the contours of its owners face, it is thought that higher-power versions of the technology could enable self-driving cars to map their immediate surroundings using lidar.

Another VCSEL maker, the Sandia National Laboratories spin-out TriLumina, is working on arrays of the devices for what could become an enormous future market in autonomous vehicles – with the dozens of lidar companies attracting venture capital investment recently all requiring a supply of laser components for their own specific approaches....

“Specification for automotive lidar is not finally settled, but it looks like there is no reason to use a wavelength different to that found in smartphones,” Pankert said. “The required power levels can be achieved with VCSEL technology, and of course other suppliers can also do this. However, what counts in automotive is the ability to meet the stringent quality and reliability requirements, and to support customers in system design.”

[poombear] 25/11/2018 13:50

Thanks Cotswold.

[cotswoldsparky] 25/11/2018 13:23

poombear,

re. your question on 8" wafers for VCSELs, when I went on a factory visit in July, Chris Meadows explained that the problem with 8" wafers in GaAs and InP is that the substrate is brittle and requires a very stable temperature gradient to form without impurities. The gradient can be achieved over 6", is difficult to maintain over 8". Consequently 6" will be the norm for a while.

cREO will allow integration of compound semiconductors onto an 8" silicon substrate but they are looking longer term with that one.

CS

[poombear] 25/11/2018 13:21

Dr Smith, Yes the same machines have been used for both GaA (vcsel) and GAN wafers, but this adds costs and impact margins. IQE appear to have moved to avoid that where possible.
On your other point they have made investment in the US for GAN capacity, and are consolidating sites (addressing margins again).

From interims.

"The Group will invest approximately £6m in expanding GaN capacity in its facility in Taunton, MA in order to transition and combine its GaN activities from its NJ plant, providing a strong position for the upcoming wide ranging 5G deployment of GaN solutions. This investment will commence in H2 2018 and be completed by H1 2019. The GaN facility in Somerset, NJ will close in December 2018 as the transfer of its business to Taunton is completed. The consolidation of GaN production capacity is expected to save approximately £1.5m in 2019, after allowing for severance and decommissioning costs, and approximately £3m per annum thereafter."

[tomduck] 25/11/2018 13:08

Philips don’t produce the wafers...

[maxwellsdemon] 25/11/2018 12:13

horneblower,

Good point, Philips have acquired ULM Photonics who I assume produce the actual VCSEL chips. It may well be the case that Philips are more into the manufacture of VCSEL systems than VCSEL chips and that they source some of their VCSEL chips from other manufacturers. However, it says, in one of the articles below, that the staffing level in 2016 at ULM is around 200. So they seem to have a fairly significant VCSEL chip manufacturing capability?

It does say in the old article below that Philips have been producing VCSELs on 3 inch wafers for many years "ready to migrate to six inch wafer processes"



Since its establishment in 2000 as ULM Photonics GmbH and its acquisition by Philips in 2006, the facility in Ulm has grown significantly. The last expansion (to double production capacity) was completed by early 2018. Now, the firm plans to double production capacity again at its Ulm facility within the next 18 months.



Since its establishment in 2000 as ULM Photonics GmbH and its acquisition by Philips in 2006, the facility in Ulm has grown significantly, with staffing rising from 50 in 2012 to 200 in 2016. The latest expansion, with a new production line featuring automation, reflects the huge potential of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) in many applications, says the firm. Completion is planned for the end of 2017




Manufacturing standards are said to match those of other high volume semiconductor processes. And Philips, which had been producing VCSELs on three inch wafers for many years, claims to have now produced more than 500 million devices in the last two years, up from 200 million across the previous decade. The company also claims to be ready to migrate to six inch wafer processes.

According to Davies, a key part of the project was understanding the dependence between IQE's epitaxy and device fabrication from Philips. Project researchers scrutinised materials characterisation data, such as luminescence and reflectance, alongside device performance parameters including output power, efficiency and emission wavelength.

From here, they developed an in-situ monitoring process to better control epitaxy processes, while state-of-the-art ex-situ characterisation equipment was used to check wafer specifications, after epitaxy.

[horneblower] 25/11/2018 11:16

Does Philips actually produce VCSEL chips or does it produce devices that use VCSELs?

[dr_smith] 25/11/2018 10:51

Cheers Poombear.
We have constrained production on the limited Aixtron tools.
Is this new (non-VCSL) production done using the same Aixtron tools?
Or put another way, we have planned additional revenue from the expanding number of Aixtron tools.
Is this new revenue part of that or additional?

[poombear] 25/11/2018 07:35

Dr Smith that article is regarding GAN on Si, which isn't used for VCSELS. That's used for 5g base stations, which is a new revenue stream just taking off.

[46maxon] 24/11/2018 21:48

Don’t put all you eggs in one “apple”

[bocase] 24/11/2018 21:29

I like your sense of humour Regas.

I know I should not encourage you but it made me smile.

Just read the Motley Fool article comparing us to Debenhams and M & S - another good reason for laughing. I won't post the link as I post enough rubbish on here anyway.

Yes indeed a welcome respite this last week and against a backdrop of falling stocks.
At least we are moving in the right direction and given that the 'annus horribilis' of 2017 is nearly over maybe the bottom fishers will replace the shorters in 2019.

Good luck to all who have kept the faith. I do believe IQE will prove to be a good investment for those with patience, or a good doctor to keep them alive long enough.