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Apple Falls Anew Amid iPhone 7 Worries, Chip Stocks Follow

Apple ( AAPL ) stock tumbled to its lowest level in nearly two years on Thursday, following a report that Asian component suppliers are seeing weak orders related to the upcoming iPhone 7. Japanese business publication Nikkei Asian Review reported Thursday that Taiwan-based tech suppliers expect to get significantly fewer orders from Apple in the second half of this year compared with the year-earlier period. They cited the “ongoing slump in demand for premium smartphones and a lack of groundbreaking features for the upcoming iPhone 7.” Nikkei Asian Review this week also reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ( TSM ) expects its iPhone chip shipments for the June-to-December period will be about 70% to 80% of the level reached in the second half of 2015. Credit Suisse analyst Kulbinder Garcha said the market overreacted to the Nikkei report. The prediction that iPhone builds would be down 20% to 30% in the second half of the year vs. the same period in 2015 was expected and already should have been baked into the stock’s price. “While the news is clearly disappointing, it was already largely included in our iPhone unit estimates,” he said in a report Thursday. Elsewhere, Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group said its first-quarter net profit fell 9.2% from a year earlier, as it was hit by a slowdown in iPhone sales, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday . Foxconn is Apple’s main iPhone assembler. Apple shares were down more than 2.5%, near 90, in afternoon trading on the stock market today . TSM shares were down 1%, near 23. IBD’s Take: How healthy is Apple’s stock and how does it stand up vs. rivals? Find out at IBD Stock Checkup . Other Apple chip suppliers were down Thursday as well, including InvenSense ( INVN ), NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ), Cirrus Logic ( CRUS ), Broadcom ( AVGO ), Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ), Qorvo ( QRVO ) and Texas Instruments ( TXN ). Apple stock has risen in only four of the last 20 trading sessions. Since hitting its 2016 high of 112.39 on April 14, Apple stock has fallen about 20%. Most of the decline happened after the Cupertino, Calif.-based company reported March-quarter results and gave June-quarter guidance on April 26. For its fiscal Q2, Apple posted its first year-over-year sales decline since 2003 and its first-ever drop in iPhone unit sales. For the current Q3, Apple is targeting sales of $42 billion, down 15% from the same period last year. Demand for Apple’s latest handsets, the iPhone 6S series, has been relatively weak, and hopes for a return to unit sales growth have shifted to the iPhone 7, expected to be released in September. The iPhone 7 is predicted to feature a slimmer design, a speedier processor and a better camera. It also might be waterproof for the first time, according to tech news reports. But it is expected to look pretty much like the current models, with tweaks like the lack of an audio headset jack. RELATED: Apple Stock Gets Price-Target Cut On Longer iPhone Upgrade Cycle .

Huawei P9 Imitates Apple: ‘New Dog With Old iPhone Tricks’

Chinese Huawei’s P9 is a “new dog with old iPhone tricks,” beating Apple ( AAPL ) to the smooth-backed punch, but including the usual chip suspects — Broadcom ( AVGO ), NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ), Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ) and Texas Instruments ( TXN ). But the iFixit teardown of the P9 smartphone did little for Broadcom stock was down a fraction in late-afternoon trading Friday, while NXP and Skyworks were both up a fraction. Texas Instruments stock, however, was up 1% on the stock market today . The Huawei P9 looks familiar , iFixit wrote, wondering, “just how far did Huawei go to imitate, and perhaps surpass, the iPhone?” IFixit notes the Huawei P9 camera is embedded within the body — as opposed to the bump in the iPhone 6S. Apple suppliers fill the inside of the Huawei P9, but their functions can vary from the iPhone 6S. Samsung supplies both — but it has a flash-memory chip inside the P9 as opposed to a RAM (random access memory) offering within the 6S, says iFixit. Huawei tapped SK Hynix for its RAM. Apple used Toshiba for its 6S flash memory. Texas Instruments supplied a fast-charging chip for the Huawei P9 vs. a power-management chip for the Apple 6S. And Huawei’s audio codec by HiSilicon is mirrored by Cirrus Logic ‘s ( CRUS ) chip inside the Apple flagship. Broadcom provides two chips for Huawei as opposed to a single chip for Apple. NXP, a single chip for the P9 and two chips for the 6S. The Huawei phone has three Skyworks chips vs. two Skyworks power amplifiers within the iPhone 6S. Huawei’s and Apple’s flagship phones both scored a 7 out of 10 on iFixit’s scale of repairability.

Sony PlayStation 4 Chipmaker Monolithic Power Systems Tops Q1 Views

Sony ( SNE ) PlayStation 4 chip supplier Monolithic Power Systems ( MPWR ) topped Wall Street’s Q1 expectations after the close Monday and issued current-quarter sales guidance that beat the consensus at the midpoint. Monolithic Power stock rose 1.75% in Monday’s regular session to 63.51, and was flat in after-hours trading. Shares are even for the year, but have recovered from an 8% dip through mid-February. Monolithic stock broke out of a cup-with-handle based last month at 65.36, so it’s down nearly 3% from the buy point. For Q1, Monolithic Power reported $84.5 million in sales and 45 cents earnings per share minus items, up 15% and 22%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. IBD Take: Monolithic Power gets great ratings of late, as you can see from IBD Stock Checkup. Both measures topped the consensus of eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for $83 million and 44 cents per share, and the midpoint of Monolithic Power’s earlier sales view for $81 million to $85 million. Current-quarter sales guidance for $91 million to $95 million would be up 12%-17% and beat analysts’ model for $91.5 million at the midpoint. Monolithic Power stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 97, out of a best-possible 99, trailing Nvidia ( NVDA ), Silicon Motion Tech ( SIMO ) and Maxlinear ( MXL ). Its chips are used in Sony’s PlayStation 4, Microsoft ( MSFT ) Xbox One and Blu-ray/DVD players. It competes against tech majors like Intel ( INTC ), Texas Instruments ( TXN ) and Qualcomm ( QCOM ), all Apple ( AAPL ) suppliers.