[ET Net News Agency, 23 January 2020] Goldman Sachs lifted its target price for SMIC
(00981) to HK$18.4 from HK$16.3 and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house raised its earnings estimate of SMIC on stronger CIS (CMOS image
sensor) demand, driven by smartphones' migration toward 48/64MPx for their main cameras.
It also expects SMIC to benefit from the increasing demand of 2MPx CIS for tri-/quad-cam
smartphones.
Goldman expects SMIC to start production of 48MPx CIS for Will Semi in 2H 2020 and 64MPx
CIS in 2021 (versus mainly 10-20MPx CIS at present). It also expects Will Semi to
contribute 4%/7% of SMIC's revenue in 2020/21. (KL)