Semiconductor Company IQE Lowers Earnings Forecast As Sector Weakness

Britain’s IQE joined several other semiconductor companies in issuing a bleak earnings forecast, highlighting broader technology sector weakness as China’s economy slows.

Friday’s announcement by IQE, which makes semiconductor wafers used in Apple Inc products, comes on the heels of warnings from the iphone maker and Samsung Electronics, as well as dismal forecasts from chipmakers ranging from South Korea’s SK Hynix to U.S.-based Texas Instruments.

Cardiff-based IQE said it expects to report 2018 adjusted core earnings of 27.5 million pounds, short of Peel Hunt analyst Damindu Jayaweera’s 31.1 million pound estimate.

Shares in the company initially plunged by 13 percent before recovering losses to stand 4.3 percent down at 71.3 pence at 1015 GMT.

The company had already issued a November forecast of a 16 percent decline in full-year earnings to 31 million pounds, citing a drop in orders at a major chipmaker that supplies 3D sensing technology.—Reuters