HTC shares plunge on cautious Q1 guidance

Yesterday's selling may have come largely from foreign institutional investors after Citigroup cut its target price for HTC shares to NT$205 from NT$250 following the smartphone vendor's gloomy forecast Monday, they said.

HTC lost 7 percent, the maximum daily decline, to close at NT$266.00.

“Many investors were stunned by HTC's first quarter sales forecast. Although the company has launched its popular Butterfly model, it seems that the new product will not be able to boost its sales,” Horizon Securities analyst Benson Huang said.

At an investor conference Monday, HTC projected its sales for the first quarter at between NT$50 billion and NT$60 billion, compared with NT$60 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Separately, shares in Taiwan closed lower yesterday amid renewed concerns over the debt problems in the eurozone, as investors were worried that the political uncertainty in Spain and Italy would affect financial conditions in the Asian region, dealers said.

The construction sector outperformed the broader market on a rebound in housing transactions in January after a slump in 2012, they said.

The weighted index closed down 36.22 points, or 0.45 percent, at 7,886.94, after moving between 7,863.91 and 7,896.67, on turnover of NT$76.14 billion.

The market opened down 0.33 percent as investors took cues from the losses on Wall Street and European markets overnight due to a corruption accusation against the Spanish prime minister, dealers said.

In addition, a banking scandal in Italy dampened market sentiment as investors grew worried that it would complicate the upcoming elections in the European country, dealers said.

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	Q1 lull to give way to Q2 growth: Powertech

NEXT ARTICLE
Consumer prices in Taiwan rise 1.15 percent in January

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit