The stock price of LED Group came back to life last week, mainly because Li Bingjie, chairman of Epistar, publicly stated that "the stock price is wronged", which inspired the stocks to rise sharply. In addition, Everlight's patent litigation victory over Nichia also injected a boost into the stock price. The legal person said that May will gradually enter the LED peak season, backlight demand will pick up, and performance should have a wave of performance.
Taiwan stocks have reached over 10,000 points, and LED stocks have finally caught up. Last Thursday, including leading companies Everlight and Epistar, first-tier manufacturers Lextar, New Century, and Hongqi, as well as second-tier manufacturers Rongchuang, Huaxing, and Guangding, they all surged higher, mainly due to two major gains.
First of all, Li Bingjie, known as the "honest tree", bluntly stated that backlight demand began to pick up in May, and the business boom in the second quarter. Epistar's orders in April increased by 10% compared with March. With orders for large-size TV backlights in May, the growth will be stronger.
LED stock prices have been beaten down in the past two months, mainly because Li Bingjie said in March that the demand for backlights was slower than in previous years. On the day he said this, not only did Epistar plummet, but profit maker Yiguang's stock price even fell to the limit.
Epistar’s net worth per share is approximately NT$53, and its stock price has fallen below its net value for some time. Li Bingjie said that the past two times that Epistar’s stock price fell below its net value were during the 2002 Internet bubble and the 2008 financial tsunami. However, this time Epistar’s health and competitiveness are better than before. When foreign investors see Epistar’s operating performance, they will replenish their holdings.
Another big plus for the LED industry is that in late April, Everlight, a major packaging and lighting brand, won a patent battle in the United States, marking a triumphant victory in the ten-year patent war with Japanese major Nichia. Since the patent involves phosphors that are widely used in the global industry, Everlight’s victory in this battle is expected to open up the patent-focused European and American markets in the future.
Ye Yinfu, chairman of Everlight, said that this year’s production expansion plan is on schedule, and the production line of the Tongluo factory is under construction in full swing and is expected to be put into production by the end of October this year. The legal person said that since last year, the supply and demand of the Asian LED industry has improved, mainly because the mainland's aggressive expansion of production has decreased, and Taiwanese factories have also been consolidated and returned to the team.
The industrial order has improved this year, and the operating profits of major manufacturers will be better than in previous years. It has now entered the traditional peak season of the second quarter, and the LED industry will perform better in the next two quarters.
ANNA