During the downward period of the semiconductor cycle, consumer electronics demand was sluggish, and the new energy business became the winner of domestic semiconductor manufacturers in 2023.

on the evening of April 7, Starr semi-conductor (603290.SH) released its 2023 annual report, showing that thanks to the rapid growth of the new energy landscape storage business, the company's power semiconductor sales continued to grow, driving both revenue and profit to a record high. In the published annual reports of peer-to-peer comparable companies, Stara's semi-guided performance revealed the pull effect of new energy vehicles and landscape storage demand on the performance scale of power device manufacturers.

as of December 31, 2023, Starr's undistributed profit is 2.158 billion yuan, and the company plans to pay a cash dividend of 0.273 billion yuan, with a dividend ratio of 30%.

Even so, the gross profit margin of Startech's main products has declined to varying degrees, revealing the current situation of local semiconductor power manufacturers competing around low-end products. The fund in the fourth quarter of last year, the number of shares rose to the highest since the end of 2022, while the north-bound funds sold more than 1100 million shares throughout the year, reflecting the main funds on the power semiconductor market differences are still.

The prosperity of the new energy industry drives the performance to a new high

Star Semiconductor is mainly engaged in the design, development, production and sales of power chips and modules based on bipolar transistors) and SiC (silicon carbide). The products are mainly used in new energy vehicles, new energy power generation, industrial control, etc. In market segments, the company's chip and module design includes the design of power chips such as IGBT chips and fast recovery diodes, and the design of power modules.

The financial report shows that in 2023, Starr Semi-Guide achieved operating income of 3.663 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.39 percent, and realized a net profit of 0.91 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.36 percent, and a net profit of 0.886 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.25 percent. All three indicators are the highest since listing.

Among them, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Starr semi-conductor achieved revenue of 1.044 billion billion yuan, an increase of 25.62 percent over the same period last year, and achieved a net profit of 0.252 billion billion yuan, an increase of 10.92 percent over the same period last year.

during the reporting period, Stari's cash flow from operating activities decreased by 42.74 year-on-year to 0.383 billion yuan. the company explained that it was mainly due to the increase in cash paid for goods and services.

In terms of profit distribution, Starsemi gave the largest cash dividend after listing and plans to convert shares. The company plans to pay a cash dividend of 15.9784 yuan (including tax) for every 10 shares, and the total expected dividend is 0.273 billion yuan, accounting for 30% of the net profit attributable to the parent in the consolidated statement of the year. At the same time, it plans to increase 4 shares for every 10 shares, and the total share capital will be expanded to about 0.239 billion shares after the conversion.

As a power semiconductor device, IGBT is the core device for power processing, and is widely used in industrial control, power, motor, rail transit, smart grid, new energy, household appliances, automotive electronics and other fields. During the reporting period, the sales revenue of IGBT modules of Starr Semiconductor accounted for 91.55 of the total revenue, benefiting from the continuous growth of global demand for new energy, landscape and power storage, the continuous volume of related IGBT products to promote Starr Semiconductor's performance to a new high, and the growth of the new energy industry is also considered to be the main driving force of the company's future performance.

in 2023, the operating income of Startech's new energy industry was 2.156 billion yuan, up 48.09 percent year-on-year, compared with 154.81 percent in the same period last year, mainly due to the low base of the previous year's performance. The company's new energy industry power semiconductor products are mainly used in new energy vehicle charging piles, main motor controllers, electronic power steering and other scenarios, of which the 2023 automotive main drive IGBT module total supporting more than 2 million sets of main motor controller. High-voltage fast charging of new energy vehicles above 800V has become the mainstream development trend. During the reporting period, Stara semi-conductor was applied to the high-volume loading application of SiC MOSFET modules of the main controller of new energy vehicles.

In addition, Starsemi's industrial control and power industry revenue was 1.279 billion yuan, up 15.64 percent year-on-year. Revenue from variable frequency white goods and other industries reached 0.203 billion yuan, up 69.48 year on year.

Firmly cut positions in the north direction

the-share power semiconductor sector includes yang Jie technology (300373.SZ), Jie Jie micro power (300623.SZ), shilanwei (600460.SH), starr semi-conductor (603290.SH), new clean energy (605111.SH), time electric (688187.SH), dongwei semi-conductor (688261.SH), China resources micro (688396.SH) and other companies have released significant annual performance so far in 20202020202023.

new clean energy, Dongwei semi-conductor are both revenue and profit decline, Jiejie micro-power income does not increase profit.

regarding the prosperity and performance of power semiconductors, a number of semiconductor industry insiders told the first financial reporter that on the one hand, the products of local semiconductor power manufacturers are oriented to different downstream industries. even in the same industry, the shipment volume of a single customer will have a great impact on the performance. On the other hand, the semiconductor cycle is still at the bottom, with obvious structural demand for power semiconductors, and local manufacturers in the middle and low end, its gross margin level and shipment size are more susceptible to the downward cycle.

despite the growth of total revenue and profit in 2023, the gross profit margin of various products has declined to varying degrees. the company has not made corresponding explanations. the possible reason is that the growth rate of operating costs has reached 41.73, exceeding the growth rate of operating income by 35.39.

In 2023, the company's IGBT module achieved operating income of 3.331 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 37.72, down 1.93 percentage points year-on-year; other products achieved revenue of 0.307 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 35.46, down 8.21 percentage points.

Xinjieneng's annual report shows that the gross profit margin of the company's main products fell by 6.26 percentage points year-on-year, of which the chip gross profit margin fell by 13.37 percentage points year-on-year; the gross profit margin of the three main products of Jiejie Microelectronics also showed varying degrees Decline.

"The development of the local power semiconductor industry chain started late, the pattern is relatively scattered and evenly matched, even leading manufacturers are concentrated in similar tracks and product competition, around the low-end power device market share to compete. Although new energy has become the main demand driver for power semiconductors in the past two years, demand in traditional markets such as consumer electronics is sluggish, and only a few local power semiconductor manufacturers can go through the cycle. "A related person from a semiconductor listed company told reporters:" Overseas giant manufacturers such as Infineon, Anson Mei and others have continuously won the market share of high-end power devices. Their products are oriented to high-voltage and high-power and SiC subdivision tracks. The market share of some low-end and medium-end products is released to domestic power manufacturers to replace them, which can be seen as a "passive" growth opportunity for the local industrial chain. The strategy of active development is to focus on product going to sea and high-end market share. "

Automotive, industrial and consumer electronics are the top three end markets for power semiconductors, and since 2024, against the backdrop of a moderate recovery in consumer electronics demand, the market logic interpretation of power semiconductors has still not been running towards a cyclical reversal. Data show that the average decline in the power semiconductor sector during the year was 12.31, significantly underperforming the major stock indexes.

Starr's share price fell 18.9 percent during the year. As of the close of trading on April 8, the company's share price rose 5.42 percent to 146.8 yuan, with a total market value of 25.1 billion yuan.

After the release of the annual report, a number of brokerages gave Sida Semiconductor a buy rating, but there was a big divergence on the upside. UBS Securities is looking at a target price of 253 yuan, up 73.3 percent from the current price, while SDIC Securities is giving a target price of 161 yuan.

By the end of 2023, the number of shares held by the Fund in Starr Semi-Guide had risen to the highest level of the year, reaching 15.1902 million shares, or 8.89 percent of the outstanding shares, the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2022, with only 4.3998 million shares and 2.58 percent, respectively, at the end of the first quarter of 2023.

However, the northbound capital has retreated quite resolutely. It has reduced its holdings of Starr's semi-guide for four consecutive quarters and sold more than 11 million shares net for the whole year.

(This article is from China Business News)