Apple Shows Strong Performance Thanks to iPhone... "Related Stocks Expected to Benefit"

Apple's Q4 Last Year Results: $91.8 Billion Revenue, $25.6 Billion Operating Profit

Apple's iPhone SE (Photo by Asia Economy DB)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] As Apple's iPhone showed strong performance in the December quarter last year, related stocks are also attracting attention.

According to Samsung Securities on the 1st, Apple's December quarter results last year recorded sales of $91.8 billion and operating profit of $25.6 billion. The strong sales of wearable devices such as the iPhone and AirPods are analyzed as the decisive cause. iPhone sales revenue and shipment volume, which experienced negative growth last year, increased by 8% and 5% respectively compared to the previous year. Sales revenue in China also showed a 3% growth. This is the highest quarterly sales figure ever recorded.

In particular, iPhone shipment volume played a significant role. The iPhone shipment volume in the December quarter last year is estimated to be about 69 million units, a 5% increase from the previous year. This marks a turnaround to growth after five quarters since the September 2018 quarter. It is expected that the shipment volume increase will accelerate centered on the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE when the successor model of the iPhone SE is released in the first half of this year.

Lee Changmin, a researcher at KB Securities, said, "This year, iPhone shipment volume is estimated to increase by 15% to 220 million units compared to 190 million units last year, approaching the all-time high of 230 million units." He added, "The iPhone SE2, expected to be released in March, is anticipated to be a hit. With its small size and an estimated affordable price of $399, it is expected to gain popularity mainly in emerging markets such as India, and more than 30 million units are projected to be shipped this year."

Following Apple's strong performance and the forecasted increase in iPhone shipment volume, the performance of Apple component suppliers is also expected to benefit from the ripple effect. Lee Gyuha, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "Related value chains such as LG Innotek, BH, and ITM Semiconductor are expected to benefit." He analyzed, "Additionally, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Sekyung Hi-Tech, KH Vatec, and Innox Advanced Materials, which are related to general-purpose components expected to benefit from the global smartphone demand recovery, are attractive."

Even as the KOSPI and KOSDAQ indices decline, some related stocks are showing an upward trend. The KOSPI, which was 2262.64 on the 20th of last month, fell by 6.35% to 2119.01 last month, and the KOSDAQ dropped 6% from 683.47 to 642.48. In contrast, during the same period, LG Innotek rose 3.05% from 147,500 KRW to 152,000 KRW, and ITM Semiconductor surged 23.33% from 48,000 KRW to 59,200 KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.