Falling smartphone demand will pressure revenues, margins and sentiment for semiconductor company Qorvo, according to Cowen. Analyst Matthew Ramsay downgraded shares of Qorvo to market perform from outperform, saying in Sunday note that weakening demand for lower- and mid-tier Androids, particularly in China, is pushing the firm’s near-term estimates below consensus. “We rate Qorvo Market Perform, as softening handset demand likely leads to weaker than expected sell-through rates and inventory draw-downs at key customers Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi,” Ramsay wrote. Cowen also cut the price target by 28%, to $ 108 from $ 150. The new price target is about 9% above where shares closed Friday. The stock declined more than 2% in Monday premarket trading. Shares of Qorvo will face greater pressure, even after falling 50% off recent highs, as the smartphone market continues to weaken. Cowen expects that demand for smartphones will decline 6% and 2% in calendar years 2022 and 2023, respectively. It previously expected growth of 1% and 2%. “In our view, risk skews to the downside and depending on the magnitude of inventory draw-downs, we see risk that Mobile Products could in fact be down Q / Q in a typically a stronger seasonal quarter,” Ramsay wrote. For fiscal year 2023, Cowen lowered its revenue and profit estimates to $ 4.2 billion and $ 9.22 per share, respectively, which is down from $ 4.35 billion and $ 9.62 per share previously. For fiscal year 2024, revenue estimates were lowered to $ 4.8 billion from $ 5 billion; earnings per share estimates came down to $ 12 from $ 12.50. Cowen thinks Qorvo will continue to benefit from broader growth trends in 5G technology, but added that it sees “the 5G adoption cycle taking a break into C2023 as broader macro pressures negatively affect consumer sentiment.” —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
