The European chip sector was under pressure on Tuesday as the cold winds of fracturing U.S.-China relations blew its way.
The sector has benefited from the fruits of a global tech rally driven by the need for gadgets and computers to keep individuals and companies working amid the pandemic.
But some investors may need to brace for impact after the Commerce Department ruled that any company wanting to sell chips that use U.S. technology to China telecom group Huawei will now need a special license.
The latest move expands the U.S. administration's bid to crack down on the Chinese company by including even those widely available so-called off-the-shelf chips made by foreign firms.
President Donald Trump reiterated why in an interview on Monday, in which he repeated allegations that "they spy on us," referring to Huawei, which has repeatedly denied those allegations. That's as a Huawei executive said this month that the company was running low on processor chips needed to make smartphones
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For European chip companies, the news is not good, warned J.P. Morgan Cazenove analyst Sandeep Deshpande in a note to clients. "The new restrictions indicated in news reports are negative for our European semis coverage. On the device front, STMicro, Infineon, ams and Dialog ship semiconductors to Huawei," the analyst said. "Huawei is likely a 6%+ customer for STMicro."
All but shares of Infineon were down in European trading on Tuesday, with losses of just over 1% for STMicro and Dialog and 0.6% for ams. Infineon bucked the trend with a 0.2% gain. The Stoxx Europe TM Semiconductors Index has gained 22.8% so far in 2020, just edging past a 20% rise for the U.S. PHLX Semiconductor Index.
The new restrictions would potentially cover all of STMicro's exposure to Huawei, proving a "near-term growth headwind" for the stock, said Deshpande.
Ams has around 10% exposure to Huawei, and while the company's products don't use U.S. technology, if Huawei can't ship phones there will be an impact to the Austrian designer and manufacturer of optical sensors, said the analyst.
But the biggest danger of all may come via the exposure many European chip companies have to iPhone maker Apple.
"A key risk to European vendors like STMicro, ams and Dialog is that the increasing U.S. restrictions on Huawei will result in Chinese restrictions on Apple, which is a major customer for these companies," said Deshpande.
While China on Tuesday reportedly criticized the latest moves as damaging to global trade relations and vowed to protect companies like Huawei, so far there has been no sign of retaliation. But down the road, things could get uglier, some analysts worry.
Deutsche Bank's global technology strategist, Apjit Walia, has estimated a full-blown cold war in tech between the U.S. and China could cost the global information and technology sector $3.5 trillion in just five years.
Write to Barbara Kollmeyer at bkollmeyer@marketwatch.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2020 13:12 ET (17:12 GMT)
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