Edgewater Research: Weekly Digest - 9/22/23

Important Disclosures in the Appendix

A weekly collection of news summaries, survey results and channel insights, and report summaries from Edgewater Research

DATAPOINT OF THE WEEK:

S&P reported Sep Eurozone Flash mfg PMI of 43.4 vs. 43.5 in Aug and Germany flash mfg PMI of 39.8 vs. 39.1 in August signaling continued deterioration in manufacturing activity with a continued sharp fall in new orders, output, first signs of employment cuts and business confidence which dropped to the lowest levels since Nov 2022. S&P reported Sep Flash mfg PMI for the US of 48.9 vs. 47.9 in August reflecting a continued decline in new orders and output, albeit at a more modest pace. S&P noted business confidence in the US slipped to a nine-month-low at the end of 3Q.

Headlines:

Auto

• Aug light vehicle sales in Europe increased 21% Y/Y on BEV sales strength
• EU countries debate weakening Euro 7 emissions proposal
• TrendForce forecasts EV Charings Stations expanding 3x to 16 million globally by 2026 with Europe and China capacity and vehicle-to-charger ratios well ahead of N.A.
• Sep China xEV sales on track to hit a record high for the second consecutive month says CPCA
• Ford avoids last-minuite walk-out by Canadian union workers
• LM Manufacturing announced furloughing 650 workers due to the UAW strike
• Tesla in talks with Saudi Arabia about setting up manufacturing facility
• VinFast to deliver EVs to Europe this year as EU probes China rivals
• UK car industry hit with confusion over government contemplating climate policy change and pushout of ICE sales ban
• N.A. used car prices increased 1.5% from August in the first 15 days of September
• Toyota to speed up EV production, targeting 600k units by 2025
• UAW to strike more GM, Stellantis plants, but spare Ford on signs of progress
• Ford, GM, Stellantis announced furloughs across N.A. operations
• Automakers question UAW’s strike motives after leaked ‘chaos’ messages
• UAW workers strike at ZF’s plants in Alabama

Industrial/Aerospace

• Boeing raises its China 20-year shipments outlook

Datacenter

• Cisco to buy cybersecurity Spluk for $28B

Semiconductors

• Google considers dropping Broadcom as AI TPU chips supplier, says the Information; Google denies
• GlobalFoundries has won a new $3.1B 10-year contract with US DoD for aerospace and military chips
• Nordic Semis cuts its C3Q outlook citing weaker demand
• Intel notes it will take some time to get datacenter inventory in a good state
• Kioxia's banks to refinance $13.5 billion loan for Western Digital merger, Bloomberg reports
• Global 200mm fab capacity forecasted to increase 14% from 2023 to 2026 says SEMI; automotive and power capacity to grow 34%
• China semi equipment self-sufficiency up to 40% according to reports from SEMI and Asia
• Qualcomm preparing large-scale layoffs in China and Taiwan according to reports in Asia
• TSMC and Arizona are discussing adding advanced chip packaging capacity
• Toshiba to go private after JIP secures takeover bid
• US finalizes rules to prevent China from benefiting from $52 billion in chips funding