OREANDA-NEWS. Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) recently announced that Singapore’s total manufacturing output in October 2016 rose 1.2% YoY (or -1.4% YoY excluding biomedical manufacturing). The Electronics cluster was a bright spot, as its output in October increased 24.6% YoY, after 17.9% YoY growth in September 2016. Within the cluster, Semiconductors was the strongest segment, with output rising 41.7% YoY in October, building on the 35.9% YoY expansion seen in the previous month.

Singapore’s Electronics cluster has seen eight consecutive months of YoY output growth, with the Semiconductors segment enjoying even more robust expansion rates. (see chart below)

Source: EDB

Significant Global Rebound 

The strength in Singapore’s semiconductor sector is in line with data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), which showed global semiconductor sales reaching US$88.3 billion – the industry’s highest-ever quarterly sales – in CY3Q16, reflecting a QoQ growth of 11.5%. Global Semiconductor sales in September reached US$29.4 billion, increasing 3.6% YoY. According to SIA’s President and CEO, the global semiconductor market has rebounded markedly in recent months, with September showing the clearest evidence yet of resurgent sales.

There are 12 Semiconductor and Semiconductor Equipment stocks as categorised by the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). These 12 companies have a combined market capitalisation of more than S$745 million. These 12 semiconductor stocks averaged a year-to-date total return of 21.3%, outperforming the FTSE ST All Share Index’s total return of 5.2% over the corresponding period. The three best-performing stocks within the sector in the year thus far are AEM Holdings (+152.4%), Avi-Tech Electronics (+55.6%), and Sunright (+54.6%).

The five biggest semiconductor stocks by market capitalisation are: UMS Holdings, Micro-Mechanics, Ellipsiz, CDW Holding, and Avi-Tech Electronics. These five stocks averaged a 20.7% total return in the year thus far.

The table below detail the 12 Singapore-listed semiconductor stocks and are sorted by market capitalisation. Click on each stock to visit its profile page on SGX StockFacts.

Source: SGX, Bloomberg & SGX StockFacts (data as of 28 November 2016)