Himax Stock Jumps As Analysts Tout Potential Nvidia, TSMC Supply Chain Opportunities: Retail Sentiment Brightens
Co-packaged optics is anticipated to become the critical chip design of AI servers and HPC, making WLO a key driver of long-term growth for Himax, said an analyst.
FollowHimax Technologies, Inc. ($HIMX) shares jumped on Thursday after an analyst said the Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company could be a potential wafer-level optics (WLO) supplier for Nvidia Corp. ($NVDA) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. ($TSM).
Himax stock settled Thursday’s session up 44.93% at $9.71 on about 25 times its average volume. This marked its highest close since Jan. 18, 2022.
TFI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in a post on Medium that he expects Himax to leverage its WFO technology and strong partnership with Fiber Optics Communications to enter the supply chain for TSM’s co-packaged optics (CPO) and Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips Rubin series.
Himax has a 5.3% equity stake in Fiber Optics Communications, Kuo said.
“Looking ahead, CPO is anticipated to become the critical chip design of AI servers and HPC, making WLO a key driver of long-term growth for Himax,” he added.
The analyst expects the demand for WLO technology, driven by CPO applications, to begin contributing to Himax's revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, primarily driven by technical qualification and trial production. He expects steady growth in 2025 and rapid acceleration in 2026.
Later, Baird analyst Tristan Gerra upped the price target for Himax stock from $5 to $7 and maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating, citing CPO and augmented reality (AR) opportunities. These opportunities reach to Himax’s core technological capabilities and represent secular growth vectors, the analyst said.
Gerra said Himax is well-positioned to benefit from TSMC’s plan to ramp photonics within CoWoS packaging in 2026 to address AI-driven surging bandwidth demand.
Himax is also well-positioned with its microdisplay and waveguide patented technologies into a new class of AR devices launching in the next two to three years as tier-one OEMs have given up on internal microdisplay development efforts, he added.’
HIMX sentiment and message volume December 12, 2024, as of 10:47 pm ET | Source: Stocktwits
On Stocktwits, sentiment toward Himax improved from ‘neutral’ a day ago to ‘extremely bullish’ (97/100), marking the highest level in over a year. Reflecting increasing activity levels among retailers, message volume spiked to ‘extremely high.’
One Stocktwits user said Himax is headed toward $100 in 2025 and was bigger than AI server maker Super Micro Computer, Inc. ($SMCI).
Following the gain in Thursday’s regular session, the stock pulled back by 4.74% in after-hours trading. The stock is up about 66% for the year-to-date period.
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