United Microelectronics (UMC) saw its shares surge in the last session with trading volume being higher than average. The latest trend in earnings estimate revisions may not translate into further price increase in the near term.

U.S. shares of Taiwan-based United Microelectronics popped more than 10% on news that it is looking to potentially merge with GlobalFoundries. Nikkei reported the news, citing sources familiar with the deal.

Taiwan's major chipmaker United Microelectronics and U.S.-based GlobalFoundries are exploring the possibility of a merger, the Nikkei reported on Monday, citing an assessment plan seen by the newspaper.

Geopolitical risks have increased significantly, especially with the U.S. becoming a less reliable ally under President Donald Trump's increasingly isolationist policies. UMC's exposure to AI demand remains, but the market's enthusiasm has cooled, reducing potential upside catalysts. Despite strong fundamentals like a solid dividend yield and a low price to tangible book value ratio, the stock's price support has weakened since the American election in November.

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) (“UMC”), today reported unaudited net sales for the month of February 2025. Revenues for February 2025 Period 2025 2024 Y/Y Change Y/Y (%) February 18,193,515 17,451,268 742,247 4.25% Jan.-Feb. 38,000,310 36,464,965 1,535,345 4.21% (*) All figures in thousands of New Taiwan Dollars (NT$), except for percentages (**) All figures are consolidated Additional information about UMC is available on the web at.

Cutting-Edge Cardiac Research: Novoheart's CTScreen™ system has been installed at UMC Utrecht, equipping Regenerative Medicine Center with advanced high-throughput tools to accelerate human cardiac disease modeling and therapeutic screening, including both drug candidates and gene editing approaches Driving Innovation: This installation paves the way for future co-development projects with UMC Utrecht, advancing human-based research and cardiac regenerative technologies BOSTON and UTRECHT, Netherlands, Feb. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medera Inc. (“Medera”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on targeting difficult-to-treat or currently incurable diseases with significant unmet needs, and Novoheart, its wholly owned pre-clinical subsidiary pioneering human-based cardiac tissue engineering for disease modelling and drug screening, are pleased to announce the installation of their state-of-the-art CTScreen™ platform at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht). This milestone equips the Regenerative Medicine Center Utrecht with a leading-edge system to model human cardiac diseases, develop therapies, and transform preclinical cardiac research.

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE: UMC; TWSE: 2303) (“UMC”), today reported unaudited net sales for the month of January 2025. Revenues for January 2025 Period 2025 2024 Y/Y Change Y/Y (%) January 19,806,795 19,013,697 793,098 4.17% Jan.-Jan. 19,806,795 19,013,697 793,098 4.17% (*) All figures in thousands of New Taiwan Dollars (NT$), except for percentages (**) All figures are consolidated Additional information about UMC is available on the web at http.

United Microelectronics stock fell 5% after Citibank downgraded it from buy to sell, citing gross margin weakness and competitive pressures. The company reported lower-than-expected earnings for Q4, driven by lower gross margins and non-operating income expenses. Despite challenges, UMC maintains a strong cash position and plans to continue a strong dividend policy.

UMC's Q4'24 results were modestly disappointing, with a small operating miss driven by gross margin pressures, and 2025 guidance that was better than bears feared, but not thesis-changing. Demand should recover in 2025 as inventories have been run down across multiple markets (auto, consumer, industrial, wireless, et al), but pricing remains a risk. UMC's advanced packaging capabilities are a solid positive driver, as is the possibility of increased protectionism driving more volumes to their non-Chinese fabs.

United Microelectronics Corporation (NYSE:UMC ) Q4 2024 Earnings Conference Call January 21, 2025 4:00 AM ET Company Participants Michael Lin - Head of Investor Relations Jason Wang - President Chitung Liu - Chief Financial Officer Conference Call Participants Sunny Lin - UBS Gokul Hariharan - JPMorgan Brad Lin - Bank of America Merrill Lynch Charlie Chan - Morgan Stanley Bruce Lu - Goldman Sachs Jason Zhang - CLSA Operator Welcome everyone to UMC's 2024 Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent background noise.