March went wrong, but Q2e looks OK

Stabilising demand in April, share up 3-5%

Atea (Buy, TP: NOK170.00) - Solid performance

Q1 gross profit and EBIT beat our above-consensus estimates, largely on a higher gross margin offsetting a slightly softer-than-expected top line and more opex than we expected. Furthermore, adjusted for FX losses, underlying earnings were well above our estimate and consensus. In short, we see this setting Atea up to track in line with our above-consensus estimates for 2025–2027 (which we have edged up) as well as multiples expansion. We reiterate our BUY, and have raised our target price to NOK170 (160).

Nordic Semiconductor (Buy, TP: NOK160.00) - Not too bad given tail-end of 55nm

While implied guidance for H1 revenues is ~1–4% below our forecast and consensus, the underlying sequential performance is directionally in line with the broader set of peers to have reported to date. We find this growth and gross margin profile solid, given we are at the tail-end of the life of Nordic’s 10-year-old 55nm technology platform. Combined with the arguably unprecedented level of uncertainty for the company’s customers, we find it achieving a ~50% gross margin and accelerated Cellular IoT momentum while competing with companies manufacturing on process nodes with materially better c...