Report
Dave Nicoski ...
  • Ross LaDuke
EUR 234.38 For Business Accounts Only

Vermilion Compass: Weekly Equity Strategy

Markets on the mend, still not at full health

Recent market developments are encouraging and have improved the overall health of the market, which has also incrementally improved our outlook. At the same time, there is still more to be desired before we can have confidence in the prospect of a broad market rally.

• Emerging Markets. An important signal of substantially improving risk appetites, emerging markets (EEM) are staging a bullish RS reversal relative to both the S&P 500 and MSCI ACWI (ACWI), and price is arguably bullishly inflecting as well. China (FXI) is helping lead the turnaround... see charts below.

• US dollar (DXY). The DXY is on the cusp of a short-term breakdown within the confines of the longer-term rising wedge. We continue to believe a gradual weakening of the USD would aid EM and international equities... see page 3.

• PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX). The SOX index managed to notch a new all-time high and hit new RS highs not seen in nearly 18 years. This is another great sign for the broad market considering the cyclicality of semis... see page 3.

• Cyclicals vs. Staples. The equal-weighted Discretionary vs. Staples ratio (RCD/RHS) is bullishly inflecting, a bullish signal of improving risk appetites... see page 3.

• RS for defensives is deteriorating. We are starting to see some distribution from defensive areas including Staples, Utilities, and REITs -- where RS has pulled back sharply. Further RS deterioration would be characteristic of a healthy bull market... see page 4.

• More to be desired. Several risk-on/cyclical value areas of the market are consolidating at best. Signs of bottoming would significantly improve the prospect of a broad market advance. We would also like to see small-caps begin to outperform... see pages 5-6.

In today's report we highlight attractive Groups and stocks within Technology and Transportation: TE-04 & TE-05 Semiconductor Equip., Large/Mid-Cap and Small-Cap, TE-12 Electronic Equipment Components, and TR-12 Trucking Large-Cap... see pages 14-33.
Underlyings
Advanced Energy Industries Inc.

Advanced Energy Industries designs, manufactures, sells and supports power conversion products that convert power into various usable forms. The company's products enable manufacturing processes that use thin film technology for products such as semiconductor devices, flat panel displays, thin film renewables, architectural glass, optical coating and consumer products decorative and functional coating. The company also supplies thermal instrumentation products for temperature measurement and control for multiple industrial markets. The company's network of global service support centers provides repair services, conversions, improvements, and refurbishments and used equipment to companies using its products.

Amkor Technology Inc.

Amkor Technology is a provider of outsourced semiconductor packaging and test services, which include semiconductor wafer bump, wafer probe, wafer back-grind, package design, packaging, system-level and final test and drop shipment services. The company's Advanced Products include flip chip chip scale packages, wafer-level packages and flip chip ball grid array packages, while its Mainstream Products include leadframe packages, substrate-based wirebond packages and micro-electro-mechanical systems packages. The company provides its services to integrated device manufacturers, fabless semiconductor companies and contract foundries.

Applied Materials Inc.

Applied Materials provides manufacturing equipment, services and software to the semiconductor, display and related industries. The company's segments are: Semiconductor Systems, which develops, manufactures and sells a range of manufacturing equipment used to fabricate semiconductor chips; Applied Global Services, which provides integrated solutions to support equipment and fab performance and productivity; and Display and Adjacent Markets, which is comprised of products for manufacturing liquid crystal displays, organic light-emitting diodes and other display technologies for TVs, monitors, laptops, personal computers, electronic tablets, smart phones, and other consumer-oriented devices.

ASM International N.V.

ASML Holding N.V.

BE Semiconductor Industries N.V.

Brooks Automation Inc.

Brooks Automation provides semiconductor manufacturing automation solutions and life science sample-based services and solutions worldwide. In the semiconductor manufacturing market, the company provides robotics, automation systems and services. In the life sciences market, the company provides sample-based services and products, including a line of cold chain management solutions for handling and storing biological and chemical compound samples used in areas such as drug development, clinical research and advanced cell therapies. The company is also a provider of gene sequencing and gene synthesis services. The company's reportable segments consist of Brooks Semiconductor Solutions Group and Brooks Life Sciences.

ChipMOS Technologies, Inc.

CMC Materials Inc.

Cabot Microelectronics supplies polishing slurries and pads used in the manufacture of integrated circuit (IC) devices within the semiconductor industry, in a process called chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). The company develops, produces and sells CMP slurries for polishing many of the conducting, insulating and isolating materials used in IC devices, and also for polishing the disk substrates and magnetic heads used in hard disk drives. In addition, the company develops, manufactures and sell CMP polishing pads, which are used in conjunction with slurries in the CMP process. The company also pursue other surface modification applications through its Engineered Surface Finishes business.

Cohu Inc.

Cohu provides semiconductor test equipment and services. The company's products include semiconductor test, which is used for wafer level and device package testing; semiconductor handlers, which are used to automate the testing and inspection of packaged semiconductor devices; thermal sub-systems, which provide temperature control of the integrated circuit during the testing process; bare board printed circuit board (PCB) test systems, which are used to test pre-assembly PCBs; interface products, which consist of test contactors and probe pins; spares and kits, which provide consumable, non-consumable and spare items; and services, which performs installations and maintenance of systems sold.

Entegris Inc.

Entegris is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of microcontamination control products, chemicals and materials handling solutions for manufacturing processes in the semiconductor and other industries. The company has three segments: Specialty Chemicals and Engineered Materials, which provides process chemistries, gases, and materials; Microcontamination Control, which provides solutions to filter and purify liquid chemistries and gases used in semiconductor manufacturing processes and other industries; and Advanced Materials Handling segment, which develops solutions to monitor, protect, transport, and deliver liquid chemistries, wafers and substrates.

FormFactor Inc.

FormFactor is a provider of test and measurement technologies. The company's products provide electrical information from a range of semiconductor and electro-optical devices and integrated circuits from research, to development through production. The company designs, manufactures and sells multiple product lines, including probe cards, analytical probes, probe stations, thermal sub-systems, and related services. The company's customers use its products to test semiconductor device types, including mobile application processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, graphic processors, radio frequency, analog, mixed signal, image sensors, opto-electrical, DRAM memory, NAND flash memory and NOR flash memory devices.

Ichor Holdings Ltd.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is a surface transportation, delivery, and logistics company. The company's service offerings include transportation of full-truckload containerized freight, which it directly transports utilizing its equipment and company drivers or independent contractors. The company also provides customized freight movement, revenue equipment, labor, systems, and delivery services. The company's local and home delivery services typically are provided through a network of cross-dock service centers throughout the continental United States. The company's segments include Intermodal, Dedicated Contract Services?, Integrated Capacity Solutions, and Truckload.

KEMET Corporation

KEMET is a manufacturer of tantalum capacitors, multilayer ceramic capacitors, film capacitors, electrolytic capacitors, paper capacitors and solid aluminum capacitors, and Electro-Magnetic Compatible (EMC) devices, sensors, and actuators. The company is organized into three reportable segments: Solid Capacitor, which produces tantalum, aluminum, polymer and ceramic capacitors; Film and Electrolytic, which produces film, paper and wet aluminum electrolytic capacitors as well as electromagnetic interference filters; and Electro-Magnetic, Sensors, and Actuators, which primarily produces EMC materials and devices, piezo materials and actuators and various types of sensors.

KLA Corporation

KLA is a supplier of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related nanoelectronics industries. The company provides process control and process-enabling solutions for manufacturing and testing wafers and reticles, integrated circuits, packaging, light emitting diodes, power devices, compound semiconductor devices, microelectromechanical systems, data storage, printed circuit boards (PCBs), and flat and flexible panel displays, as well as general materials research. The company has four reportable segments which include Semiconductor Process Control; Specialty Semiconductor Process; PCB, Display and Component Inspection; and Other.

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. Class A

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings is a truckload carrier and a provider of transportation solutions. The company provides multiple truckload transportation, intermodal, and logistics services using a nationwide network of business units and terminals in the United States and Mexico. In addition to its truckload services, the company contracts with third-party capacity providers to provide a range of truckload services to its customers. The company operates company tractors, independent contractor tractors, and trailers within its Knight Trucking, Swift Truckload, Swift Dedicated, and Swift Refrigerated segments. Additionally, the company operates tractors and intermodal containers within its Swift Intermodal segment.

Knowles Corp.

Knowles is a provider of micro-acoustic, audio processing and precision device solutions, serving the mobile consumer electronics, communications, medtech, defense, automotive, and industrial markets. The company is organized into two reportable: Audio, which designs and manufactures audio products, including microphones and balanced armature speakers, audio processors, and software and algorithms used in applications that serve the mobile, ear, and Internet of Things markets; and Precision Devices, which is focused on the design and delivery of capacitor products and mmWave radio frequency solutions.

Kyocera Corp. (Mexico)

Landstar System Inc.

Landstar System is an asset-light provider of integrated transportation management solutions. The company provides services to its customers across transportation modes, throughout the U.S. and to a lesser extent in Canada and Mexico, and between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico and other countries around the world. The company has two segments: transportation logistics, which provides truck services, rail intermodal services, as well as air and ocean services; and insurance, which is comprised of Signature Insurance Company, an offshore insurance subsidiary, and Risk Management Claim Services, Inc. The company's insurance segment provides risk and claim management services to certain of its operating subsidiaries.

Littelfuse Inc.

Littelfuse is a manufacturer of technologies in circuit protection, power control and sensing. The company has three segments: Electronics, which provides fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, and gas discharge tubes; Automotive, which consists of circuit protection, power control and sensing technologies for original equipment manufacturers, Tier-I suppliers and parts distributors in the passenger car, agricultural, construction and other commercial vehicle industries; and Industrial, which includes power fuses, protection relays and controls and other circuit protection products.

MKS Instruments Inc.

MKS Instruments is a provider of instruments, subsystems and process control solutions. The company has two segments: Vacuum & Analysis, which provides instruments, components, subsystems and software which are derived from its knowledge in pressure measurement and control, flow measurement and control, gas and vapor delivery, gas composition analysis, residual gas analysis, leak detection, control and information technology, ozone generation and delivery, radio frequency and data communication power, reactive gas generation and vacuum technology; and Light & Motion, which provides instruments, components and subsystems which are derived from its knowledge in lasers, photonics and optics.

Nidec Corp. ADS

Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd

Nova Measuring Instruments is engaged in the design, development, production of integrated process control systems for use in the manufacture of semiconductors, also known as integrated circuits or chips. Co.'s product portfolio includes a complete set of, integrated and stand-alone metrology platforms suited for dimensional, films and material metrology measurements for process control across multiple semiconductor manufacturing process steps including lithography, Etch, CMP and deposition. Co.'s solutions utilize optical spectral reflectometry and X-ray technologies combined with advanced software modeling and unique algorithmic capabilities.

Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.

Old Dominion Freight Line is a less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carrier providing regional, inter-regional and national LTL services, which include expedited transportation. In addition to the company's primary LTL services, the company provides a range of services including container drayage, truckload brokerage and supply chain consulting. The company also provides access to its systems through multiple gateways that provide its customers and employees flexibility and access to information. The company employs vehicle safety systems, on-board and hand-held computer systems, freight handling systems and logistics technology to reduce costs and transit times.

PDF Solutions Inc.

PDF Solutions provides products and services designed to help data scientists across the semiconductor ecosystem to improve the yield, quality, and profitability of their products. The company's products and services include: Exensio Software Products, which is designed to enable customers to perform root cause diagnosis of yield, performance, and quality issues; Design-for-Inspection System, which is designed to enable its customers to achieve non-contact, inline electrical characterization and process control; Characterization Vehicle System, which is designed to improve yield learning; and software as a service, which provides services to make its Exensio software available via the Internet.

Photronics Inc.

Photronics is a manufacturer of photomasks, which are photographic quartz or glass plates containing microscopic images of electronic circuits. Photomasks are a main element in the manufacture of semiconductors and flat-panel displays (FPDs), and are used as masters to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers and FPD substrates during the fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs or semiconductors), and a variety of FPDs and, to a lesser extent, other types of electrical and optical components. The company supports customers across the spectrum of IC production and FPD technologies by manufacturing photomasks using electron beam or optical (laser-based) systems.

TDK Corp. ADS

Teradyne Inc.

Teradyne is a global supplier of automation equipment for test and industrial applications. The company designs, develops, manufactures and sells automatic test systems used to test semiconductors, wireless products, data storage and electronics systems in the consumer electronics, wireless, automotive, industrial, computing, communications, and aerospace and defense industries. The company's automatic test equipment and industrial automation products and services include: semiconductor test systems; defense/aerospace test instrumentation and systems, storage test systems, and circuit-board test and inspection systems; industrial automation products; and wireless test systems.

Ultra Clean Holdings Inc.

Ultra Clean Holdings is engaged in designing, engineering, and manufacturing of production tools, modules and subsystems for the semiconductor capital equipment industry and industry segments with similar requirements including display, consumer and medical. The company designs, develops, prototypes, manufactures and tests subsystems, and cleans and analyzes tool parts, primarily for the semiconductor market. The company's products include precision robotic solutions, gas delivery systems, a variety of industrial and automation production equipment products; and subsystems that includes wafer cleaning modules, chemical delivery modules, top-plate assemblies, frame assemblies, and process modules.

Veeco Instruments Inc.

Veeco Instruments is a manufacturer of semiconductor and thin film process equipment. The company's system products include: Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition Systems, Advanced Packaging Lithography, Precision Surface Processing Systems (Wet Etch and Clean), Laser Annealing Systems, Ion Beam Deposition and Etch Systems, Molecular Beam Epitaxy Systems, 3D Wafer Inspection Systems, and Atomic Layer Deposition and Other Deposition Systems. The company's systems are used in the production of microelectronic components, including light emitting diodes, micro-electro mechanical systems, radio frequency filters and amplifiers, power electronics, thin film magnetic heads, and other semiconductor devices.

Provider
Vermilion Research
Vermilion Research

Vermilion Research delivers timely, actionable, and unique research inputs to professional investors. Our research strategists highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various proprietary technical indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. We believe our research methodology, which is not limited by industry sector or market capitalization, enables us to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing all actively traded stocks into coherent sectors, then into logical industry groups. We then apply our proprietary relative strength tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sectors or groups, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. Vermilion offers U.S. and global equity market research products. Vermilion’s research team, which has received numerous awards and accolades, has a combined 70 year of experience in the analysis of investment securities.

Analysts
Dave Nicoski

Ross LaDuke

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