KUALA LUMPUR (May 12): Malaysian technology stocks rallied on Tuesday as investors piled into a semiconductor frenzy that shows no sign of easing even amid the Middle East geopolitical tensions.
Investors who missed out on SkyeChip Bhd’s massively oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO) are also seeking a piece of the action, sparking a sharp increase in trading volume in select technology stocks.
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) shows little sign of slowing as investors, including fund managers, rush for an exposure, according to an analyst at Hong Leong Investment Bank.
Technology stocks are also getting a lift from structural tailwinds, particularly with US hyperscalers still ramping up their capacity with combined capital expenditure commitments of up to US$800 billion, the analyst said.
Oppstar Bhd (KL:OPPSTAR), in particular, rose 18% to 80.5 sen on Tuesday, adding to the 79% surge a day earlier on news of the Penang-based company being offered chip design token along with SkyeChip.
Automation systems firm Genetec Technology Bhd (KL:GENETEC) climbed 44% to 36 sen, while Globetronics (KL:GTRONIC), which develops and manufactures integrated circuits, rose 13% to 29 sen.
Oppstar is among the first three local integrated circuit design firms offered tokens to Arm Flexible Access (AFA) platform that provides access to Arm’s chip designs so they can experiment, develop, and test products without paying full licensing fees upfront.
SkyeChip, en route to the Main Market, is also granted a token to access the AFA platform. Privately held GreatAsic Technology Sdn Bhd, meanwhile, was given access to AFA, as well as higher-tier Compute Subsystems (CSS) token to high-performance design systems for direct chip creation.
SkyeChip’s IPO closed last week with overwhelming investor demand. Applications for the public tranche exceeded the amount on offer by 95 times, as investors put in bid worth a total of RM3.04 billion, the largest since 2010, Maybank Investment Bank said on Friday.