DA Davidson analyst Thomas Diffely raised his price target on Applied Materials (AMAT) to $55 after its better than expected Q4 results but also kept his Neutral rating. The analyst noted that while the industry fundamentals have improved with TSMC (TSM) logic/foundry spending surge driving the upside in the quarter, he believes that it remains too early to declare a "Memory recovery". Diffely adds that while he remains positive on the industry growth drivers around AI, auto, and big data, but the 75% year-to-date stock run and limited visibility on Memory demand keep him on the sidelines.

Ansys (ANSS) announced a collaboration with TSMC (TSM) on multiphysics software for TSMC's Compact Universal Photonic Engines. COUPE is a cutting-edge Silicon Photonics integration system and Co-Packaged Optics platform that mitigates coupling loss while significantly accelerating chip-to-chip and machine-to-machine communication. TSMC COUPE, along with Ansys multiphysics solutions that are integrated with Synopsys' 3DIC Compiler unified exploration-to-signoff platform, enables the next generation of silicon photonics and co-packaged optics designs for applications in AI, datacenter, cloud, and HPC communications. The work spans multiple areas, including fiber-to-chip coupling, integrated electronic-photonic chip design, power integrity verification, high-frequency electromagnetic analysis, and critical thermal management.

Argus raised the firm's price target on TSMC to $160 from $130 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst cites the company's Q1 earnings and revenue beat, stating that while the stock sold off on cautious company guidance for industry demand growth in 2024, the firm still expects solid company growth as inflation recedes and electronic device demand picks up. Throughout a down 2023, demand for the company's 5nm products remained strong, and TSMC has successfully ramped 3 nm node products, the firm added.