Chip Tariffs: a Boon for Samsung?

Chip Tariffs: a Boon for Samsung?

The South Korean giant [SSNLF] rose 2.1% Tuesday after forecasting Q1 operating profit of ₩6.6trn, the Financial Times reported. With customers stockpiling chips ahead of US tariffs, Samsung has seen surging demand from Chinese tech firms for its high-bandwidth memory components used in Nvidia’s [NVDA] China-configured H20 chips. While chips were initially exempt, Donald Trump has warned semiconductor tariffs are coming “very soon”.

Fintechs Are in More Trouble than Most

Fintech stocks have been particularly affected by the trade war: Affirm [AFRM] is down over 21%, Robinhood [HOOD] 17% and SoFi [SOFI] nearly 20%, Reuters reported. “A recession typically hits nice-to-have mass-market consumer businesses, including fintechs, harder than other sectors because the first group to pull back spending in a recession is lower-income consumers,” said Pitchbook’s James Ulan.

India: Apple’s Quick Fix

In an attempt to side-step the steep tariffs levied by the Trump administration on China, Apple [AAPL] plans to send more iPhones to the US from India, the Wall Street Journal reported. Goods from India are subject to a 26% tariff, in comparison to a 54% tariff on Chinese goods — which could rise further as the trade war continues. Shares of the tech giant have lost almost 20% of their value since the tariffs were announced.

Nuclear Body Urges Uranium Investment

The world must “immediately” ramp up uranium mining to meet booming nuclear energy demand, says a new report from the Nuclear Energy Agency and International Atomic Energy Agency, as reported by the Financial Times. Under a high-growth scenario, known reserves could run dry by the 2080s. Read OPTO’s deep dive into Constellation Energy [CEG], a leading US nuclear power stock set to benefit from artificial intelligence demand.

Equity Funds Also Struggling

Large-cap growth stocks and small-cap value stocks are perceived as most vulnerable to the effects of a recession; Morningstar has noted that its US Large Growth Index and US Small Value Index both shed more than 11% over April 3 and April 4. The ARK Innovation ETF [ARKK] performed worse than most of the funds Morningstar tracks, falling nearly 14%. Value stocks did somewhat less badly than growth stocks over the period. 

Could this Derail the IPO Rebound?

A number of prominent US IPOs — including that of fintech Klarna and medtech Medline — have been postponed as global economic turmoil continues. Klarna was planning to start a roadshow next week, while Medline was set to file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission this week, according to the Financial Times. The pause threatens to derail a recovery kicked off by CoreWeave’s [CRWV] $1.5bn IPO on March 27. 

Will Trump’s Tariffs Liberate US EV Stocks?

US President Donald Trump rocked the automotive industry in March when he imposed a flat 25% tariff on any vehicles not assembled in the US. However, even US-based companies may face tariffs for using part manufactured abroad. OPTO examines how three US electric vehicle (EV) makers — Tesla [TSLA], Rivian [RIVN] and Lucid [LCID] — might be affected by the tariffs, both in the short and long term.