Spotlight on ST following positive comments from the CFO and the launch of the new iPhone

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 10 September - A session of cautious gains for Stmicroelectronics following positive comments made by the chairman and CFO Lorenzo Grandi at Citi’s Global TMT Conference 2026 in New York.

Overall, the messages provided by the chief financial officer are in line with the guidance given at the end of July, with confirmation of revenue estimates for data centres of around $1 billion this year and over $2 billion by 2027. “We are seeing strong demand, particularly for artificial intelligence-related products,” said Grandi, emphasising the need to continue investing to keep pace with these trends. Management therefore reported that the positive trends in orders observed in the recent second-quarter results are continuing into the third quarter, and remains confident of achieving gross margins of around the mid-40 per cent range, supported by an improved product mix, pricing policy and the optimisation of production capacity.

“Overall, the outlook remains positive for top-line growth, with good visibility heading into 2027 thanks to structural trends and a gradual recovery in the more cyclical sectors,” comment the analysts at Equita, confirming their ‘Buy’ recommendation and a target price of 68 euros. Intermonte takes a similar line, confirming its ‘Neutral’ rating and a target price of 54.5 euros. Furthermore, Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, has unveiled the new product range, including the first foldable iPhone, which is broadly in line with the rumours circulating over recent months. Intermonte points out that “the market for foldable models is currently worth around 20 million units”. Assuming a 50 per cent market share for Apple—higher than its overall share of the smartphone market (around 20 per cent) due to its stronger positioning in the high-end segment—“we estimate a potential contribution of up to 20 million units per year, equivalent to around 8–9 per cent of the 220–240 million iPhones sold annually”, explain the analysts, whilst noting that “some cannibalisation of sales of other models is likely, as the iPhone 14, at least this year, offers a higher-end specification”.