KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 21): Hong Leong IB Research (HLIB Research) has maintained its “overweight” rating on the technology sector and said although worldwide semiconductor three-month moving average sales fell by 0.9% year-on-year in July 2015, the US-based Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) was not overly concerned and attributed this to normal market cyclicality and major currency devaluations.

In a note today, the research house said generally, the industry was still expected to expand healthily in FY15 and is earmarked for another record year.

HLIB Research said book-to-bill ratio dipped marginally below parity in May and June but rebounded firmly in July and August with 1.02 and 1.06, respectively.

It said year-to-date spending was flat and expected to be so for the rest of FY15.

“DRAM pricing stabilised after plunging since the beginning of year.

“Southeast Asia accounts for more than 30%, while Malaysia making up circa 12% of the installed global semiconductor assembly, packaging and test productions.

“Top pick: Inari Amertron Bhd (Buy, RM3.79) has indirect exposure to Apple. Currently running at full capacity implying voracious demand,” it said.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)