Apple suppliers gain after Broadcom hint on iPhone

(Reuters) - Shares in Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ: SWKS), Cirrus Logic Inc (NASDAQ: CRUS), and Qorvo Inc traded higher on Thursday after fellow Apple supplier Broadcom Ltd (NASDAQ: AVGO) hinted the late launch of iPhone X would help revenue rise.

"As we look into the first quarter 2018, unlike the last 2 years, we expect wireless revenue to continue to grow sequentially as the ramp in demand from our North American customer this year was pushed out compared to prior years," Broadcom CEO Hock Tan told a conference call on Wednesday.

Analysts say the 2017 performance of component suppliers to the California-based tech giant has been weighed down by Apple's decision (NASDAQ: AAPL) to push back the launch of the 10th anniversary iPhone until November.

Many have also said suppliers who support the phone's functionalities ranging from image and motion sensors to power management would see gains now that the phone has launched.

"I would expect stocks like SWKS, QRVO, CRUS to react positively today from AVGO (Broadcom) as well as the entire sector," said Loop Capital analyst Betsy Van Hees.

Shares of Skyworks were up 2 pct, while Cirrus rose 1.2 pct and Qorvo 1.9 pct in premarket trading on Thursday.

"While our fundamental thesis remains unchanged for QRVO and SWKS, for traders we wouldn't dismiss the opportunity for QRVO and SWKS to trade higher off this call," Cowen analyst Karl Ackerman wrote.

Earlier this week Ackerman said detailed field research on Apple production had pointed to better than expected iPhone builds for the fourth quarter of 2017 and first quarter of next year.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)

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