“Investments are exploding”: the stock that rose 69% since the beginning of the year and the reasons

At the same time, too Nova The dual that operates in the same market is trading at record levels, after a 61% increase since the beginning of the year, and its market value is 16.8 billion dollars. Both stocks, like others in the chip industry in general and chip equipment in particular, are enjoying positive momentum against the background of the ceasefire in the war with Iran alongside positive developments in the field of AI, and the chip index (SOX) has jumped since the March 30 low by about 34%.

The main beneficiary of the increase in Camtech shares is the major shareholder Priortech (21%), which is traded in Tel Aviv at a value of NIS 3.4 billion, as well as the Taiwanese Chroma which owns 17.1%. The major shareholders in Priortech are Yotam Stern and Rafi Amit (CEO of Camtec), who own 11.1% and 10.6% of the capital, worth NIS 375 and 368 million respectively. Other shareholders in Kemetek are the institutions Harel and Migdal, and Priortek is owned by Fenix, Clal, Harel Vilin Lapidot.

Boffenheimer recommends Camtech with “excess yield”, but the stock has already overtaken the target price which rose to $180 about two months ago. Sergey Vaschunok, a senior analyst at Oppenheimer Israel, estimates that Camtech’s upcoming reports will be good, but what is more important are the forward forecasts: “The previous reports were in line with expectations and the market did not like it because they expected more, and the stock came true. Recently the market has been gaining momentum,” he says, “and after the war reduced the appetite for high beta (volatility) stocks, and specifically for chip stocks, When it was stopped, they recovered.”

And Sachunok adds that according to the behavior of the market, the expectation is for the end of the war and a return to normality. The war affected the chip market through energy prices, and he points out that in the chip giant TSMC’s reports from last week, the message was that there are enough sources of energy and raw materials that are required to continue the process, without disruptions in the coming months. It also appears from TSMC reports that the capital investments (CAPEX) will be at the upper limit of the forecasts.

“Beyond that, there is also a very positive sentiment for investments in AI, with expectations for huge IPOs by OpenAI and Anthropic during the year, which will give more ammunition for investment in chips,” he adds.

Back wind for the memory chips

What also has a positive effect on Camtech is the memory market – the manufacturers of memory and information storage chips have recently enjoyed price increases due to an imbalance in the market, which includes large demand and limited supply. “We have recently seen huge investments in the field of memory,” Vaschunok points out.

“For example, ASML reported the largest order it received – from Hynix. The field is particularly relevant to Camtec, which works strongly with Samsung, which in the past was a bit weak in the market but has recently been making progress in it. Hynix is also a client of Camtec, and we see that investments in the field are ‘exploding’. If ASML is an early indication, we will probably see an increase in orders from players in other areas as well, such as production control processes, which is Nova and Camtec. This is a very serious windfall for investments in the market The chips”.