Foxconn billionaire’s eight-year stock target finally comes true

TERRY Gou, the billionaire founder of iPhone assembler Foxconn Technology Group, has finally reached a goal that had eluded him for about eight years.

Shares of the group’s flagship Hon Hai Precision Industry closed on Monday (Jun 17) at NT$200, a level Gou had pledged to achieve in 2016. The Taipei-listed stock has surged more than 90 per cent this year on investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) servers and potential for the latest Apple products.

While Gou stepped down as Hon Hai chairman in 2019 as he unsuccessfully pursued Taiwan’s presidency, the price level represents a landmark for the company he started 50 years ago.

Annual general meetings (AGMs) in past years had featured shareholders asking Gou when his famous target would be attained. This year’s AGM demonstrated how the company has evolved with new fields including AI servers, which it expects to become its next NT$1 trillion (S$42 billion) business and electric vehicles.

The strong performance this year of Hon Hai and local tech peers including Quanta Computer also underscores the transformation of the island’s contract manufacturers from low-margin, commodity IT products to higher value-added offerings.

“The AI wave lifts all boats,” said Xiadong Bao, a fund manager at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management. For Hon Hai, “the rally is mainly driven by the AI server ramp-up, further expansion into AI-related networking equipment and high expectations for a general server and PC recovery”.

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Hon Hai reported revenue grew 22 per cent in May to a record high for the month and said it is likely to beat expectations for the second quarter, a traditionally off-peak season, on stronger-than-expected demand for AI servers. The company is expected to report those results in August. BLOOMBERG