Hot stock: Shares of Hi-P International surge as brokers signal confidence

SHARES of Hi-P International surged as much as 13.71 per cent on Tuesday, following brokers' reports signalling confidence in the stock amid the US-China trade war.

As at 2.30pm, Hi-P's counter was trading at S$1.40, up 12.9 per cent or S$0.16. Some 19.6 million shares changed hands.

Earlier on Monday, Maybank Kim Eng upgraded Hi-P International from "sell" to "hold", after the firm posted stronger-than-expected Q4 2018 results. The brokerage also raised its target price by 79 per cent to S$1.22 from S$0.68 previously.

Similarly, DBS maintained "hold" on the stock while raising the target price by 7 per cent to S$1.12 from S$0.80 previously, after Hi-P released its results.

Particularly, DBS analyst Ling Lee Keng said that Hi-P, which makes plastic and metal parts for Apple, has proven so far that it is able to maintain its top line despite trade war uncertainties.

"Even though the group faces pricing pressure from its customers, it is able to mitigate by securing more projects," she said.

Ms Ling added that key segments of mobile and consumer electronics are still seeing healthy orders.

Maybank analyst Lai Gene Lih concurred and said that Hi-P's response to current macro uncertainties is "aggressively fighting for more projects and increasing allocation to customers".

Therefore, Maybank has raised FY2019-2020 earnings estimates by 59 to 67 per cent to reflect stronger volumes, driven by new and existing customers and higher profit margins.