Alphabet
’s
disappointing earnings outlook spoilt the party for investors last week as other Big Tech players wheeled out the champagne. The Google parent is searching for levers to please investors and signing up a partner for its fiber-cable business could be one handy tool.
Alphabet
is looking for external investment for its GFiber business, a venture launched in 2010 to install fiber lines carrying high-speed Internet signals, according to Reuters, citing a company statement.
Alphabet didn’t immediately respond to a Barron’s request for comment early on Tuesday. Alphabet shares were up 0.7% in premarket trading.
The move would fit with earlier reports that Alphabet is putting pressure on businesses held in its Other Bets division, an incubator for brands it invests in, to control their costs. An external investor would reduce the need for support from Alphabet.
The Other Bets contains businesses that operate separately from Google including GFiber and self-driving vehicle operation Waymo. The ultimate aim of an external partnership would be for GFiber to be fully independent, Reuters reported.
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Elsewhere,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
said Tuesday that it would build a second semiconductor fabrication plant at its site in Kumamoto, Japan.
TSMC
is working to meet demand for high-end chip manufacturing and this latest plant is planned to be in operation before the end of 2027.
TSMC said that a unit of
Sony
as well as Japanese automotive components manufacturer
Denso
and
Toyota Motor
will join it in making additional investments into the Japanese chipmaking operation, with total investment of more than $20 billion. TSMC will have a 86.5% stake in the project.
American depositary receipts of TSMC were up 0.7% in premarket trading.
In Europe, German chipmaker
Infineon Technologies
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fell 3.6% in local trading after it lowered its sales forecast for fiscal 2024 due to weak demand for personal electronics such as computers and smartphones.
“In consumer, communication, computing and IoT [Internet of Things] applications, we are not anticipating a noticeable recovery in demand until the second half of the calendar year,” said Chief Executive Jochen Hanebeck.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com
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