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Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

3 Reasons AMKR is Risky and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

AMKR Cover Image

Amkor’s stock price has taken a beating over the past six months, shedding 53.1% of its value and falling to a new 52-week low of $14.11 per share. This might have investors contemplating their next move.

Is now the time to buy Amkor, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? Dive into our full research report to see our analyst team’s opinion, it’s free.

Despite the more favorable entry price, we're cautious about Amkor. Here are three reasons why you should be careful with AMKR and a stock we'd rather own.

Why Do We Think Amkor Will Underperform?

Operating through a largely Asian facility footprint, Amkor Technologies (NASDAQ: AMKR) provides outsourced packaging and testing for semiconductors.

1. Revenue Tumbling Downwards

Long-term growth is the most important, but short-term results matter for semiconductors because the rapid pace of technological innovation (Moore's Law) could make yesterday's hit product obsolete today. Amkor’s recent performance marks a sharp pivot from its five-year trend as its revenue has shown annualized declines of 5.6% over the last two years. Amkor Year-On-Year Revenue Growth

2. Projected Revenue Growth Shows Limited Upside

Forecasted revenues by Wall Street analysts signal a company’s potential. Predictions may not always be accurate, but accelerating growth typically boosts valuation multiples and stock prices while slowing growth does the opposite.

Over the next 12 months, sell-side analysts expect Amkor’s revenue to stall. Although this projection indicates its newer products and services will spur better top-line performance, it is still below the sector average.

3. Low Gross Margin Reveals Weak Structural Profitability

In the semiconductor industry, a company’s gross profit margin is a critical metric to track because it sheds light on its pricing power, complexity of products, and ability to procure raw materials, equipment, and labor.

Amkor’s gross margin is one of the worst in the semiconductor industry, signaling it operates in a competitive market and lacks pricing power. As you can see below, it averaged a 14.6% gross margin over the last two years. That means Amkor paid its suppliers a lot of money ($85.36 for every $100 in revenue) to run its business. Amkor Trailing 12-Month Gross Margin

Final Judgment

We see the value of companies furthering technological innovation, but in the case of Amkor, we’re out. Following the recent decline, the stock trades at 7.3× forward price-to-earnings (or $14.11 per share). While this valuation is optically cheap, the potential downside is huge given its shaky fundamentals. There are better stocks to buy right now. We’d recommend looking at one of our top digital advertising picks.

Stocks We Would Buy Instead of Amkor

Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs.

While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like our Top 5 Growth Stocks for this month. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 175% over the last five years.

Stocks that made our list in 2019 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+2,183% between December 2019 and December 2024) as well as under-the-radar businesses like Comfort Systems (+751% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.

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