Dear community I have created cash

I would like to buy more

these values are available

$PRY (-1.36%)

$KRYS (+0.5%)

$ATCO B (-0.87%)

$NBIX (-0.3%)

$CACI (-0.08%)

$4063 (+1.08%) SHIN ETSU

what do you think

$4063 (+1.08%) Good news for all those invested in Shin-Etsu.

Shin-Etsu Chemical Co, Ltd (TSE:4063) announces a share repurchase program. Under the program, the company will repurchase up to 200,000,000 shares, representing 10.2% of its total shares outstanding excluding treasury shares, for a total of ¥500,000 million. The purpose of repurchase program is to improve capital efficiency and enhance shareholders?

returns. The repurchased shares will be canceled. The repurchase program is valid until April 24, 2026.

A few days ago I took another strike and doubled my position.

hey how do you feel about japanese stocks at the moment?

I have $6367 (+1.26%) and $4063 (+1.08%)

both only know the downward direction...

would you reallocate? or do you see a turnaround in the near future?

lg

$4063 (+1.08%)

Do you think the biden at $4063 (+1.08%) is reached?

could not resist

hello dear community

which stock from this sector would you currently choose?

$4063 (+1.08%) shin etsu

$CRH (-0.67%) cement roadstone

$SHW (+1.06%) sherwin-williams

i know these values are not 1to1 from the same industry ;)

From sand to chip: how is a modern semiconductor made?

Reading time: approx. 10min

1) INTRODUCTION

Since 2023 at the latest and the rapid rise of Nvidia $NVDA (-2.46%) semiconductors and "AI chips" in particular have been the talk of the town. Since then, investors have been chasing after almost every company that has something to do with the manufacture of chips, driving share prices to unimagined heights. However, hardly any investors really know how complex the value chain is within the production of modern chips.

In this article, I will give you an overview of the entire manufacturing process and the companies involved. Even if many of you have a vague idea that the production of modern chips is complex, you will certainly be surprised by how complex it really is in reality.

2) BASIC

The starting point for every chip are so-called wafers [1] - i.e. thin wafers, which usually consist of so-called high-purity monocrystalline silicon. In the field of power semiconductors, which primarily comprises chips for applications with higher currents and voltages, silicon carbide (SiC) or galium nitride (GaN) has recently also been used as the base material for the wafers.

In the so-called front end the actual core components of the chips - the so-called dies - are created and applied to the wafers. The dies are rectangular structures that contain the actual functionality of the later chip. The finished dies are then tested for their functionality and electrical properties. Each die that is found to be good is then integrated into the so-called backend where the individual dies are separated on the wafer. This is followed by the so-called packaging. The individual dies from the front end are then electrically contacted and integrated into a protective housing. In the end, this housing with the contacted die is what is usually called a chip chip.

Now that we have a rough overview of the overall process, let's take a closer look at the individual processes involved in producing the dies on the wafer. This is the area in which most highly complex machines are used and which is usually the most sensitive.

3) FROM SAND TO WAFER

Before wafers made of high-purity silicon can even be produced and the actual process for manufacturing dies can begin, the actual wafer must first be manufactured in almost perfect quality. To do this, quartz sand, which consists largely of silicon dioxide, is reduced with carbon at high temperatures. This produces so-called raw siliconwhich, with a purity of around 96%, is not yet anywhere near the quality required for the production of wafers.

In several chemical processes, which are carried out by Wacker Chemie
$WCH (-0.79%) or Siltronic
$WAF (-0.84%) are used to turn the "impure" silicon into so-called polycrystalline silicon with a purity of 99.9999999%. For every billion silicon atoms, there is then only one foreign atom in the silicon. However, this pure polycrystalline silicon is still not suitable for the production of wafers, as the crystal structure in the silicon is not uniform enough. In order to create the right crystal structure, the polycrystalline silicon is then melted again and a so-called ingotwhich is made from monocrystalline silicon is produced. A comparison between raw silicon and the ingot can be found in the following image [3]:

This ingot is then sawn into thin slices, which are then the final wafers for semiconductor production. The best-known wafer producers are Shin Etsu
$4063, (+1.08%)
Siltronic or GlobalWafers
$6488.

4) FROM THE WAFER TO THE DIE

The wafers described in the previous section can now be used to produce dies. The overall process for producing dies basically consists of applying a large number of layers using various chemical, mechanical and physical processes. The overall process (depending on the product) takes approx. 80 different layers on the wafer, requiring almost 1000 different process steps and 3 months
non-stop production are required [4].

A macroscopic analogy is useful here, which I have also taken from [4]. You can compare the overall process for producing dies with baking a large multi-layer cake. This cake has 80 layers and the recipe for baking consists of 1000 steps. It takes 3 months to make the cake and if even one layer of the cake deviates from the recipe by more than 1%, the whole cake collapses and has to be thrown away.

In the first process steps, the wafer is covered with billions tiny little transistors are created on the wafer, which are then all individually electrically contacted in the following steps. The final steps consist of electrically connecting the transistors to each other, resulting in a complete electrical circuit [4]:

Each individual layer of the approximately 80 layers in the die requires highly specialized processes, which can be roughly summarized as:

• Applying masks: Photolithography, photoresist coating (applying photoresist)
• Apply material: Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD), Atomic Layer Deposition
• Remove material: Plasma annealing, Wet annealing, Chemical Mechanical Planarization (CMP)
• Modify material: Ion Implanting, Annealing
• Material cleaning
• Inspecting the layers: Optical, Microscopical, Focused Ion Beam, Defect Inspection

Apply masks

Ultimately, a mask can be thought of as an enlarged copy of the structure of a special layer in the die. These so-called photomasks are then scanned using so-called scanners or steppers "copied" in reduced size onto the wafer. The best-known manufacturer of such lithography systems is ASML
$ASML (-1.02%). It is currently the only producer of lithography systems that make it possible to produce structures smaller than 10 nanometers on the wafer. In today's powerful and modern chips, such as those found in smartphones, AI chips and processors, the smallest structures are around 3 nanometers in size. Other manufacturers of lithography systems for larger structures (10nm and larger) are Canon Electronics
$7739 or Nikon $7731 (+0.24%) .

The photomasks - i.e. the enlarged "copies" of the structures - are produced by companies such as Toppan $7911 (-0.43%) , Dai Nippon Printing
$7912 (-0.38%) or Hoya $7741 (-3.08%) manufactured. Systems for cleaning the photomasks or for applying the photoresist are produced, for example, by Suss Microtec
$SMHN (-2.5%) for example.

Apply/remove/modify/clean material

As can be seen in the overview above, there are a variety of methods and processes for modifying the material of a particular layer. As a result, there is a lot of different equipment that can handle a process very well with incredible specialization. The best-known and most successful equipment manufacturers include Applied Materials $AMAT (-1.74%), LAM Research
$LRCX (-3.6%), Tokyo Electron (TEL)
$8035, (-2.63%)
Suss Mictrotec, Entegris
$ENTG (-4.85%) and Axcelis $ACLS (-2.72%).

The material - for example, highly specialized chemicals - is of course also required for production. Companies such as Linde
$LIN (+0.91%), Air Liquide
$AI (+0.75%), Air Products
$APD (+2.19%) and Nippon Sanso
$4091 (+2.74%) are major manufacturers of process gases such as nitrogen, hydrogen and argon.

Inspect

As mentioned, every single layer in the manufacturing process of a die must be perfect in order to obtain a functional die at the end. Any small deviation or foreign particles can impair the functionality of the die. As the function of the die can only be checked precisely on the finished die, it is advantageous to inspect the individual layers for defects and deviations during production. Special machines are required for this, which must be able to do different things depending on the layer. Manufacturers of such machines include KLA
$KLAC (-2.01%) or Onto Innovation
$ONTO (-2.99%).

The following applies to almost all of the companies mentioned in this section: the companies are highly specialized and have quasi-monopolies on the machines for certain process steps. quasi-monopolies. Suitable equipment therefore usually costs several million dollars. In addition, some of the systems are so complex that they can only be serviced by the manufacturer's own service staff, which results in recurring service revenues for every machine sold. As a rule, each machine requires several highly specialized engineers to ensure long-term stable operation.

5) FROM THE DIE TO THE FINISHED CHIP

Once the wafer has been processed, the dies on the wafer are checked for functionality. There is highly specialized equipment for this, so-called probers. These probers test each individual chip several times, if necessary, to check the functionality implemented in the design. Manufacturers of such probers include Teradyne $TER (-2.61%), Keysight Technologies
$KEYS (-0.82%), Onto Innovation or Tokyo Electron. These probers have to control each individual die, some of which are only a few square millimetres in size, and contact the corresponding much smaller test structures with tiny needles. The testing process is sometimes outsourced to entire companies that offer die testing as a complete package. One example of such providers is Amkor Technology
$AMKR (-4.29%).

The processed and tested wafer is now sawn to obtain individual dies. The dies that are found to be good are then integrated into a protective housing in the backend. The dies that have not passed the functionality test are either sorted out or (depending on the error pattern) processed as a variant with reduced functionality similar to those with full functionality. After a final functional test in the package, the chip is ready for use.

6) FOUNDRIES, FABLESS & SOFTWARE

Now that we have an overview of the complex process of manufacturing a chip, let's zoom out a little further to understand which companies perform which tasks in the semiconductor industry.

It's funny that not once in the manufacturing process has the name Nvidia $NVDA (-2.46%) or Apple $AAPL (+0.57%) has been mentioned? Yet they have the most advanced chips, don't they?

The pure production of the chips is done by other companies - so-called foundries. Companies like Nvidia and even AMD $AMD (-1.82%) are in fact fablessThis means that they do not have their own production facilities but only supply the chip design and let the foundries manufacture the actual chip according to their design.

The design of a chip is like the blueprint for production - the foundries then take over the recipe creation and the actual production. There is special software for designing chips. Companies known for this software include Cadance Design
$CDNS (+1.22%) and Synopsys $SNPS (+2.62%). But also the industrial giant Siemens
$SIE (+0.35%) now also supplies software for designing integrated circuits. Synopsys also offers other software for data analysis within foundry production.

Speaking of foundries; the best known foundry is probably TSMC
$TSM, (-1.62%) which is the global market leader in foundries. TSMC designs itself no chips itself and specializes exclusively in the production of the most advanced generations of chips. Another major player that also masters the most advanced structure sizes is Samsung $005930. In contrast to TSMC manufactures Samsung also produces its own designs. Other large foundries are Global Foundries
$GFS, (-3.3%) which was originally a spin-off from AMD and the Taiwanese company United Micro Electronics
$UMC. (-1.1%)

The best-known fabless companies - i.e. companies without their own chip production - are Nvidia, Apple, AMD, ARM Holdings
$ARM, (-2.67%)
Broadcom $AVGO (+0.55%), MediaTek $2454 and Qualcomm $QCOM. (-1.78%) In the meantime Alphabet $GOOGL, (-0.13%)
Microsoft $MSFT, (+0.62%)
Amazon $AMZN (-0.1%) and Meta $META (+0.56%) have designed their own chips for certain functionalities and then have them manufactured in foundries.

In addition to foundries and fabless companies, there are of course also hybrid models, i.e. companies that take on both production and design. The best-known examples of this are, of course, companies such as Intel
$INTC (-3.26%) and Samsung. There is also a whole range of so-called Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM)which for the most part only manufacture their own designed chips and do not accept customer orders for production. Well-known companies such as Texas Instruments
$TXN, (-1.53%)
SK Hynix
$000660,
STMicroelectronics
$STMPA, (-1.09%)
NXP Semiconductors
$NXPI, (-1.61%)
Infineon $IFX (-0.97%) and Renesas $6723 (-2.53%) are among the IDMs.

FINAL WORD

The aim of this article was to provide an overview of the complexity of the semiconductor industry. I do not, of course no claim to be complete, as there are of course many other companies that are part of this value chain. As Getquin thrives on active exchange, I'll give you some food for thought to discuss in the comments below the article:

• feel free to link any other companies in the comments if you think I've forgotten any relevant ones
• what was the most surprising new information for you from the article?
• which companies from the article have you never heard of?
• before reading the article, did you know approximately how a modern chip is produced and what steps are necessary for this?

In general, I can recommend the 20-minute YouTube video at [4] to any interested reader. It provides an excellent animated overview of the manufacturing process of modern chips.

Stay tuned,

Yours Nico Uhlig (aka RealMichaelScott)

SOURCES:

[1] Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wafer

[2] https://www.halbleiter.org/waferherstellung/einkristall/

[3] https://solarmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/solarmuseum_org-07917.jpg

[4] Branch Education on YouTube: "How are Microchips Made?" https://youtu.be/dX9CGRZwD-w?si=xeV0TYgJ2iwNOKyO

Hello everyone,

Today I would like to introduce you to my portfolio. As you probably know, it's just too much fun to expand my portfolio with new stocks. There are now a few too many, but I still can't really part with my worst-performing stocks ($NVM (-0.9%) , $ENPH (+5.79%) , $WAC (-0.44%) ). I'm hoping that I'll be able to sell them in positive territory at some point, or am I on the wrong track and in your opinion should I sell at a loss and try to make up the loss with other stocks?

I have been investing since the end of 2022 and at 29 years old, I still have a long time to go. My strategy is to be as desertified as possible in sectors and to beat the market in the long term (just let me believe that it works :D), hence so many individual stocks. I want to hold these for many years (esp. $AMZN (-0.1%) , $GOOGL (-0.13%) , $QCOM (-1.78%) , $MSFT (+0.62%) , $V (+1.04%) , $MC (+0.1%) , $SALM (-2.02%) ) but I'm also not too keen to pocket the profits. Are there any stocks in my portfolio that you would view critically for the next few years and would be worth considering selling? Recession and all that...

Priority is on growth, which is reasonably safe, so only a few small caps - but a few bets have to be in there :) ($AIDX (-1.08%) , $NRX (+5.02%) , $ITM (+12.63%) , $F3C (-2.13%) , $MITK (+2.6%) ). But with rather small amounts, probably too small or what do you say?

At the same time, I would also like to claim a €900 allowance via dividends ( $BATS (+0.08%) , $ENB (+1.74%) , $BNPQY (-0.52%) , $STLAM (-1.27%) , $ENGI (+1.09%) , $RIO (-1.14%) ) and secure a trade or two.

Recently I have been investing 240€/m in the $XDWD (+0.15%) and between 200 - 500€/m in individual shares (depending on what is left). Actually, I want to increase the existing shares properly now, but somehow there are always nice entry options in solid companies like $0L2T (-3.26%) , $ZTS (+0.65%) , $ADM (-0.26%) , $PANW (+4.01%) , $ENR (+0.98%) . Help what to do? :D

And then there's also crypto $BTC (-0.64%)
$NEAR (-0.46%)
$ADA (-2.02%)

And Japan, they're doing well too $4063 (+1.08%) , $6501 (-0.79%) , $8001 (+2.48%)

Looking forward to your feedback and advice!

++Linde and other industrial gas producers in comparison++

1. business model of $LIN (+0.91%)
1]

Linde PLC is an industrial gases and engineering company. The company's business consists of two core product lines: Industrial Gases and Engineering. The main products of the industrial gases business are atmospheric gases such as oxygen, nitrogen, argon and noble gases, and process gases such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases and acetylene.

The company designs, engineers and builds industrial gas production plants and provides customers with a range of gas production and processing services, such as olefin plants, natural gas plants, air separation plants, hydrogen and synthesis gas plants and other types of plants.

Employee Satisfaction: [2]

Average rating:

According to the review portal kunuu, workers are satisfied with their employer on average. The company scores a 3.4 out of 5, and has a 50% recommendation rate. The biggest problem of the German workers stands out more clearly: the aggressive company culture. Many layoffs and poor chances of being hired.

Salary:

The majority of workers are happy with salaries at Linde. And rightly so. Rich starting salaries attract qualified employees to the company. Key positions at the company would include:

Engineer: 80,500€ / Buyer: 85,300€ / Project Manager: 97,900€.

General:

It should be noted that I underestimated Linde quite a bit. I was aware that Linde is a big player in the gas business, but the fact that Linde is the world market leader in industrial gases [3], besides AirLiquid, surprised me quite a bit. The chart alone in comparison to Airproducts and Shin-Etsu is a real treat... (picture is attached/ By the way, I would appreciate it if you could finally insert pictures between text, this would help the reading flow significantly)

Is Linde "too big to fail"?

Modern industrial gases are one of the components that make up the engine of modern industry. Without industrial gases, many "normal" products such as plastics or fertilizers would no longer be able to be manufactured. Industrial gases are accordingly indispensable! For example, without chlorine and ethylene, plastic could no longer be produced, or without nitrogen and ammonia, ammonia could no longer be produced. It is also interesting to note that without argon and helium, the semiconductor industry would no longer be able to produce (all products of Linde).

Prospects for industrial gases: [4]

Political and societal pressures, at least here in Germany, are increasing demand for alternatives to conventional oil, benefiting low-CO2 technologies such as hydrogen. In addition, more efficient mechanisms are being invented to improve the efficiency of industrial gases. Whether hydrogen propulsion will become widely accepted as a replacement for the internal combustion engine is questionable - industrial gases already seem to be more attractive for large means of transportation such as trucks or even airplanes. As already mentioned above, industrial gases are indispensable for chemical/medical and some technological industries.

2. key figures in comparison (Linde(DE) vs. Airproducts(USA) $APD (+2.19%)
vs. Shin-Etsu $4063 (+1.08%)
(JPN)) [5]

a. Sales and profit growth (EBIT)

Sales growth over the last 5 years:

Linde: 23.88% / Airproducts 9.17% / Shin-Etsu 3.18%

EBIT growth over the last 5 years:

Linde:

- 2018-2019: (-42%)

- 2019-2020: (15,61%)

- 2020-2021: (50,68%)

- 2021-2022: (8,71%)

- Average growth rate: 6.6%

Airproducts:

- 2018-2019: (13,62%)

- 2019-2020: (5,87%)

- 2020-2021: (3,45%)

- 2021-2022: (9,86%)

- Average growth rate: 6.56%

Shin-Etsu:

- 2018-2019: (22,4%)

- 2019-2020: (2,58%)

- 2020-2021: (-5,6%)

- 2021-2022: (73,11%)

- Average growth rate: 18.5%

Average 5-year EBIT growth trend:

Linde: 6.6% / Airproducts: 6.56%/ Shin-Etsu 18.5%.

b. All about the dividend

When it comes to dividends, my focus is on sustainable growth. I avoid companies that already have too high a payout ratio, or which barely increases the dividend. Interesting ratios for this are:

- Current dividend yield

- Dividend continuity

- Dividend growth

- Payout ratio

Linde:

- Current dividend yield: 1.30%

- Dividend continuity: 30 years

- Dividend growth: (5 years: 8.27%); (10 years: 7.84%)

- Payout ratio: approx. 60%

Airproducts:

- Current dividend yield: 2.2%

- Dividend continuity: 35 years

- Dividend growth: (5 years: 11%); (10 years: 9.5%)

- Payout ratio: approx. 60%

Shin-Etsu:

- Current dividend yield: 2.13%

- Dividend continuity: 25 years

- Dividend growth: (5 years: 10%); (10 years: 9%)

- Payout ratio: approx. 55

c. Low debt

In order for a company to be flexible even in high-interest phases, it should have low debt. I personally equate a high equity ratio with security.

Equity ratio:

Linde: 50.25%

Airproducts: 48.34

Shin-Etsu: 82.4%

3. outlook

I expect my investment to grow steadily in the future and to pay me a nice dividend. Admittedly, none of the companies offers a high dividend yield, and to be honest, I don't have a clear favorite among the three stocks. Linde and Airproducts are the bigger companies, but they have already had their big growth spurts. Shin-Etsu is a small but interesting company, but can it really compete with the big top dogs. According to the current market distribution, Airproducts and Linde are ahead - Linde even a bit more. However, Linde has already done very very well, and has almost three times the market capitalization of Air Products. I will decide in the coming weeks whether to bet on Linde or Air Products, and then open a position for my dividend portfolio.

I will publish the purchase again in GQ.

Final question: Which stock would you buy?

By the way, the outline of this post is inspired by the post of @RealMichaelScott (How to analyze a dividend stock). And on the topic of hydrogen I was inspired by the post of @Hannes_SK (Bye-Bye $PLUG (-3.7%) )

Sources:

[1]: https://de.marketscreener.com/kurs/aktie/LINDE-PLC-46923083/unternehmen/

[2]: Linde Erfahrungen: 711 Bewertungen von Mitarbeitern | kununu

[3]: Industriegase: Marktanteile größter Hersteller weltweit 2018 | Statista

[4]: Industriegase: Hersteller, Produktion und Anwendungen - Gasido.de

[5]: TraderFoxx; marketscreener; finanzen.net

#wasserstoff
#linde
#zukunft
#stockanalysis
#etfs
#aktien
#dividenden
#dividendencheck
#dividendenaktie
#geldanlage