$AEM SGD (AWX.SG)$ It's a surprising move. Just 3 trading da...

It's a surprising move. Just 3 trading days before AEM reports its 3Q earnings, DBS issued a buy call with tp of 1.67 in what it called a "non-consensus upgrade" on the stock, catalysing a 7.4% rise.

No one expects AEM's 3Q report card to be a glowing one given the weakness in key customer Intel.

AEM had been sinking through FY23 and this year. Setback after setback happened during those times.

There was a US$20 million legal settlement with a competitor, there was a S$21.1 million inventory writedown, the CEO resigned, etc.

All that in the midst of a sharp fall in profit owing largely to a downturn in the semiconductor cycle (which appears to be on the mend now, though).

But there were big positives too, which set the stage for a potentially great comeback by AEM. Primarily, this has to do with new customers.

Reducing its dependency on Intel, AEM has secured 5 new customers -- one in memory, two in xPU (processing units), and two in systems and hyperscalers. One of them potentially can become as big a customer as Intel is to AEM.