With tech stocks seeing a strong start to 2012, you’d expect the cyclical semiconductor industry to contain some strong outperformers. With 82 out of the 150 companies in the industry with market caps greater than $500 million seeing gains this year, the general trend has been up.
Yet, May has definitely hit semiconductor stocks hard. The widely followed Philadelphia Semi Index is down 15.8% from highs reached just two months ago. Fears of a global slowdown have been stoked as all eyes turn to the eurozone. Such a situation could be brutal on a semiconductor industry that’s just recovering from a huge downturn in 2009.
Today, we’re looking at a group of semi companies that have been able to hold onto their gains, and we’ll see what’s led them to such strong results in the first five months of the year.