There are 6 segments involved in the design, material supply, fabrication,  testing, packaging, and distribution of semiconductor devices such as microprocessors, memory chips, and sensors involving multiple companies, each with their own specialized contributions.

Our Computer Chips Portfolio

The 27 pure-play stocks involved in the 6 segments are presented below:

1. Pure-Play Custom Design Software Stocks
   • Given that today's chips contain more than a hundred billion transistors compared only a few thousand back in the 1970s, electronic design automation (EDA) software is now used to assist engineers in the custom design and development of such complex chips.
   • There are only 2 pure-play electronic custom design automation software companies trading on U.S. stock exchanges, namely Synopsys (SNPS) and Cadence Design (CDNS) and, on average, they were DOWN 4.5% in August.
2. Pure-Play Semiconductor Supplier Stocks Portfolio
   • A pure-play semiconductor equipment and materials supplier provides essential equipment for manufacturing semiconductors exclusively to that segment which include, in this case, things such as lithography machines, etching, test and packaging equipment, automation and inspection systems and production materials such as chemicals, gases, wafers and packaging.
   • There are only 5 pure-play semiconductor equipment and materials suppliers trading on U.S. stock exchanges, namely Entegris (ENTG), ASML Holding (ASML), Lam Research (LRCX), Applied Materials (AMAT), and KLAC Corporation (KLAC) and, on average, they were DOWN 5.1% in August.
3. Pure-Play Semiconductor Foundries Portfolio
   • A pure-play semiconductor foundry (also known as a fabrication or "fab" plant) does not create its own integrated circuit (computer chip or semiconductor) products but, instead, concentrates all its efforts in the manufacturing of chips based on designs provided by other semiconductor companies which allows it to specialize in manufacturing processes and technologies.
   • There are only 4 pure-play semiconductor foundry companies trading on U.S. stock exchanges, namely, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), United Microelectronics (UMC), GlobalFoundries (GFS) and Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) and, on average, they were UP 2.0% in August.
4. Pure-Play Fabless Semiconductor Stocks Portfolio
   • A pure-play company is one that concentrate its efforts on one single line of business and a fabless (fabrication-less) manufacturer designs and sells hardware devices and semiconductor chips while outsourcing their fabrication (or fab) to a specialized manufacturer.
   • There are only 6 pure-play fabless semiconductor companies trading on U.S. stock exchanges, namely, Nvidia (NVDA), Qualcomm (QCOM), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Broadcom (AVGO), Marvell (MRVL), and Monolith Power Systems (MPWR) and, on average, they were UP 5.5% in August.
5. Integrated Device Manufacturers Stock Portfolio 
   • An IDM designs, manufactures, and sells its own semiconductor products. This vertical integration allows them to control the entire production process, from design to fabrication, resulting in greater efficiency and quality control.
   • The 8 largest integrated device manufacturer in the world by market capitalization trading on U.S. stock exchanges are Micron Technology (MU), Microchip Technology (MCHP), Analog Devices (ADI), Infineon Technologies (IFNNY), STMicroelectronics (STM), Texas Instruments (TXN), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Intel (INTC) and, on average, they were DOWN 2.7% in August.
6. Pure-Play Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test Portfolio
   • The OSAT segment of the semiconductor value chain, aka assembly, test and packaging, is where chips are assembled into finished semiconductor components and tested for defects. This stage of the manufacturing process is the most labor-intensive and is usually performed in countries in Asia where labor costs are lower than elsewhere.
   • Of the 10 companies in this segment only 2 trade on American stock exchanges, namely ASE Technology (ASX) and Amkor Technology (AMKR) and, on average, they were UP 0.5% in August.

Conclusion

Overall, the Portfolio went DOWN 2.0% in August.

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