Chip making goes on at GlobalFoundries amid coronavirus

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timesunion.com, Mar. 17, 2020 – 

The Capital Region's computer chip manufacturing sector is sending non-essential employees home and crossing their fingers that the coronavirus epidemic doesn't do much damage to their orders.

For now though, GlobalFoundries, which employs 3,000 people at its Fab 8 chip factory in Malta, says things are running smoothly in the fab's clean rooms, with orders not dropping off yet.

"Fortunately, to date, we have not seen any significant impact to our business," GlobalFoundries spokeswoman Erica McGill told the Times Union on Tuesday. "With the measures we have put in place we have not had any disruptions to our production. But like the rest of the industry, we are waiting to see how this will play out."

GlobalFoundries is privately held by the emirate of Abu Dhabi, so its results are less transparent than chip companies that have sold their shares to the public like Advanced Micro Devices and Intel, which have seen their stock take a significant hit from investors. AMD, which has some of its chips made by GlobalFoundries, has seen its stock drop from a 52-week high of $59 on Feb. 19 to $38 on Monday.

However, AMD shares rebounded Tuesday to reach $41 as the rest of the stock market rebounded after the Trump administration announced new measures to try and halt the coronavirus spread.

Shares of Intel, the largest U.S. chip maker, were $67 on Feb. 16 and dropped to $44 on Monday. But on Tuesday Intel shares rose 10 percent by mid-day to reach $49 as part of the market rebound.

Fab 8 is still having its clean room workers come to make the chips for its clients like AMD. All non-fab and non-operational workers are working from home, while all travel has been restricted.

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