US companies suffer amid punitive ban against ZTE

NEW YORK - American companies that supply chips and other components to Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp are experiencing sizable revenue loss after the United States imposed a denial of export privileges against the company on April 16.

Shares of several US suppliers of ZTE slumped immediately after the US Department of Commerce banned sales of components to ZTE for seven years for its alleged violations of the Export Administration Regulations.

The stock prices of Acacia Communications Inc, Oclaro, and Lumentum plunged 35.97 percent, 15.18 percent and 9.06 percent, respectively, on the day when the ban was announced.

Acacia, the Massachusetts-based optical interconnect components maker, is among the major affected American companies.

The company noted in a February filing that ZTE accounted for 30 percent of its $385.2 million yearly revenue in 2017.

"We depend on a limited number of customers for a significant percentage of our revenue and the loss or temporary loss of a major customer for any reason could harm our financial condition," said Acacia in the filing.

The company is taking steps to suspend affected transactions as a result of the ban and is assessing the impact of these developments on Acacia, it said in a statement.

Oclaro, a US-based business manufacturing and selling optical components, also does substantial sales to ZTE.

According to Oclaro's annual fiscal report, ZTE accounted for $105.3 million, or 18 percent of its revenues in the fiscal year that ended July 1, 2017.

Lumentum, which does substantial sales to ZTE, also suffered collateral damage from the US punitive decision. Its stock price has slid by 20.3 percent since the denial order was announced.

"The ban will not only severely impact the survival and development of ZTE, but also cause damage to all partners of ZTE including a large number of US companies," ZTE said in a statement.

More than a dozen US companies listed ZTE as a customer in previous financial filings.

NeoPhotonics, a California-based optical gear maker, issued a statement on April 17, saying that its direct revenue from ZTE during fiscal year 2017 was approximately 1 percent of its total revenue of $292.89 million.

NeoPhotonics provides component products to certain ZTE supply chain partners, which are estimated to account for approximately 3 percent of its total revenue in 2017, according to the statement.

Without the ban, the company believes its annualized revenue with ZTE and its supply chain partners would have grown up to 5 percent, but the expectation "will not be realized," the company said.

On April 19, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said that the US action against ZTE will damage itself.

"The action targets China, however, it will ultimately undermine the United States itself," said MOC spokesperson Gao Feng.