Semiconductor materials supplier Soitec reports Q1 sales slump

United Microelectronics

23/07/2024 18:39

July 23 (Reuters) - French semiconductor materials
supplier Soitec  SOIT.PA  on Tuesday reported a 24% drop in its
comparable first quarter revenue, slightly ahead of analyst
expectations, as inventory correction in the smartphones market
and a slower automotive market continued to weigh. 
    
    WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
    Soitec has been banking on a rebound of the smartphone
market to lift sales of its RF-SOI (radio frequency
silicon-on-insular) technology used in smartphones and other
wireless devices.      
    
    KEY QUOTES
    "The absorption of our customers' RF-SOI inventories is
progressing and should be completed towards the end of the first
half of our fiscal year 2025," Soitec chief executive Pierre
Barnabe said in a statement. 
    
    
    CONTEXT
    The group has been facing inventory adjustments and a
sluggish smartphone market over the past year, which it had
warned would continue weighing on the first half of the year,
with the biggest hit to sales expected in the first quarter. 
    One of Soitec's largest clients TSMC  2330.TW  last week
raised its full-year revenue forecast citing surging demand for
chips used in artificial intelligence and strong smartphone
demand.
        
    BY THE NUMBERS
    First quarter sales came at 121 million euros ($131.30
million), just above analysts' forecast of 118 million euros.
    Soitec, which has a market cap of 4.09 billion euros, kept
its full-year guidance for revenue matching 978 million euros it
reported last year and a core profit (EBITDA) margin of around
35%.
       


($1 = 0.9216 euros)

 (Reporting by Dagmarah Mackos
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
 ((dagmarah.mackos@tr.com))