Leading semiconductor manufacturers began releasing quarterly earnings in October and November, showcasing mixed outlooks on the industry’s health.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. and Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. released their quarterly earnings toward the end of October.
AMD’s third-quarter earnings showcased an 8% growth in revenue of $5.8 billion, a net income increase of 1,007% totaling $299 million and flat data center revenues of $1.6 billion. In comparison, Monolithic Power Systems saw a 4.1% decrease in revenue equaling $474.9 million, a 2.5% decrease in net income at $121.2 million and enterprise data growth of 31.4%, amounting to $98.9 million.
Dr. Lisa Su, AMD chair and CEO, cited AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series processors as one of the key drivers in revenue growth. Additionally, AMD’s data center business has seen significant growth due to the manufacturer’s increase in new MI3000 chip shipments “to support multiple deployments with hyperscale, enterprise and AI customers.”
Bernie Blegen, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Monolithic Power Systems, stated that customer ordering patterns continue to oscillate with the markets, creating delays in orders and making forecasting for subsequent quarters harder. However, Blegen noted that the company’s customer base continued to expand and would “continue to innovate and have a strong design win pipeline positioning us well for future growth.”
Qualcomm Inc., a leading chip designer, would release its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on Nov. 1, beating analyst expectations.
Qualcomm reported a 24% decline in revenues amounting to $8.6 billion and a net income decrease of 48%, totaling $1.48 billion, with a first quarter 2024 outlook of adjusted earnings of $2.25 to $2.45 per share and revenues between $9.1 billion and $9.9 billion.
“As we enter fiscal 2024, we are pleased with our roadmap and product execution, which position us well across our businesses,” Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm, said in the earnings report. “Our recent Snapdragon Summit announcements underscore our technology leadership, establishing Qualcomm as a leader in on-device generative AI and mobile cloud computing performance.”
NXP Semiconductors N.V. reported its third-quarter earnings on Nov. 6, delivering a 4% increase in revenues, amounting to $3.43 billion and a 1%, 5% and 33% growth in its automotive, industrial and IoT and mobile business.
Conditionally, NXP Semiconductors forecasted a year-over-year revenue decline of 1% with expectations of fourth-quarter revenues of $3.3 billion to $3.5 billion. Kurt Sievers, NXP president and CEO, would cite “a challenging and cyclical market environment” for the flat performance and outlook.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation — China’s largest chipmaker — released its third-quarter earnings on Nov. 10, demonstrating continued uncertainty in the semiconductor industry.
SMIC’s earnings show a 15% decline in revenue and a 72.8% decline in profits, equating to $1.62 billion and $156 million respectively. However, Zhao Haijun, co-CEO of SMIC, expressed that the global macro economy still needs to recover and expects that recovery to happen by 2024.
“The overall market has stabilized, [but we] haven’t seen drivers and momentum for significant growth for the market,” Haijun said in an analyst call. “We still need to wait for the recovery of the global macro economy.”
