Aspeed Technology Inc (信驊), which manufactures remote-management controllers for servers, yesterday reported a record net profit for last quarter of NT$232.66 million (US$7.65 million) thanks to recovering demand.
Last quarter’s figure represented annual growth of 20.08 percent from the NT$193.74 million Aspeed made in the third quarter last year and increased 28.65 percent from NT$180.97 million in the second quarter.
That translated into earnings per share of NT$6.81, up from NT$5.72 a year ago and compared with NT$5.32 in the previous quarter.
Gross margin improved to 62.73 percent, up from 55.5 percent a year earlier, but down from 64.53 percent in the second quarter.
Aspeed expected growth momentum in the second half of this year to outpace the first half, a pattern of the past few years after original design manufacturers for servers, such as Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), solved production allocation issues to shun negative effects of the US-China trade dispute.
Growth would be fueled by new remote-management controllers, also called baseboard management controllers, for next-generation server chips developed by Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Aspeed said.
The company plans to ship its first Cupola 360° video compression chips by the end of this year.
The chips would deliver gross margin of 80 percent, the company said.
The Cupola chips are forecast to contribute more than 10 percent to revenue next year, it said.
For the whole year of this year, shipments are to grow by a low double-digit percentage year-on-year, with stronger growth from cloud-based servers, Aspeed said in March.
The company yesterday posted 50.49 percent growth in revenue of NT$235 million for last month, compared with NT$156 million in October last year.
On a monthly basis, it dropped 4 percent from NT$245 million, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
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