Memorychip maker Macronix International Co (旺宏) yesterday reported that gross margin last quarter was the highest since the third quarter of 2018, citing robust demand and higher product prices.
Gross margin was 34.98 percent last quarter, up from 31.28 percent in the previous quarter, and up from 26.78 percent a year earlier, a Macronix financial statement said.
Revenue last quarter was NT$9.27 billion (US$314.23 million), down 1.5 percent sequentially, but up 24 percent annually, while net income rose 9.02 percent quarter-on-quarter and 404 percent year-on-year to NT$1.33 billion, or earnings per share of NT$0.72, up from NT$0.67 a quarter earlier and NT$0.14 a year earlier, the statement said.
Capital expenditure last quarter was NT$894 million, which was used mainly for the procurement of production, and research and development-related equipment, the statement said.
By product, NAND flash, NOR flash, read-only memory (ROM) and fiber Bragg grating products made up 11 percent, 48 percent, 34 percent and 7 percent of its revenue in the quarter respectively, the Hsinchu-based company said.
In the first half of the year, Macronix, which supplies chip to Japanese video game console maker Nintendo Co, posted net income of NT$2.55 billion, up 529.5 percent from a year earlier, or earnings per share of NT$1.39.
That was because revenue grew 38.33 percent to NT$18.69 billion, while gross margin improved 6.96 percentage points to 33.12 percent, the statement said.
“The past two quarters have been record-breaking for Macronix in the company’s 30-year history,” Macronix president Lu Chih-yuan (盧志遠) said. “Our growth is healthy and stable year after year.”
Lu said he has a positive outlook for the second half of the year, as upward trends in the company’s ROM, NOR flash and flash memory businesses are expected to persist.
“Not only did the COVID-19 pandemic not hurt us, but we have also been getting more and more ‘design wins,’” Lu said.
In the semiconductor industry a “design win” indicates that a product has been designed so well that it could lead to high-volume sales.
In particular, the company has been successful in making its NOR flash business more profitable, he said.
“You can see our strategy of pursuing high density and a high-quality payoff,” Lu said.
Macronix’s high-density NOR business’ revenue contribution rose to 39 percent last quarter, while low-density business revenue fell to 24 percent, the company said.
There is continued uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Lu said that he is optimistic about the company’s business outlook, as the second half of the year is traditionally a stronger season for the electronics sector.
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