Aspeed Technology Inc (信驊), which supplies baseboard management controls (BMC) for servers powered by Nvidia Corp chips, gave a positive outlook for this year, expecting revenue to expand annually by a double-digit percentage on the back of relentless growth in server demand.
The upbeat forecast comes amid concern about the sustainability of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, which is usually gauged by capital expenditure plans by the world’s major cloud service providers (CSP), including Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and Google.
“The world’s major CSPs are spending [on server deployment] as normal in the third quarter,” Aspeed chairman Chris Lin (林鴻明) told reporters at the company’s booth at the Computex trade show in Taipei on Wednesday.
Photo: Lisa Wang, Taipei Times
“The tariffs issue apparently did not slow down their progress,” Lin said, referring to trade policies introduced by US President Donald Trump.
“Aside from AI servers, they are also adding general-purpose servers this year to help share workloads on cost consideration,” he said.
“This is quite different from what they did before,” he added.
Server deployments are boosting demand for Aspeed’s BMCs, Lin said.
An AI server powered by Nvidia’s latest GB300 NVL72 typically has 71 BMCs, similar to the server racks powered by previous-generation GB200 chips, but a dramatic increase from 15 BMCs used in server racks powered by H100 chips, which are two generations prior to the GB300, Aspeed said.
“A lot of rush orders have poured in over the past four months, significantly lifting the company’s book-to-bill ratio last month and this month,” Lin said. “Customers seem to have gained control over tariff issues and marketplace uncertainty.”
Greater demand prompted Aspeed to hike its revenue forecast for this quarter to NT$2 billion (US$66.51 million), up from its earlier estimate of at least NT$1.7 billion.
The company has factored in the 6 percent that the New Taiwan dollar gained against the US dollar.
“The third quarter is also shaping up well, although visibility in the fourth quarter is low,” Lin said.
For the whole year of this year, Aspeed expects revenue to grow by at least a double-digit percentage to an all-time high.
The company generated NT$6.46 billion in revenue last year, more than double from 2023.
BMCs would make up 80 percent of the company’s total revenue this year, Lin said.
Gross margin this year would be 65 or 66 percent, up from 64.3 percent last year, Lin said.
Aspeed posted net profit of NT$887 million last quarter, more than double the NT$391 million in the first quarter last year, but down 5.95 percent from NT$943 million a quarter earlier.
Earnings per share rose to NT$23.46 last quarter from NT$10.36 percent a year earlier and down from NT$24.95 a quarter earlier.
Aspeed at Computex is showcasing its new AST1800 chip, a versatile I/O expander chip designed to complement its AST2700 series BMCs.
The new chip enhances system capabilities by providing additional I/O expansion options, the firm said.
Its AST2700 BMC, which was unveiled at Computex last year, would enter volume production in the first quarter of next year.
The chip would be made using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) 12-nanometer technology, Aspeed said.
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