Hermes Testing Solutions Inc (漢民測試), which specializes in providing wafer probing services, yesterday gave a robust revenue and profit growth forecast for next year on top of a record performance this year, fueled by strong testing services demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) chips.
Revenue in the first eight months of this year climbed to NT$1.4 billion (US$46.29 billion), indicating that the full-year result would be greater than last year’s NT$1.6 billion, Hermes president Steven Wang (王子建) told a media briefing in Taipei.
Earnings per share (EPS) in the first eight months rose to a record NT$7, significantly more than the EPS of NT$2.84 last year, Wang said.
Photo courtesy of Hermes Testing Solutions Inc
“We have good order visibility from now through the second quarter of next year. We are expecting quite a good performance during this period,” Wang said. “Revenue will grow year-on-year next year.”
Gross margin stood at 46.1 percent in the first half of this year, company data showed.
Hermes counts the world’s major chipmakers and chip designers as its key customers.
Its expected growth would be driven by its three major product segments — probe cards, engineering services, and customized product and equipment distribution, the company said.
New, higher-margin products, such as advanced thin-film probe cards, would gain traction next year, Hermes said.
In addition, the company is expanding its MEMS probe cards, targeting high-end testing services for application-specific ICs and system-on-a-chips (SoC), through strategic partnerships with Micronics Japan Co, Wang said.
The Japanese company has a 6 percent stake in Hermes.
Probe cards play a vital role in the manufacturing of semiconductors. Driven by innovative applications such as 5G, AI and HPC, Hermes said that demand for highly customized probe cards and testing services are increasing.
The global probe card market is expected to expand at an annual growth rate of 6.9 percent to US$7.58 billion in 2032, from US$4.44 billion last year, the firm said, citing an MRFF forecast.
Additionally, the company is also expanding its business reach to inspection tools used in chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology.
The company sold eight to 10 CoWoS inspection tools this year and expects sales next year to surpass this year, Wang said.
Engineering services — such as equipment modification and relocation services — are the biggest revenue contributor to the company, accounting for 40 percent, followed by 20 percent from the probe cards.
The company, based in Hsinchu, is expanding its sales offices overseas.
The firm is mulling a new sales office in the US, probably in 2027 when its customer’s chip packaging fabs start operations, he said.
Hermes is slated to trade its shares on the Taipei Stock Exchange on Wednesday next week at the reference price of NT$100 per share.
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