GlobalWafers Xu Xiulan: Customer inventory is gradually improving, with an estimated single digit percentage increase in revenue this year
Global Wafers Chairman Xu Xiulan stated that Global Wafers' revenue in 2024 will remain unchanged or slightly increase by a single digit percentage compared to last year.
GlobalWafers stated that driven by the widespread application of IoT sensors, the popularization of high-speed 5G technology, the continuous expansion of satellite networks, the rise of data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) software, the industry expects the semiconductor market to continue to grow strongly until 2030. It is estimated that from 2023 to 2027, AI will continue to maintain the largest proportion of terminal applications in the semiconductor market, with the highest compound annual growth rate.
At the corporate briefing, Xu Xiulan stated that the inventory situation of GlobalWafers customers is gradually improving, but the inventory level is not decreasing rapidly. It is expected that the first quarter will be the bottom of this year's operations, and the performance in the second quarter will be roughly unchanged from the first quarter; In the second half of the year, as customer inventory improves and demand increases, operational performance is expected to be better than in the first half, and annual revenue will remain unchanged or slightly increase by a single digit percentage compared to last year.
In terms of gross profit rate, Xu Xiulan said that with the continuous expansion of GlobalWafers in Japan, Taiwan, China and South Korea, depreciation will increase. In addition, energy costs will also rise, which may affect the gross profit rate this year to be flat or slightly lower than last year.
According to Global Wafers statistics, at the end of 2023, customer prepayments amounted to NT $35.38 billion (US $1.16 billion), a decrease of NT $2.52 billion compared to the end of the third quarter of 2023 (NT $37.9 billion). Xu Xiulan expects that the amount of customer prepayments will continue to decrease in 2024, and in 2026, as the market demand for advanced semiconductor production capacity increases, customer prepayments will rebound.
At the corporate briefing, Xu Xiulan stated that the inventory situation of GlobalWafers customers is gradually improving, but the inventory level is not decreasing rapidly. It is expected that the first quarter will be the bottom of this year's operations, and the performance in the second quarter will be roughly unchanged from the first quarter; In the second half of the year, as customer inventory improves and demand increases, operational performance is expected to be better than in the first half, and annual revenue will remain unchanged or slightly increase by a single digit percentage compared to last year.
In terms of gross profit rate, Xu Xiulan said that with the continuous expansion of GlobalWafers in Japan, Taiwan, China and South Korea, depreciation will increase. In addition, energy costs will also rise, which may affect the gross profit rate this year to be flat or slightly lower than last year.
According to Global Wafers statistics, at the end of 2023, customer prepayments amounted to NT $35.38 billion (US $1.16 billion), a decrease of NT $2.52 billion compared to the end of the third quarter of 2023 (NT $37.9 billion). Xu Xiulan expects that the amount of customer prepayments will continue to decrease in 2024, and in 2026, as the market demand for advanced semiconductor production capacity increases, customer prepayments will rebound.