Advantest Raises Profit Forecast as AI Increases Demand for Testing

Sam Nussey

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Advantest on Wednesday raised its full-year operating profit forecast by nearly a fifth to 165 billion yen ($1.08 billion) as strong demand for high-performance artificial intelligence chips boosted its AI business. testing tools.

Operating profit for the July-September quarter tripled from the same period last year to a record 63.6 billion yen.

Advantest says demand for AI-related chips is strong, although testing demand in areas such as automotive and industrial will take time to recover.

“Amid the growing complexity of semiconductors for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, customer appetite for investment remains very strong,” CEO Douglas Lefever said in an earnings briefing.

The growth of Advantest’s memory testing business has been fueled by demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is used in data processing for AI.

“With strong demand for HBM this fiscal year, we are gradually working to improve our production capacity,” Lefever said.

“Our memory testing supply capabilities are expected to improve further in the second half,” Lefever added.

In the second quarter, Taiwan and China accounted for 38% and 22% of sales, respectively.

Advantest, whose shares have risen nearly 80% since the start of the year, said it expects operating cash flow to improve and will buy back shares worth up to 50 billion yen.

($1 = 153.2900 yen)

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Nicholas Yong)