(Jan 28): Advantest Corp seeks to speed up its production capacity expansion plans for chip testing equipment, a sign of upbeat sentiment around spending on artificial intelligence (AI) hardware.
The chip equipment maker said it was targeting annual capacity of at least 5,000 system-on-chip testers by March 2027, up from 3,000 as of July last year. That level would be the “bare minimum”, chief executive officer Douglas Lefever said.
“Looking ahead, with AI-related demand remaining strong, we anticipate sustained growth in the tester market in calendar year 2026,” Lefever said on an earnings call on Wednesday, adding that the company’s business in China appeared “quite healthy”.
Advantest, which sells equipment that can identify defects in advanced chips, is benefitting from a global spending surge in on data centres and other AI infrastructure. Last year, its perceived low production capacity prompted investor concerns that it could miss revenue opportunities due to supply constraints.
The Tokyo-based company on Wednesday raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 21% to ¥454 billion, topping the average analyst estimate of about ¥385 billion. The company now expects net sales of ¥1.07 trillion for the fiscal year ending in March, supported by robust data-center investment.
For the December quarter, Advantest reported a better-than-expected 64% jump in operating profit on a 25.5% rise in sales.
See also: SoftBank in talks to invest US$30 bil more in OpenAI — Bloomberg
The company said a slowdown it anticipated in the second half of the fiscal year failed to materialise, while demand is expected to soar from suppliers of both AI-related applications and high-performance DRAM.
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