Latest news with #ASMPT
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Singaporean chip equipment maker ASMPT sees steady growth behind AI infrastructure boom
Advertisement 'AI tailwinds are driving strong demand across both advanced packaging [AP] and mainstream businesses, and we achieved better-than-expected bookings for the first half of 2025,' CEO Robin Ng said on Wednesday, as the company reported its interim financial results. ASMPT, a global supplier of equipment and software used in the semiconductor and electronics manufacturing sectors, reported revenue of HK$6.53 billion (US$837.6 million) in the first six months of the year, which slid 0.7 per cent year on year, even as bookings grew 12.4 per cent to HK$7.11 billion. Net profit was down 30.9 per cent to HK$216.9 million. Still, the company's shares rose 3.27 per cent to close at HK$63.20 on Wednesday. ASMPT said it expected third-quarter revenue to be between US$445 million and US$505 million, a 10.8 per cent year-on-year growth that was 'above market consensus', on the back of sustained AP revenue and improved sales at its surface mount technology business. Advertisement 'We have been maintaining our TCB [thermo-compression bonding] market leadership among AI [chip] players and driving revenue growth,' Ng said. 'Our mainstream business is beginning to benefit from AI data centre demand, and it also achieved bookings growth in China from EVs [electric vehicles] and the consumer market.'
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Singaporean chip tool maker sees AI opportunities amid DeepSeek boom after stock plunge
ASMPT, a Singapore-based semiconductor equipment maker listed in Hong Kong, said the company is seeing opportunities from a proliferation of DeepSeek-inspired artificial intelligence (AI) applications, defending the company's long-term prospects after its share price plunged 17 per cent on Wednesday. The company, which supplies tools for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, reported on Wednesday a 94.4 per cent decline in net profit for the fourth quarter, to HK$4.2 million. Revenue for the December quarter remained steady at HK$3.4 billion compared with the same period in 2023. Its shares plunged 16.6 per cent on Wednesday, closing at HK$64, contrasting sharply with a broader stock market rally in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng Index gained 3.3 per cent, while the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 4.5 per cent, taking China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Xiaomi to new highs. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. ASMPT CEO Robin Ng. Photo: ASM Pacific Technology alt=ASMPT CEO Robin Ng. Photo: ASM Pacific Technology> ASMPT CEO Robin Ng said at a Hong Kong briefing that the company's non-AI-related businesses are under pressure amid a sluggish economy. The company is shifting investment and resources towards AI-related segments to leverage growth opportunities, he added. The low-cost, high-performance large language models developed by Chinese start-up DeepSeek are "good for the industry as a whole", according to Ng. "As AI gets cheaper, there will be more proliferation of applications, and that means more demand for AI chips," he said. Strong capital expenditure by Big Tech firms on AI infrastructure such as data centres is driving significant demand for components, packaging services and tools. ASMPT stands to benefit from the trend, as its business is closely tied to the number of chips that need packaging. Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post, is leading China's tech sector in AI infrastructure spending after announcing this week an ambitious US$52 billion plan for the next three years, mirroring similar but larger plans by US tech giants including Apple and Microsoft amid a heightened tech war and geopolitical tensions. Ng said the tech rivalry and self-sufficiency push by different countries are not bad for suppliers like ASMPT. "Whether [the demand comes] from China or from the rest of the world, it doesn't matter for us," he said. Despite the potential growth from AI-related chips, 70 per cent of ASMPT's revenue still comes from traditional chips for cars and home appliances, which are vulnerable to cyclical changes. Ng said that his company, which generated about 40 per cent of its revenue from China, must maintain its capacity and infrastructure while it waits for an economic rebound, which he expects to boost demand for products such as air conditioners, refrigerators, smartphones and personal computers. "We know the market will come back, and it's a matter of time," Ng said. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
South China Morning Post
26-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Singaporean chip tool maker sees AI opportunities amid DeepSeek boom after stock plunge
ASMPT, a Singapore-based semiconductor equipment maker listed in Hong Kong, said the company is seeing opportunities from a proliferation of DeepSeek -inspired artificial intelligence (AI) applications, defending the company's long-term prospects after its share price plunged 17 per cent on Wednesday. Advertisement The company, which supplies tools for semiconductor and electronics manufacturing, reported on Wednesday a 94.4 per cent decline in net profit for the fourth quarter, to HK$4.2 million. Revenue for the December quarter remained steady at HK$3.4 billion compared with the same period in 2023. Its shares plunged 16.6 per cent on Wednesday, closing at HK$64, contrasting sharply with a broader stock market rally in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng Index gained 3.3 per cent, while the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 4.5 per cent, taking China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Xiaomi to new highs. ASMPT CEO Robin Ng. Photo: ASM Pacific Technology ASMPT CEO Robin Ng said at a Hong Kong briefing that the company's non-AI-related businesses are under pressure amid a sluggish economy. The company is shifting investment and resources towards AI-related segments to leverage growth opportunities, he added. The low-cost, high-performance large language models developed by Chinese start-up DeepSeek are 'good for the industry as a whole', according to Ng. 'As AI gets cheaper, there will be more proliferation of applications, and that means more demand for AI chips,' he said. Strong capital expenditure by Big Tech firms on AI infrastructure such as data centres is driving significant demand for components, packaging services and tools. ASMPT stands to benefit from the trend, as its business is closely tied to the number of chips that need packaging.
