SMIC báo cáo doanh thu quý 3 năm 2024 phá kỷ lục, triển vọng thận trọng cho quý 4

[November 8, 2024] – Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China’s leading semiconductor foundry, today announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2024, reporting record-breaking revenue of US$2.17 billion. This represents a 14% sequential increase and a 34% year-over-year surge, marking the first time the company has exceeded the US$2 billion mark in a single quarter. The strong performance was driven by robust growth in wafer production capacity and sales, with wafer sales increasing by 38% year-over-year to 2.122 million units. SMIC also added a monthly production capacity of 21,000 12-inch wafers during the quarter. This increase in capacity, coupled with an optimized product structure, led to a rise in the average selling price.

The shift towards higher-value 12-inch wafers is evident in the revenue composition. The revenue share from 12-inch wafers reached 78.5%, while the share from 8-inch wafers decreased to 21.5%, a 4.5 percentage point drop year-over-year. SMIC’s gross profit reached US$444.2 million, resulting in a gross margin of 20.5%, a significant improvement compared to the previous quarter. Net profit reached 1.06 billion yuan, a 56.4 percent surge year-on-year. Geographically, 86.4% of SMIC’s main business revenue originated from China, with the US and Europe-Asia regions contributing 10.6% and 3%, respectively. The wafer business accounted for 94.4% of its main revenue. The company’s stock price on the STAR market also reflected the positive results, increasing by 2.63 percent to 104.57 yuan.

While Q3 results were exceptionally strong, SMIC anticipates a more moderate Q4, forecasting a 2% year-over-year revenue increase and a gross profit margin between 18% and 20%. This cautious outlook is attributed to current industry oversupply conditions, with utilization rates hovering around 70%, significantly below the optimal 85%. SMIC CEO Zhao Haijun highlighted the overcapacity, particularly in mature node chips, which is expected to persist through 2025. As a result, the company is adopting a more conservative approach to capacity expansion, although an additional 30,000 12-inch wafers in monthly production capacity will be put into operation in the fourth quarter.

SMIC’s success in Q3 is further underscored by its role in supplying advanced chips for Huawei’s high-end smartphones, including the Mate 60 and Pura 70 series. While rumors circulated about SMIC’s ability to produce 5nm chips without EUV lithography, Huawei’s next Kirin SoC for the Mate 70 Series will reportedly utilize a refined 7nm “N+3” node.

The positive performance of SMIC is mirrored by other Chinese semiconductor companies. Huahong Group reported a 226.62% year-over-year increase in net profit, while Nexchip saw a 16.12% year-over-year revenue increase and a 21.6% rise in net profit.