Semiconductor Equipment Market Dynamics: Highlights From Top 5 Companies’ Latest Financial Reports

Semiconductor Equipment Market Dynamics: Highlights From Top 5 Companies’ Latest Financial Reports

The semiconductor manufacturing equipment industry’s financial report for the first quarter of 24 is in the spotlight as demand for AI and HBM continues to grow. TrendForce summarized the key points of the top five manufacturers. Despite some being impacted by periodic market fluctuations, investments in AI waves and advanced processes have driven overall sales growth, particularly in the Chinese market.

Applied Materials reported 2Q24 revenue of US$6.65 billion (Jan. 29 to Apr. 28), the same level as last year, while China’s share of revenue jumped to 43% from 21% a year earlier. The company noted that some customers producing ICAPS (IoT, telecommunications, automobiles, power and sensor-related chips) are temporarily delaying orders, but demand for machines used to manufacture AI processors is rising.

ASML saw net sales of 1Q24 (Jan. 1-March 31) fall 21.6% year-over-year to €52.9 billion (~$5.7 billion), with orders for top-tier EUV exposure equipment plummeting from €5.6 billion in the previous quarter. Taiwan and South Korea’s share of machinery sales revenue fell from 13% and 25% to 6% and 19%, respectively, during the quarter. However, China’s share rose to 49% from 39% to a record high.

LamResearch reports a 0.9% increase in quarterly revenue to $3.8 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 (Dec. 25, 2023 to March 31, 2024). The company expects demand for DRAM manufacturing equipment to benefit from HBM-related spending and continued investment in China.

It reported a profit of TEL 547 yen. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 (~$3.5 billion), it was down 2% year-on-year. TEL noted that demand for chips led by generative AI is expected to drive further growth in the semiconductor equipment market. The company expects to increase investment in advanced DRAMs due to increased demand for DDR5 and HBM in the second half of the year.

KLA reported its 3Q24 fiscal results (Jan. 1-Mar. 31), with revenue down 3% year-over-year to $2.4 billion. KLA said it was confident that the market environment had stabilized and that significant progress was identified in our customers’ end-market operations, which would further improve our business levels this year by providing more collaboration potential in leading production capacity investments.