Leading Chinese contract chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC)(0981.HK; 688981.SH) on Thursday reported strong revenue and profit growth in the second quarter, as AI-fueled demand remained strong for its cutting-edge products.
SMIC’s revenue rose 36.1% year-on-year to 3.01 billion yuan ($446 million) during the three months to June from 2.21 billion yuan a year earlier. Its gross margin for the latest quarter rose nearly 5 percentage points to 25.3% from 20.4% a year earlier, benefiting from higher prices for its finished products and cost-cutting that saw its operating expenses fall 24.3% year-on-year.
As a result, its profit for the quarter more than tripled to 479 million yuan from 132 million yuan a year earlier. The company forecast its revenue would grow 2% to 4% sequentially in the third quarter, which would translate to about 30% year-on-year revenue growth for the period.
SMIC’s Hong Kong-listed shares are down about 5% this year, while its China-listed stock is up about 5.4%.
By Doug Young
To subscribe to Bamboo Works weekly free newsletter, click here
