Q1 Revenue and Profit Beat vs Forecast
Pro forma Q1 revenue (excluding divested timing business) ~JPY 369.1–372.3 billion, above company guidance by ~1.4%; gross margin ~59.1–59.2%, above forecast by ~1.1 percentage points; operating profit ~JPY 123.7–125.4 billion, ~2.5% above forecast; EBITDA JPY 146.2 billion; net profit JPY 102.9 billion.
Strong Q2 Revenue Outlook
Company guidance midpoint for Q2 revenue JPY 388 billion; on a pro forma basis Q2 revenue expected to increase ~5.1% Q‑on‑Q (5.0% ex-FX).
Robust Demand and Product Ramps
Automotive demand stronger than expected with R‑Car Gen4 ramping successfully; legacy R‑Car and microcontrollers also showing steady growth; data center AI and client‑side AI demand described as growing strongly.
Capacity Utilization and Planned Capacity Expansion
Front‑end wafer-input utilization ~55% in Q1 (up ~6 percentage points Q‑on‑Q); management approved decision‑based CapEx of JPY 94 billion (≈80% for capacity expansion, ~JPY 77 billion), with ~50% of capacity expansion allocated to Kofu, >20% to Naka and ~15% to Saijo to support AI, data center and digital power demand.
Operational Efficiency and Margin Drivers in Q1
Q1 gross margin benefit driven by yen depreciation (~80% of revenue beat impact attributed to FX) and declines in manufacturing/fixed costs (maintenance reduction and conservative forecasting helped improve gross margin and operating margin).
Software/Service Momentum
Altium ARR increased ~8% year‑on‑year in Q1; management prioritizing platform adoption and account expansion over short‑term maximized ARR growth; Renesas 365 moved to general availability.
Clear Inventory & DOI Targeting
Company reiterates channel inventory build policy and a target Days Of Inventory (DOI) of 150 days to buffer supply risks and shorter lead‑time requirements.