Chipmaking parts supplier BE Semiconductor Industries (BESI.AS) (Besi) beat fourth-quarter targets on Thursday on growing demand for its hybrid bonding technology and AI-enabled computing applications from chipmakers expanding their capacity.
The Dutch group's shares soared 16% in early trading after its quarterly orders increased by 30% driven by hybrid bonding, a form of chip packaging required for AI applications.
Orders for the fourth quarter totalled 166 million euros ($180 million), part of which are expected to be shipped over the second and third quarters of 2024, the company said.
Hydrid bonding orders nearly doubled in the quarter, with around half of them for the group's most advanced systems.
Besi's clients, who include Nvidia supplier TSMC (2330.TW), Intel (INTC.O) and Samsung (005930.KS), have already been adopting its advanced chipmaking tools.
The assembly equipment maker expects further growth in the hybrid bonding market and other advanced packaging technologies this year.
To respond to the growing demand, the Amsterdam-based group is expanding its activities beyond China, with investments in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. That was also affected by some customers' decisions to move their facilities out of China.
Besi reported a gross profit margin of 65.1% for the fourth quarter, while its revenue rose nearly 30% from the previous three-month period to 159.6 million euros.
That exceeded its guidance for a gross margin of between 62% and 64% and quarter-on-quarter revenue growth of 15% to 25%.
For the first quarter, Besi expects its revenue to drop 5% to 15% from the prior quarter, but sees a higher gross margin of between 64% and 66%, helped by advanced packaging products.
"The slope of the recovery this year is uncertain given restrained demand for mainstream applications and weakness in automotive end-user markets currently," CEO Richard Blickman said in a statement.
He said industry analysts expect the market to rebound in 2024-2026, driven by recovery in mainstream assembly and Chinese markets, as well as additional capacity needs for AI logic and memory applications and advanced packaging.
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