Advantest Corp. shares surged to a fresh record high on Thursday after the Tokyo-based semiconductor test-equipment supplier posted its strongest quarterly profit on record and updated its fiscal-year guidance higher, citing continued demand tied to artificial intelligence chip production.
Shares gained more than 14%, reaching a peak of 29,250.0 yen. That advance came even as the Nikkei 225 index slipped about 0.2% on the trading day.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, Advantest reported a record-high profit of 78.7 billion yen ($510 million). Revenue during the quarter rose nearly 11% year over year to 273.8 billion yen.
Following the quarterly results, the company raised its full-year outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31. Advantest now expects sales of 1.07 trillion yen, up from its prior forecast of 950 billion yen. It also revised its net income projection higher, forecasting net income of 328.5 billion yen for the fiscal year - roughly double the prior-year level - compared with its earlier forecast of 275 billion yen.
Advantest supplies semiconductor testing equipment to major chipmakers, including NVIDIA. The company and its top customer were both identified as beneficiaries of a surge in chip demand driven by artificial intelligence workloads over the past three years.
In addition to the upward revision of its financial targets, Advantest indicated plans to boost its annual production capacity, with the company aiming to implement that expansion by early 2027. Management characterized that capacity increase as a response to persistent AI-related demand.
Market reaction and context
Investors responded positively to the combination of record quarterly profit, stronger sales, and the upgraded fiscal-year guidance, driving the share price to a record intraday level. The companys decision to accelerate capacity expansion underlines that management views demand conditions as sufficiently strong to warrant additional production capability.
What the results show
- Record quarterly net profit: 78.7 billion yen for the three months to Dec. 31.
- Quarterly sales: 273.8 billion yen, an increase of nearly 11% year over year.
- Raised fiscal-year sales outlook to 1.07 trillion yen from 950 billion yen; net income guidance increased to 328.5 billion yen from a prior projection of 275 billion yen.
These figures and the announced capacity plans were cited by the market as the primary drivers of the stock's sharp advance on Thursday.