ASM announces second quarter 2024 results

Almere, The Netherlands
July 23, 2024, 6 p.m. CET

Strong Q2 bookings supported by GAA and HBM demand

ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today reports its Q2 2024 results (unaudited).

Financial highlights

¹ Adjusted figures are non-IFRS performance measures (previously referred to as “normalized”). Refer to Annex 3 for a reconciliation of non-IFRS performance measures.

• New orders of €755 million in Q2 2024 increased by 56% at constant currencies (increased by 55% as reported) mainly driven by strong demand for gate-all-around (GAA) and high-bandwith memory (HBM).
• Revenue of €706 million increased by 6% at constant currencies (also 6% as reported) from Q2 of last year and slightly above the guidance (€660-700 million).
• Adjusted gross profit margin increased to 49.8%, up from 49.0% in Q2 of last year, due to mix and strong China sales.
• Adjusted operating result margin decreased to 25.8%, compared to 26.9% in Q2 last year. The margin % was unfavorably impacted by 1.2% as a result of a one-off tax charge related to accelerated vesting of previously granted performance shares.
• Revenue for Q3 2024 is projected to increase to €740-780 million. Revenue for the second half is expected to increase around 15% compared to the first half.
• In Q2 2024 we paid €135 million in dividends to ASM shareholders and bought back €59 million of our own shares as part of €150 million share buyback program that started on May 15, 2024.

Comment
“ASM continued its solid performance in the second quarter”, said Hichem M’Saad, CEO of ASM. “Revenue in the second quarter amounted to €706 million, which was an increase of 6% at constant currencies compared to the same quarter of last year, and slightly above the top end of our guidance of €660-700 million.
Bookings increased to €755 million, up 56% at constant currencies from the second quarter 2023. Logic/foundry bookings again included a solid level of tool orders related to the gate-all-around (GAA) 2nm technology node. The GAA node is still projected to move into high-volume manufacturing in the course of 2025, and we expect this to be a strong revenue driver for ASM. 

Also, in memory, we saw strong growth in bookings benefiting from investments in DRAM HBM applications. 
In the silicon-based power/analog/wafer segment, bookings were at a decent level, despite the generally slow demand in this market. Silicon carbide (SiC) Epi bookings were also at a relatively strong level in Q2.

Q2 adjusted gross margin increased from 49.0% last year to 49.8%. It decreased compared to the exceptional level of 52.9% in Q1 2024, which is explained by mix and lower sales from China. The adjusted operating profit margin decreased slightly to 25.8% in Q2 2024 compared to 26.9% in the same quarter last year, and would have been 27.0% excluding approximately 1.2% from a one-off tax charge included in SG&A expenses in Q2 2024.”

Outlook

While conditions in end markets continue to be mixed, the recovery of the wafer fab equipment is gradually picking up pace, as AI demand is fueling investments in HBM DRAM and in leading-edge logic/foundry. For 2024, a slight increase in WFE spending is expected, followed by a stronger increase in 2025.

We expect revenue in the third quarter of 2024, at constant currencies, to be in a range of €740-780 million.
We project ASM’s revenue in the second half to increase around 15% compared to the level in the first half resulting in another growth year for ASM. We continue to expect sales from China to drop in the second half compared to the exceptional level in the first half. This will however be more than offset by an expected strong increase in the second half in leading-edge logic/foundry sales, mostly driven by rising GAA-related sales and an increase in memory sales, in particular for HBM DRAM.
Despite softening market conditions, we still expect our silicon carbide (SiC) Epi sales to increase by a double-digit percentage in 2024, supported by the contribution from newly won customers.
We remain confident about the mid-term targets for 2025 and 2027 that we provided in our 2023 Investor Day, and we expect ASM will continue to outperform the WFE market during this timeframe.

Interim financial report

ASM International N.V. (Euronext Amsterdam: ASM) today also publishes its Interim Financial Report for the six month period ended June 30, 2024.

This report includes an Interim Management Board Report, including ESG update, and condensed consolidated interim financial statements prepared in accordance with IAS 34 (Interim Financial Reporting). The Interim Financial Report comprises regulated information within the meaning of the Dutch Financial Markets Supervision Act (“Wet op het Financieel Toezicht”) and is available in full on our website www.asm.com.

Share buyback program

On May 14, 2024, ASM announced the start of the €150 million share buyback program. As of June 30, 2024, 39.4% of the share buyback program was completed at an average share price of €653.71.

About ASM

ASM International N.V., headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands, and its subsidiaries design and manufacture equipment and process solutions to produce semiconductor devices for wafer processing, and have facilities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. ASM International’s common stock trades on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange (symbol: ASM). For more information, visit ASM’s website at www.asm.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All matters discussed in this press release, except for any historical data, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, economic conditions and trends in the semiconductor industry generally and the timing of the industry cycles specifically, currency fluctuations, corporate transactions, financing and liquidity matters, the success of restructurings, the timing of significant orders, market acceptance of new products, competitive factors, litigation involving intellectual property, shareholders or other issues, commercial and economic disruption due to natural disasters, terrorist activity, armed conflict or political instability, changes in import/export regulations, pandemics, epidemics and other risks indicated in the company’s reports and financial statements. The company assumes no obligation nor intends to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future developments or circumstances.

This press release contains inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

Quarterly earnings conference call details

ASM will host the quarterly earnings conference call and webcast on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. CET.

Conference-call participants should pre-register using this link to receive the dial-in numbers, passcode and a personal PIN, which are required to access the conference call.

A simultaneous audio webcast and replay will be accessible at this link.