Advantest shares jump as AI chip demand drives earnings outlook upgrade

Advantest Corp.'s shares surged on Thursday following the semiconductor testing equipment company's upgrade of its full-year earnings forecast. This was primarily due to robust demand for equipment utilized in testing artificial intelligence chips. The company's stock rose by 7.3% to 3,7480 yen by 05:29 GMT, after reaching a peak of 9.1% earlier in the day.

This positive movement contributed to an increase in Japan's Nikkei share average. The company's operating profit forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2027 was raised to 967 billion yen ($6.3 billion) from the previous 846 billion yen, marking a 14% increase. This forecast adjustment came after a significant rise in first-half earnings.

Advantest also increased its full-year revenue forecast to 1.863 trillion yen from the earlier 1.714 trillion yen. In the six months leading up to September, the company's revenue surged by 60.5% compared to the previous year, reaching 845.2 billion yen. Moreover, operating profit for the same period jumped by 96.5%, reaching 456.8 billion yen.

Net profit for the six-month period also increased by 116.8%, totaling 368.1 billion yen. Advantest attributed the strong demand for testing high-performance AI semiconductors to a faster-than-expected rise in investment in data centers. Additionally, the company expects the semiconductor tester market to reach a record high as demand for chips used in AI inference continues to grow.