Chip industry linchpin Advantest Corp yesterday lifted its full-year forecast almost 40 percent in anticipation of elevated spending around artificial intelligence (AI) and downplayed the impact of DeepSeek’s (深度求索) big debut.
Advantest raised its operating profit outlook above analyst estimates as chief executive officer Douglas Lefever said long-term AI development upside is near certain.
The company sells chip-testing equipment that has been in hot demand with a surge in AI investment powering sales of Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc semiconductors.
Photo: Bloomberg
DeepSeek has not had any impact on the company’s view at this time, Lefever said, following a furious two days of tech sector re-evaluation after the Chinese AI startup rocketed in popularity.
Advantest’s results coincided with ASML Holding NV, the Dutch supplier of advanced semiconductor lithography gear, reporting bookings that were roughly double what had been expected and lifting expectations of a prolonged boom in AI chip demand.
Advantest upped its forecast to an operating profit of ￥226 billion (US$1.5 billion) for the year to March. Analysts on average expected the company to earn record operating profit of ￥203 billion.
While datacenter-driven business is to make up the lion’s portion of Advantest’s income in the business year starting April, the market for chips that process AI in robots, consumer devices and other machines is growing, Lefever said.
“A lot of work is being done in the area of robotics,” he said. “Edge AI is definitely evolving, which will be good for the volume of AI semiconductors.”
The company said it expects the rising number of new entrants in the AI field to further support demand in the months ahead.
Hype around DeepSeek’s claims of low development costs triggered fears about its US rival OpenAI, as well as concerns about the companies supplying AI infrastructure. Shares of Advantest — whose equipment is needed to develop and monitor increasingly complex semiconductors — have shed more than 15 percent since Friday’s close.
Signs of a rebound after the DeepSeek-led selloff in chip stocks already emerged this week, with Nvidia shares recovering by 9 percent on Tuesday and ASML surging more than 11 percent after its results yesterday.
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