Micron Technology, Inc. today announced results for its first quarter of fiscal 2025, which ended November 28, 2024.

Fiscal Q1 2025 highlights

• Revenue of $8.71 billion versus $7.75 billion for the prior quarter and $4.73 billion for the same period last year
• GAAP net income of $1.87 billion, or $1.67 per diluted share
• Non-GAAP net income of $2.04 billion, or $1.79 per diluted share
• Operating cash flow of $3.24 billion versus $3.41 billion for the prior quarter and $1.40 billion for the same period last year

"Micron delivered a record quarter, and our data center revenue surpassed 50% of our total revenue for the first time," said Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO of Micron Technology. "While consumer-oriented markets are weaker in the near term, we anticipate a return to growth in the second half of our fiscal year. We continue to gain share in the highest margin and strategically important parts of the market and are exceptionally well positioned to leverage AI-driven growth to create substantial value for all stakeholders."

TSMC (TWSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced its net revenue for November 2024: On a consolidated basis, revenue for November 2024 was approximately NT$276.06 billion, a decrease of 12.2 percent from October 2024 and an increase of 34.0 percent from November 2023. Revenue for January through November 2024 totaled NT$2,616.15 billion, an increase of 31.8 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY), together with its subsidiaries ('the Group'), today announced Q2 results for fiscal year 2024/25, reporting significant increases and growth in net income, year-on-year revenue growth for the 4th consecutive quarter, and strong double-digit year-on-year revenue increases from all its business groups. Group revenue increased 24% year-on-year to US$17.9 billion. Net income was up 48% year-on-year to US$404 million on a non-Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards (non-HKFRS)[1] basis, and non-PC revenue mix was up five points year-to-year to 46%. The Group's results reflect its clear strategy, operational excellence, investment in R&D, innovations in hybrid AI, and global footprint.

The Group's hybrid AI strategy and years of continuous investment in R&D and innovations are paying off, with its first phase of AI PCs, launched in China in May 2024, already reaching double digit share of its total notebook shipments in the China market. Recent launches of AI PCs for the global market with Lenovo AI Now have also been received positively. For enterprise AI, the Group is leveraging its full-stack hybrid infrastructure as well as Lenovo Hybrid AI Advantage to capture growth opportunities. This relentless focus on AI innovation as well as investment in R&D (up 10% year-on-year to US$548 million) is firmly establishing the Group's market differentiation and industry leadership.

Worldwide silicon wafer shipments increased 5.9% quarter-over-quarter to 3,214 million square inches (MSI) in the third quarter of 2024 and registered 6.8% growth from the 3,010 million square inches recorded during the same quarter last year, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

"The third quarter wafer shipment results continued the upward trend which started in the second quarter of this year," said Lee Chungwei (李崇偉), Chairman of SEMI SMG and Vice President and Chief Auditor at GlobalWafers. "Inventory levels have declined throughout the supply chain but generally remain high. Demand for advanced wafers used for AI continues to be strong. However, the silicon wafer demand for automotive and industrial uses continues to be muted, while the demand for silicon used for handset and other consumer products has seen some areas of improvement. As a result, 2025 is likely to continue upward trends, but total shipments are not yet expected to return to the peak levels of 2022."

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world, today announced its consolidated results of operations for the three months ended September 30, 2024.

Third Quarter 2024 Highlights

• Revenue was $2,171.2 million in 3Q24, compared to $1,901.3 million in 2Q24, and $1,620.6 million in 3Q23.
• Gross profit was $444.2 million in 3Q24, compared to $265.1 million in 2Q24, and $321.6 million in 3Q23.
• Gross margin was 20.5% in 3Q24, compared to 13.9% in 2Q24 and 19.8% in 3Q23.

GlobalFoundries Inc. (GF) today announced preliminary financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Key Third Quarter Financial Highlights

• Revenue of $1.739 billion
• Gross margin of 23.8% and Non-IFRS gross margin of 24.7%
• Operating margin of 10.6% and Non-IFRS operating margin of 13.6%
• Net income of $178 million and Non-IFRS net income of $229 million
• Non-IFRS adjusted EBITDA of $627 million
• Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $4.3 billion
• Year to date net cash provided by operating activities of $1,265 million and Non-IFRS adjusted free cash flow of $779 million

Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2024 fourth quarter ended September 28, 2024. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $94.9 billion, up 6 percent year over year, and quarterly diluted earnings per share of $0.97. Diluted earnings per share was $1.64,1 up 12 percent year over year when excluding the one-time charge recognized during the fourth quarter of 2024 related to the impact of the reversal of the European General Court's State Aid decision.

"Today Apple is reporting a new September quarter revenue record of $94.9 billion, up 6 percent from a year ago," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "During the quarter, we were excited to announce our best products yet, with the all-new iPhone 16 lineup, Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, and remarkable features for hearing health and sleep apnea detection. And this week, we released our first set of features for Apple Intelligence, which sets a new standard for privacy in AI and supercharges our lineup heading into the holiday season."

Intel Corporation today reported third-quarter 2024 financial results.

"Our Q3 results underscore the solid progress we are making against the plan we outlined last quarter to reduce costs, simplify our portfolio and improve organizational efficiency. We delivered revenue above the midpoint of our guidance, and are acting with urgency to position the business for sustainable value creation moving forward," said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. "The momentum we are building across our product portfolio to maximize the value of our x86 franchise, combined with the strong interest Intel 18A is attracting from foundry customers, reflects the impact of our actions and the opportunities ahead."

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) today announced preliminary financial results for its second quarter ended September 30, 2024. "EA delivered another strong quarter with record Q2 net bookings, driven by our incredible teams, broad portfolio and technology leadership," said Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA. "The momentum in our business reinforces our strategic vision to deliver innovative experiences and interactive entertainment that deepens and expands engagement across our global communities."

"Q2 was another successful quarter for EA, exceeding the high end of our guidance range. As a result, we are also raising our FY25 outlook," said Stuart Canfield, CFO of EA. "We remain confident in our ability to drive long-term value creation through increased scale, driving top-line growth, improved margins, and greater cash flow as shared at our Investor Day."

Global shipments of silicon wafers are projected to decline 2% in 2024 to 12,174 million square inches (MSI) with a strong rebound of 10% delayed until 2025 to reach 13,328 MSI as wafer demand continues to recover from the downcycle, SEMI reported today in its annual silicon shipment forecast.

Strong silicon wafer shipment growth is expected to continue through 2027 to meet increasing demand related to AI and advanced processing, driving improved fab utilization rate for global semiconductor production capacity. Moreover, new applications in advanced packaging and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production, which require additional wafers, are contributing to the rising need for silicon wafers. Such applications include temporary or permanent carrier wafers, interposers, device separation into chiplets, and memory/logic array separation.

TSMC today announced consolidated revenue of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.50 billion), net income of NT$325.26 billion (US$10.08 billion), and diluted earnings per share of NT$12.54 (US$1.94 per ADR unit) for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024. Year-over-year, third quarter revenue increased 39.0% while net income and diluted EPS both increased 54.2%. Compared to second quarter 2024, third quarter results represented a 12.8% increase in revenue and a 31.2% increase in net income. All figures were prepared in accordance with TIFRS on a consolidated basis.

In US dollars, third quarter revenue was $23.50 billion, which increased 36.0% year-over-year and increased 12.9% from the previous quarter. Gross margin for the quarter was 57.8%, operating margin was 47.5%, and net profit margin was 42.8%. In the third quarter, shipments of 3-nanometer accounted for 20% of total wafer revenue; 5-nanometer accounted for 32%; 7-nanometer accounted for 17%. Advanced technologies, defined as 7-nanometer and more advanced technologies, accounted for 69% of total wafer revenue.

TSMC announced that its revenue for September 2024 reached NT$251.87 billion (US$7.80 billion), representing a 39% increase compared to the same month last year. The cumulative revenue for the first three quarters of 2024 climbed to NT$2,025.85 billion (US$62.72 billion), showing a 32% year-over-year growth. The company's third-quarter revenue amounted to NT$759.7 billion (US$23.52 billion), exceeding TSMC's own guidance of NT$706.6 billion to NT$731.5 billion (US$22.4 billion to US$23.2 billion). TSMC will report full third-quarter earnings on Oct. 17.

A report from Data Center Dynamics quotes sources saying that, due to increasing demand from NVIDIA and others, TSMC has been forced to change its CoWoS capacity expansion plan several times. In response, TSMC is building two more fabs, named P4 and P5, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, raising the company's total number of facilities in the region to five. Four months ago, the company announced that it would build a third 2 nm fab at Nanzih Technology Industrial Park in Kaohsiung. The company's P1 fab, which started in August 2022, is expected to begin mass production next year, while P2 and P3 are still in the construction phase. TSMC's CoWoS monthly capacity is expected to reach more than 40,000 wafers by the end of 2024, 65,000 wafers in 2025, and at least 80,000 wafers in 2026.

To anyone following gaming with any sort of regularity, it's plain to see that Roblox is by far one of the biggest, if not the biggest game among young audiences. Now, a new report from Hindenburg Research claims that Roblox has not only misrepresented its user count but has also failed to protect minors, who make up as much as 60% of the game platform's users. After Hindenburg released the statement, Roblox responded to the claim denying the allegations, citing that it strictly enforces its community standards, although it admits that bots and inflated user counts are an issue the company actively tries to fight.

Hindenburg's report alleges that Roblox has repeatedly inflated its user figure, intentionally using vague language to mislead its investors about how many users it has. The organization also claims to have discovered several cases of sexual abuse and exploitation of minors on the platform, citing incidents involving kidnapping and sexual assault against minors that stemmed from in-game meetings.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side, especially as we're running out of sides in the advanced semiconductor manufacturing sector. A recent report by Business Korea highlights Samsung Securities' July publication titled "Geopolitical Paradigm Shift and Industry," which paints a less-than-optimistic picture of Samsung's current state of affairs. The report even evaluates a possible spinoff of Samsung Foundry. The Korean tech giant has faced various business setbacks related to its state-of-the-art 3 nm Gate-All-Around (GAA) FET node. Reports indicate that this node only manages to yield 10-20% of working silicon, making potential customers reluctant to secure partnerships with Samsung. Samsung Securities projects that Samsung Foundry, along with the LSI division, will suffer a 500 billion won (about $385 million) loss this year.

Poor yields and difficulty securing customers have left Samsung facing tough choices, including the possible sale of its massive Foundry unit, which manufactures logic for external customers. It's noteworthy that Samsung is one of only three companies left in the advanced semiconductor manufacturing field, alongside TSMC and Intel. Many companies struggled to deliver results when transitioning to sub-7 nm nodes. Global Foundries dropped out of the race to focus on mature nodes, while Intel faced delays. TSMC has been the only company so far to consistently set and execute its goals, positioning itself as the industry leader. With low yields on the 3 nm GAA FET node, Samsung currently holds 11.5% of the global foundry market share in Q2, while TSMC dominates with 62.3%.

Micron Technology, Inc. today announced results for its fourth quarter and full year of fiscal 2024, which ended August 29, 2024.

Fiscal Q4 2024 highlights

• Revenue of $7.75 billion versus $6.81 billion for the prior quarter and $4.01 billion for the same period last year
• GAAP net income of $887 million, or $0.79 per diluted share
• Non-GAAP net income of $1.34 billion, or $1.18 per diluted share
• Operating cash flow of $3.41 billion versus $2.48 billion for the prior quarter and $249 million for the same period last year

Fiscal 2024 highlights

• Revenue of $25.11 billion versus $15.54 billion for the prior year
• GAAP net income of $778 million, or $0.70 per diluted share
• Non-GAAP net income of $1.47 billion, or $1.30 per diluted share
• Operating cash flow of $8.51 billion versus $1.56 billion for the prior year

Intel's 13th and 14th generation processors, codenamed "Raptor Lake" and "Raptor Lake Refresh," have been notoriously riddled with stability issues over the past few months, up until Intel shipped the 0x129 microcode update on August 10 to fix these issues. However, the upcoming Intel Core Ultra 200 "Arrow Lake" and 200V series "Lunar Lake" processors will not have these issues as the company confirmed that an all-new design is used, even for the segment of power regulation. The official company note states: "Intel confirms that its next generation of processors, codenamed Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake, are not affected by the Vmin Shift Instability issue due to the new architectures powering both product families. Intel will ensure future product families are protected against the Vmin Shift Instability issue as well."

Originally, Intel's analysis for 13th—and 14th-generation processors indicated that stability issues stemmed from excessive voltage during processor operation. These voltage increases led to degradation, raising the minimum voltage necessary for stable performance, which Intel refers to as "Vmin shift." Given that the design phase of new architectures lasts for years, Intel has surely anticipated that the old power delivery could yield problems, and the upcoming CPU generations are now exempt from these issues, bringing stability once again to Intel's platforms. When these new products launch, all eyes will be on the platform's performance, but with a massive interest in stability testing from enthusiasts.

According to a recent report from Bloomberg, Intel is in talks with investment banks about a possible spin-out of its foundry business, as well as scraping some existing expansion plans to cut losses. As the report highlights, sources close to Intel noted that the company is exploring various ways to deal with the recent Q2 2024 earnings report. While Intel's revenues are in decline, they are still high. However, the profitability of running its business has declined so much that the company is now operating on a net loss, with an astonishing $1.61 billion in the red. CEO Pat Gelsinger is now exploring various ways to control these losses and make the 56-year-old giant profitable again. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are reportedly advising Intel about its future moves regarding the foundry business and overall operations.

The Intel Foundry unit represents the biggest consumer of the company's funds, as the expansion plans across the US and Europe are costing Intel billions of US Dollars. Even though the company receives various state subsidies to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities, it still has to put much of its capital to work. Given that the company is running tight on funds, some of these expansion plans that are not business-critical may get scraped. Additionally, running the foundry business is also turning out to be rather costly, with Q2 2024 recording a negative 65.5% operating margin. Separating Intel Product and Intel Foundry may be an option, or even selling the foundry business as a whole is on the table. Whatever happens next is yet to be cleared up. During the Deutsche Bank Technology Conference on Thursday, Pat Gelsinger also noted that "It's been a difficult few weeks" for Intel, with many employees getting laid off to try to establish new cost-saving measures.

During its Q2 2024 earnings call, NVIDIA confirmed that its upcoming Blackwell-based products are facing low-yield challenges. However, the company announced that it has implemented design changes to improve the production yields of its B100 and B200 processors. Despite these setbacks, NVIDIA remains optimistic about its production timeline. The tech giant plans to commence the production ramp of Blackwell GPUs in Q4 2024, with expected shipments worth several billion dollars by the end of the year. In an official statement, NVIDIA explained, "We executed a change to the Blackwell GPU mask to improve production yield." The company also reaffirmed that it had successfully sampled Blackwell GPUs with customers in the second quarter.

However, NVIDIA acknowledged that meeting demand required producing "low-yielding Blackwell material," which impacted its gross margins. During an earnings call, NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang assured investors that the supply of B100 and B200 GPUs will be there. He expressed confidence in the company's ability to mass-produce these chips starting in the fourth quarter. The Blackwell B100 and B200 GPUs use TSMC's CoWoS-L packaging technology and a complex design, which prompted rumors about the company facing yield issues with its designs. Reports suggest that initial challenges arose from mismatched thermal expansion coefficients among various components, leading to warping and system failures. However, now the company claims that the fix that solved these problems was a new GPU photomask, which bumped yields back to normal levels.

NVIDIA today reported revenue for the second quarter ended July 28, 2024, of $30.0 billion, up 15% from the previous quarter and up 122% from a year ago. For the quarter, GAAP earnings per diluted share was $0.67, up 12% from the previous quarter and up 168% from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share was $0.68, up 11% from the previous quarter and up 152% from a year ago.

"Hopper demand remains strong, and the anticipation for Blackwell is incredible," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "NVIDIA achieved record revenues as global data centers are in full throttle to modernize the entire computing stack with accelerated computing and generative AI."

Lenovo Group Limited, together with its subsidiaries, today announced Q1 results for fiscal year 2024/25, reporting profitability improvements across all areas of the business and making significant progress in capturing hybrid AI opportunities. Group revenue increased 20% year-on-year to US$15.4 billion, net income was up 65% year-on-year to US$315 million on a non-Hong Kong Financial Reporting Standards (non-HKFRS) basis, and non-PC revenue mix was up five points year-to-year reaching a historic high of 47%. The Group's results reflect its clear strategy and strong execution, persistent focus on innovation and operational excellence, as well as the advantages it reaps from being a globalized business.

The Group is both uniquely positioned and well-prepared to lead in an era of hybrid AI with its full-stack portfolio featuring AI devices like AI PCs, AI servers that support all major architectures, as well as rich AI native and AI embedded solutions and services. User feedback from Lenovo's AI PCs, defined by five key characteristics, have been encouraging, with the first AI PCs having launched in May and many more to come during IFA and Tech World later this year. The Group is confident that it will lead the industry in market share for next-generation AI PCs, which overall are expected to be more than 50% of the PC landscape by 2027, as well as lead in seizing the enormous growth opportunities across the IT market. The Group continued its commitment to innovation, with R&D spending up 6% year-to-year to US$476 million.

A fleet of recent reports have highlighted stability issues affecting Intel's 13th and 14th-generation desktop processors, raising concerns among consumers and industry professionals. The problem, which has gained significant attention over the past few months, is related to the processors' physical degradation over time. Custom PC builder Puget Systems has shared insights from its experience with these processors, revealing a nuanced perspective on the issue. While it has observed an increase in CPU failures, particularly with the 14th-generation chips, its failure rates remain notably lower than those reported by some game development studios and cloud gaming providers, who have cited failure rates as high as 50%. An interesting observation is that Puget Systems recorded a higher failure rate with AMD Ryzen 5000 and Ryzen 7000 series than Intel's 13/14th generation, with most failures happening at Puget's shop rather than the "field" in customers' hands.

Puget Systems attributes their more modest failure rates of Intel processors to their conservative approach to power management settings. By adhering strictly to Intel's specifications and developing their own power settings that don't hurt performance, they've managed to mitigate some of the stability issues plaguing other users. Intel has acknowledged the problem and announced plans to release a microcode patch by mid-August, with extended warranty program. This update is expected to prevent further degradation but may not reverse existing damage. Despite the elevated failure rates, Puget Systems' data shows that the issue, while concerning, still needs to be at critical levels for their operations. The company reports that failure rates for 13th and 14th gen Intel processors, while higher than ideal, are still lower than those they experienced with Intel's 11th gen chips and some AMD Ryzen processors. In response to the situation, Puget Systems is taking several steps, including maintaining its current power management practices, promptly validating Intel's upcoming microcode update, and extending warranties for affected customers. Below, you can see failure rates by month, by Intel's Core generation, as well as by "shop" vs "field" testing.

Today, ASML Holding NV (ASML) has published its 2024 second-quarter results.

• Q2 total net sales of €6.2 billion, gross margin of 51.5%, net income of €1.6 billion
• Quarterly net bookings in Q2 of €5.6 billion of which €2.5 billion is EUV
• ASML expects Q3 2024 total net sales between €6.7 billion and €7.3 billion and a gross margin between 50% and 51%

CEO statement and outlook
"Our second-quarter total net sales came in at €6.2 billion, at the high-end of our guidance, with a gross margin of 51.5% which is above guidance, both primarily driven by more immersion systems sales. In line with previous quarters, overall semiconductor inventory levels continue to improve, and we also see further improvement in litho tool utilization levels at both Logic and Memory customers. While there are still uncertainties in the market, primarily driven by the macro environment, we expect industry recovery to continue in the second half of the year. We expect third-quarter total net sales between €6.7 billion and €7.3 billion with a gross margin between 50% and 51%. ASML expects R&D costs of around €1,100 million and SG&A costs of around €295 million. Our outlook for the full year 2024 remains unchanged. We see 2024 as a transition year with continued investments in both capacity ramp and technology. We currently see strong developments in AI, driving most of the industry recovery and growth, ahead of other market segments," said ASML President and Chief Executive Officer Christophe Fouquet.

The PC market gathered momentum in Q2 2024, with worldwide shipments of desktops and notebooks up 3.4% year-on-year, reaching 62.8 million units. Shipments of notebooks (including mobile workstations) hit 50 million units, growing 4%. Desktops (including desktop workstations), which constitute 20% of the total PC market, experienced a slight 1% growth, totaling 12.8 million units. The stage is now set for accelerated growth as the refresh cycle driven by the Windows 11 transition and AI PC adoption ramps up over the next four quarters.

"The PC industry is going from strength to strength with a third consecutive quarter of growth," said Ishan Dutt, Principal Analyst at Canalys. "The market turnaround is coinciding with exciting announcements from vendors and chipset manufacturers as their AI PC roadmaps transition from promise to reality. The quarter culminated with the launch of the first Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon processors and more clarity around Apple's AI strategy with the announcement of the Apple Intelligence suite of features for Mac, iPad and iPhone. Beyond these innovations, the market will start to benefit even more from its biggest tailwind - a ramp-up in PC demand driven by the Windows 11 refresh cycle. The vast majority of channel partners surveyed by Canalys in June indicated that Windows 10 end-of-life is likely to impact customer refresh plans most in either the second half of 2024 or the first half of 2025, suggesting that shipment growth will only gather steam in upcoming quarters."

The PC (desktops, notebooks, and workstations) market in Mainland China is forecast to contract by 1% in 2024 according to the latest Canalys data. The first quarter of the year already saw a sharp decline, with shipments down 12%, in contrast to the global market which returned to growth. Desktop shipments are expected to perform well in 2024, growing 10% annually as they benefit from commercial sector refresh demand, especially from large state-held enterprises and local governments. Notebook shipments are set to drop 5%, as demand from consumers and the private sector is anticipated to remain cautious on short-term expenditure such as PCs.

China's PC market trajectory is diverging from global trends in its recovery journey. In Q1 2024, the commercial sector bore the brunt of the market downturn, undergoing a 19% decline due to weak IT spending by large enterprises. The decline in consumer shipments was milder, with shipments dropping 8%. However, despite the muted performance in 2024, significant local developments point to a stronger market in 2025, in which PC shipments are expected to grow 12%.

According to Jon Peddie Research latest report, the global GPU and CPU markets ended Q1 2024 on growth. GPU shipments reached 70 million units, while PC CPU shipments increased by 33% year-over-year, the second consecutive yearly increase in over two decades. Over the next five years, discrete GPUs are projected to achieve 22% penetration in the PC market as the overall GPU installed approaches 3 billion units by 2026. Among major GPU vendors, AMD's market share dipped 0.7% from last quarter, while Intel gained 0.3% and Nvidia rose 0.4%. However, overall GPU shipments declined 9.9% quarter-over-quarter. The total GPU attach rate for PCs was 113%, slightly down from the prior quarter. Desktop graphics add-in board shipments also decreased 14.8%.

While Q1 is typically flat or down versus Q4, Jon Peddie Research's president suggests this quarter's performance could signal a return to normal seasonality. With Microsoft, AMD and Intel promoting AI PCs, and forecasts pointing to growth in Q2, there are optimistic signs - although semiconductor suppliers are guiding 7.9% down on average for next quarter.