GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.

GlobalWafers Co., Ltd.

25.40
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Q4 FY2025 · Earnings Call TranscriptMarch 11, 2026

Leah Peng

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the joint earnings call for the fiscal year 2025 hosted by GlobalWafers and Sino-American Silicon Products Inc.

I'm Leah Peng, the spokesperson for GlobalWafers and SAS. Joining us today is Doris Hsu, the chairlady of both companies.

Here's how today's call will unfold. Doris will begin with executive comments providing insights into overall performance and strategic direction.

I will walk you through key company highlights and financial performance. We will then address investors' questions received in advance, followed by an open Q&A section.

The call will last for 90 minutes and conclude at 4:30 PM. Before we begin, a quick reminder to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate, we kindly ask that each participant limit your questions to two.

Please also keep your audio on mute to ensure a smooth and interactive session. We have established two methods for you to post questions during the event: using the Slido feature for written questions and utilizing the Webex hand-raising function for live spoken inquiries.

First, Slido, which is the text-based questions. Throughout the meeting, you can input your questions using the Slido feature in Webex.

Simply access Slido and type in your question. Our presenter will monitor Slido regularly to address your written questions.

To ensure the efficient use of time, we encourage you to type in your questions as the meeting starts. The second method is live voice questions.

Towards the end of the meeting, we will open the floor for live voice questions. If you wish to speak directly, please use the Webex raise hand function to indicate your intention.

Once you raise your hand, kindly be ready to accept the host's invitation to unmute your microphone when prompted. This will allow you to verbally pose your question to the panel.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements. Please be aware that these statements are subject to various risk and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

Please refer to the safe harbor notice in our presentation. Now, without further delayed, I would like to pass the floor to our chairperson for the executive comments on both GlobalWafers and SAS.

Doris, please.

Doris Hsu

Thank you, Leah. Now, let me begin with GlobalWafers.

2025 marked a pivotal year for GlobalWafers. After three years of active global expansions and capacity deployment, our operational focus in 2025 began to shift from construction to execution, as multiple expansion projects started to translate into tangible operational progress.

While the semiconductor industry continued to face fluctuations, geopolitical uncertainties, and foreign exchange volatilities, the underlying fundamentals of our business remaining quite stable. Progress across our global manufacturing footprint, continued advancement in advanced and specialty wafer products, and steady customer qualification milestones have further strengthened the foundation for GlobalWafers' mid- to long-term growth.

With this context in mind, I would now like to walk you through GlobalWafers' overall operating performance in 2025. Let's take a look of our financial highlights.

GlobalWafers reported consolidated revenue of NT$60.6 billion for the full year 2025, representing a YoY, year-to-year, year-over-year decrease of about 3.2%. As the company operates globally with a significant foreign currency exposure, revenue measured in US dollar provides a clear more a clearer view of underlying performance.

On the US dollar base, full year revenue reached US$1.947 billion, which was largely flat compared with 2024, including stable operating performance. In terms of gross margin, full year 2025 gross margin was 24.1%, while fourth quarter '25 gross margin rebounded to 25.7%.

The improvement reflects easing margin pressure from the third quarter, as well as improving process stability and operational efficiency at newly added capacities. Certain one-off and nonrecurring items also supported the quarterly margin performance.

As these new capacities remain in the trial production now and ramp-up stage, short-term margin may still fluctuate with changes in utilization and also the cost structure, energy cost, etc. Further details will be provided by Leah later in in her presentation.

Next, let's move to operating income and net profit. In terms of overall profitability, the full year operating margin for 2025 was 14.3%.

The fourth quarter '25 operating margin reached 16.4%. For net profit after tax, net income, net profit after tax, the full year net margin was 12.1%, with the fourth quarter '25 net margin improving to 15.2%.

In terms of EPS, full year EPS for 2025 was NT$15.29 per share, while fourth quarter EPS was NT$4.6 per share. In terms of dividends, the board resolved to distribute a cash dividend of NT$5.7 per share for second half 2025, with the payment scheduled for August 14, 2026.

Including the NT$2 per share dividend already distributed for the first half 2025 in January 2026, our full year 2025 cash dividend accounts to NT$7.7 per share, representing a full year payout ratio of 50.4%. Okay.

Next, let me share a little bit about our view of the industry overview. AI AI continues to drive the development of the global technology industry and is contributing to a structural increase in semiconductor silicon content as system integration rises.

Emerging applications such as humanoid robots, which integrate computing, sensing, controlling, power management, and communication, all the functions together, are driving demand not only for advanced nodes, but also across mature mature node and specialty processes. This underscores the continued importance of mature nodes in the semiconductor ecosystem and supports the industry mid- to long-term growth.

At the same time, geopolitical geopolitical shifts and global trade dynamics are promoting are prompting governments to strengthen semiconductor supply chain resilience and promote localized investment. With its global footprint and localized manufacturing capabilities, GlobalWafers is well positioned to provide customers with a stable supply of critical materials while benefiting from long-term growth in the AI era.

Global global trade policies and tariff environments remain very uncertain. GlobalWafers treat the tariff as a market reality and incorporates incorporates these tariff into our long-term planning.

We also expect Section 232 semiconductor tariffs to be announced very soon and have been preparing accordingly. The United States continues to strengthen semiconductor supply chain resilience and promote localized investment, which aligns with GlobalWafers' long-term strategy.

GlobalWafers operate fully integrated 12-inch wafer fabs across Asia, Europe, and the United States, located near major semiconductor clusters to ensure stable supply of critical market materials. In addition, the company strengthens supply chain resilience through multiple sourcing and localized localized alternatives, supporting stable production and delivery deliver delivery even amid policy changes or market volatility.

AI is reshaping the growth dynamics of the semiconductor industry. Demand from AI and high-performance computing is concentrated in high-specification, high-value products.

However, longer customer lead time This is very important. Longer customer lead time means that this demand has not yet fully translated into wafer shipments, creating temporary lag.

As inventories normalize and utilization improves, the operational impact is expected to become increasingly visible. Demand for advanced process technologies remain supported by cloud and AI deployment.

Meanwhile, as inventories are gradually absorbed, the mature node market is also showing signs of improvement, supported by power and specialty applications. Looking ahead to 2026, the wafer market is expected to recover moderately, with AI-related demand supporting higher utilization for 12-inch advanced wafers, SOI, and also gallium nitride.

With a global footprint spanning nine countries, GlobalWafers is well positioned to capture AI-driven demand and advanced technologies. At the same time, demand for 6-inch, 8-inch, and compound semiconductor products is gradually improving now.

The company's scale in small-diameter wafers and long-term customers partners allow flexible capacity allocation, supporting higher utilization and long-term longer-term growth resilience. Next, let me present our our our view at the market trends.

The global macro environment remains uncertain, with factors such as geopolitical tensions, exchange rate fluctuations, and adjustment to US tariffs and trade policies potentially affecting supply chains and market demand. Therefore, our observations are based on current condition and may evolve as the broader environment change.

First, in AI and computing infrastructure, large-scale data center continue to expand, while customers accelerates in adoption of customers ASIC, customer chips. As a result, AI-related investment remains structurally resilient and less dependent on traditional cyclical demand.

In the memory market, demand from HBM and AI applications is shifting capacity toward higher higher-value products, supporting continued upgrade upgrades in the overall product mix. For small for smartphone and PC, shipment growth remains moderate as replacement replacement replacement cycle lengthened.

However, rising BOM cost, BOM, BOM cost, and AI inter integration are driving OEMs toward higher-end products, helping support overall ASP resilience for semiconductor. In the automotive and industrial sectors, the market has passed its inventory peak, but remains in amid recovery phase.

While EV adoption vary varies across regions, growth growth in hybrid vehicles and software-defined vehicles, SDVs, continue to support demand for automotive electronics. In advanced packaging, semiconductor packaging has evolved from a protective protective function into a key driver of value creation now.

As AI, high-performance computing, and silicon photonics continue to develop, demand for advanced and specialty wafers is increasing. In addition to 12-inch polished and epi wafers, GlobalWafers is strengthening its SOI 300 and silicon photonics capabilities, while investing in 12-inch silicon carbide and square silicon wafers to support high-power applications, advanced thermal management, and 2.5D or 3D packaging technologies.

These are our overall product and market trends in our product strategy. As global expansion expansion projects come online, GlobalWafers' overall operational focus has shifted from capacity construction to ramp-up and shipment growth.

Over the past few years, the company made substantial investments to expand its global capacity, with capacity with capital expenditure peaking at about NT$48.3 billion in 2024. As major projects were completed, capex declined to about NT$31.9 billion in 2025, representing a 34% year-over-year decrease.

Although depreciation from new capacity may create may create short-term pressure on profitability, operations are gradually entering a stage where expansion benefits translate into revenue growth. The global expansion program is gradually delivering results, with several key operational sites and product lines achieving strong revenue performance in 20 in 2025.

Our brownfield expansion in Asia and Denmark recorded record-high revenue, while new fabs in Italy and the United States benefited from localized supply advantage, accelerating customers qualification and and trial production. Our operation in Texas, GWA, as the US GWA site, phase one equipment installation is expected to be completed in April.

Prior to this, GWA has shipped qualification samples to multiple customers and has obtained high- high-volume manufacturing qualification with a tier-one customer. Capacity ramp-up is expected to start in Q2 2026.

Customer engagement has increased, supported by an improving memory market environment and also strengthening relationship with key customers. As a as a result, GWA is currently experiencing requests from multiple customers to accelerate qualification timelines.

Our operation in Missouri, Saint Peters, the 12-inch SOI product production line continues key equipment qualification, while RF SOI and silicon photonics products have entered the production ramp stage, with capacity and revenue expected to grow throughout 2026, and local Missouri incentive have been have been received. Our Italy Italy facility, at the Italy facility, all equipment has been installed, with mass production expected in second half 2026 as customer qualification progresses.

The first tranche of IPCEI subsidy, €29.9 million, has just been formally dispersed. We just received the money, €29.9 million, the day before yesterday.

The second tranche is currently under review and is expected to receive by end of 2026, providing meaningful support to cash flow and financial structure of our Italian site. As Novara Fab 300 is dedicated to the EU market, operations have not been impacted by the conflict to date.

Any any potential impact would mainly related to energy prices, energy cost, if the situation were prolonged, which is being mitigated through increased renewable energy usage in Italy, in our fab in Italy. Also let me move to Japan.

Our expansion in Utsunomiya, Japan turned to profitability in Q4 2025 and has already begun repaying borrowings from from last quarter, and continues to maintain high utilization after securing qualification from advanced-node customers. Overall, the company's expansion program is steadily translating into operational momentum right now.

That's our Japan status. Driven by demand from AI, high-performance computing, and silicon photonics, visibility for the company's advanced and specialty wafers demand has become increasingly clear.

Currently, all qualified 12-inch capacity, excluding newly added expansion capacity, is fully utilized, fully loaded, while utilization of 6-inch and 8-inch silicon wafers has also recovered, signaling gradually improving demand across mature-node markets. In the compound semiconductor segments, gallium nitride capacity continues to operate at full utilization.

This year, we have already completed about a 30% expansion in gallium nitride capacity, with all newly added capacity fully recovered by customers' orders. For silicon carbide, SiC, silicon carbide, rush orders for existing 6-inch and 8-inch products continue to increase.

Meanwhile, 12-inch SiC and square silicon wafers have entered the customers the customers sampling qualification stage, with volume ramp-up expected to begin this year, depending on market conditions. Square silicon wafers have also completed prototype development design and are currently in verification and pilot production right now.

Overall, with 12-inch advanced wafers fully utilized, small-diameter demand recovering, and high- high-value-added products such as SOI, gallium nitride, and silicon carbide continuing to advance, GlobalWafers is seeing stronger product mix and demand visibility. The company's role as a key material supplier for AI, high-performance computing, and advanced packaging applications is expected to continue strengthening.

Finally, I would like to share a piece of good news with everyone. Recently, in an article discussing Apple's effort to build a domestic semiconductor supply chain in the United States, The Wall Street Journal specifically highlighted GlobalWafers' new wafer fab in Texas, identifying it as one of the important upstream supply bases in in the ecosystem.

This report once again demonstrates that as global supply a global supply chain continue to accelerate toward localization, our investment and presence in the United States are gradually demonstrating their strategic value. The Wall Street Journals also visited our US facility to conduct on-site filming and interviews.

If you are interested, we welcome you to take a look at the related article and video coverage. Next, I will move on to SAS.

2025 marked a year in which the long-term strategy initiatives of SAS gradually translated into tangible results, with overall operating momentum continuing to build. In the renewable energy segment, service-related revenue grew nearly sevenfold year-over-year, sevenfold year-over-year, from the service, while the manufacturing business gradually improved from a challenging start to the to the year and expanded into overseas market.

The group's affiliated companies also delivered strong performance. Actron and TSCC, Taiwan Specialty Chemicals, both achieved record-high revenues, while TSCC recorded positive growth for four consecutive quarters, continuing to contribute growth momentum to the group.

GlobalWafers maintained stable operation on its existing foundation, providing important support to the group. For the full year 2025, SAS reported consolidated revenue of approximately NT$78.2 billion, representing a 1.89% YoY decline.

On a US dollar basis, however, revenue reaches US$2.51 US$2.51 billion, representing 1.24% YoY growth, reflecting the group's overall stable operating performance. For let me move to profitability.

For gross margin, the full year gross margin in 2025 was 25%, slightly lower than 2024, primarily reflecting increased operating costs related to capacity expansion at the affiliated company, GlobalWafers. Operating margin was 13.8% for the full year 2025 and 17.3% in Q4, while net profit margin was 11.9% for the full year and 16.6% in Q4.

The higher net profit in Q4 was mainly driven by valuation gains from from the increase in Siltronic's share price held by GlobalWafers. Regarding earnings per share, EPS for the full year 2025 was NT$6.71 per share, and EPS for the fourth quarter was NT$2.63 per share.

In terms of dividend policy, the board SAS Board of Directors has approved a cash dividend of NT$3.5 per share for 2025, including NT$1.0 for the first half and NT$2.5 for the second half. The overall payout ratio is approximately 52.2%, which is higher than the industry average.

Next, I will briefly go over the operational highlights of several key subsidiaries and affiliated companies within the group. First, regarding to regarding SAS itself, the company completed a strategic organizational repositioning in 2025, focusing on two core areas: manufacturing and energy service, which are respectively led by SUN and SGE, enabling a more focused operational structure to respond to market developments and the global energy transition.

On the energy service side, SGE's electricity retail subsidiaries, SES and Neal, reported combined revenue growth of nearly sevenfold, sevenfold in 2025 compared with the previous year. The cumulative volume of signed green power contracts has already exceeded 18 billion kWh, supported by strong supported by strong market demand for renewable electricity.

The business is expected to further grow, further enhance its market visibility and influence. SGE has now established a comprehensive renewable energy integration platform, covering power generation, electricity retail, energy storage, and energy efficiency service, providing enterprises with one-stop energy solutions to support their net-zero transition.

On the manufacturing side, SUN solar cell have achieved a conversion efficiency of 26%, 26% efficiency. This ranking among the industry leaders, and have successfully passed multiple stringent reliability tests.

In addition to maintaining stable development in the Taiwan market, the company is also actively expanding into overseas high-reliability niche applications, including US solar market and low Earth orbit satellite applications, yes, low Earth orbit satellite applications. GWC, turning to GWC in 2025, company reported total revenue of NT$60.6 billion.

I'm not going to repeat this part, just like what I presented at the very beginning of the report. Next, let me move to Actron.

Actron reported revenue of NT$8.11 billion in 2025, reaching a record high and marking the fifth consecutive year of growth. In terms of product strategy, the company continues to strengthen its portfolio of silicon carbide, gallium nitride, and high-voltage power device, while actively expanding into high-growth application markets such as AI, energy, and electric vehicle, laying stronger foundation for future growth.

AWSC reported revenue of approximately NT$4.12 billion in 2025. The company continues to deepen its technological capabilities in compound semiconductor, while actively expanding into emerging high-growth applications such as AI, drones, robotics, and autonomous driving.

At the same time, in its core mobile core mobile and wireless communication markets, order momentum for power amplifiers and Wi-Fi-related products has gradually recovered, with demand improving since the fourth quarter of 2025 and continuing into the first quarter of 2026. TSCC, TSCC reported consolidated revenue of NT$1.99 billion in 2025, reaching a record high and marking the fourth consecutive year of growth.

As advanced semiconductor process technologies continue to evolve, demand for disilane and AHF has increased, becoming an important growth driver for the company. In addition, through the acquisition of HJT, TSCC has further strengthened its materials-plus-service integrated platform, materials-plus-service integrated platform, expanding into semiconductor equipment components cleaning and refurbishment service, and creating new growth opportunities for the future.

As for HJT, revenue also reached a record high in 2025, with December monthly revenue exceeding NT$200 million in December monthly record for the first time, and with order visibility continue to improve. The company has also secured a new facility to expand capacity, positioning itself well for future growth.

Overall, the group's diversified strategic portfolio has begun to demonstrate synergies in 2025, laying a solid foundation for sustainable growth going forward. From an overall industry perspective, global global renewable energy development continues to demonstrate strong momentum.

According to the IEA, global renewable energy capacity is expected to increase by 4,605 GW between 2025 and 2030. In the United States, driven by demand from data centers and other power-intensive industries, nearly 250 GW of additional renewable energy capacity is also expected to be added.

In Taiwan, supported by the government's policy target of increasing the share of renewable power generation to 30% by 2030, along with the introduction of carbon pricing mechanism and rising corporate decarbonization demand, demand for solar energy and green power has gradually evolved into structural and long-term growth trend. In terms of trade policy, the United States has recently adjusted tariffs on certain solar products.

Under the under the current trade environment, Taiwan's supply chain maintains a relative favorable tariff position compared with other Asian countries, leveraging its high-conversion-efficiency technology, stable product quality, and relatively advantageous tariff position. SAS will continue to position itself flexibly to capture the opportunities arising from ongoing market adjustment for solar solar cell, solar products.

Last but not least, I would like to share I would like to share a little bit comments about SAS valuation. SAS serves as a strategic driver and enabler in enhancing synergies across the group through forward-looking investments and strategic alliance.

The company has long has long been deepening its presence in three core sectors: semiconductor, automotive components, automotive components, and renewable energy, supported by precise industry positioning and long-term management. Many of the company's affiliated investments have delivered stable and strong operation performance, gradually forming strategic synergies within the group.

At the same time, in the renewable energy sector, SAS continues to expand its energy service platform and green power initiatives, creating diversified and long-term growth value for the group. However, the market the market's current valuation of SAS has not been fully reflected its underlying growth potential and intrinsic value.

Based on share price as of March 9, 2026, if the market value of the affiliated company is aggregated according to SAS's respective shareholding ratios, the the implied valuation of SAS would reach approximately NT$118.5 billion, corresponding to an estimated share price of around NT$185 per share. This represents a discount of approximately 42.9% compared with the market price at that time, suggesting that the group's overall value and growth potential have not yet been fully reflected in the current share price.

We will keep presenting our company to the public and the shareholders. I hope that SAS's value can be recognized.

Next, Leah will present the industry outlook and review SAS and GWC's 2025 performance, followed by a discussion of some key investors' questions. Leah, please.

Thank you.

Leah Peng

Thank you, Doris. I will quickly update GlobalWafers and SAS recent development and answer questions we have received so far.

Like what Doris just explained, the semiconductor industry growth model is gradually shifting from the traditional shipment-driven cycle, now towards a more structural growth pattern driven by high-value products and applications. AI applications have become the primary growth driver for advanced nodes, with incremental demand mainly from AI-related logic and memory.

Meanwhile, in mature nodes, supply-demand conditions continue to improve as inventories are digested and capacity adjust. As a result, the global semiconductor market is expected to approach US$1 trillion by 2026, which is much earlier than the previously anticipated 2030 milestone.

This growth is largely driven by AI-related products. Next, we will outline GlobalWafers' capacity deployment under the trend of global regionalization.

Driven by government support and the need for supply chain resilience, semiconductor investment expanding beyond Asia to North America and Europe. Market estimates that accumulated semiconductor equipment spending between 2024 and 2030 could reach approximately US$1.1 trillion.

Against this backdrop, GlobalWafers has established a multiregional manufacturing platform across Asia, United States, and Europe to support the local demand and strengthen our supply chain resilience. Our key expansion projects are advancing as planned.

New fabs in US and Italy moving through ramp-up and qualification. Ongoing upgrades at existing sites improving efficiency to support future growth.

In parallel, upgrades at existing site have been completed to enhance our operational stability and efficiency to support our future growth. In high-technological-barrier specialty wafer segments such as FZ and SOI, products require extremely high purity, stringent specs, and long qualification cycles, resulting in a limited number of qualified suppliers and strong structural demand.

In the SOI segment, GlobalWafers' Missouri fab is the only fully integrated, IP-independent layer transfer platform in the US. With 12-inch capacity, it enables the company to reliably fulfill customers' all commitment.

As demand for high-value specialty wafer expands, GlobalWafers expects this business to grow approximately at 10 to 15% CAGR over the next few years. Next, I would like to add more color on our gross margin.

Gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2025 increased by 7.3 percentage points quarter-over-quarter, mainly driven by improved operations at new capacity, inventory valuation recovery, and several nonrecurring and seasonal factors. First, our Japan MGL facility improved from a gross loss position in the first three quarters to break even in the fourth quarter, contributing to about 3.2 percentage points.

This reflects improving process stability and production efficiency as the new facility gradually moved beyond the early trial production phase. MGL also began repaying borrowings in this quarter, indicating improving cash flow and operational stability.

Next is LCM, a partial reversal of inventory valuation allowance contributed to about 2.7 percentage points, as improving market conditions and higher utilization reduced the actual cost structure compared with our previous assumption. Next is our Italy subsidy.

Government subsidy for the Italy facility met our accounting recognition criteria in the fourth quarter, contributing about 0.8 percentage points in the fourth quarter. The first tranche of the subsidy, amounting to €29.9 million, has been successfully dispersed, while the second tranche is currently undergoing review.

We expect to receive that by the end of 2026. The next positive factor is electricity cost.

Seasonally lower electricity cost after the summer peak also supported the margins, contributing about 0.4 percentage points. Overall, our gross margin improved notably quarter-over-quarter, though margins may still fluctuate as new capacity continues to ramp up.

For the full year 2025, GlobalWafers reported revenue of NT$60 billion, gross margin of NT$24.1 billion, net profit margin of NT$7.3 billion, and EPS of NT$15.29 per share, reflecting that the new capacity remains in the ramp-up phase and profitability is still adjusting. In terms of capital expenditures, GlobalWafers is nearing the end of its previously global expansion cycle.

Most projects have been completed and have entered into the qualification and ramp-up stage. Capex peaked in 2024, while 2025 capex totaled NT$32 billion, representing a 34% YoY decline, and is expected to decline further in 2026.

Operational focus will shift toward ramping up the existing capacity, improving yield, and enhancing efficiency to strengthen operating leverage and cash flow. However, as expansion projects initiated between 2022 and 2025 gradually move into mass production, our depreciation expenses will continue to rise.

Depreciation as a percentage of revenue increased from 30% in 2024 to about 15% in 2025, and we expect that to still increase further in 2026. Over time, depreciation pressure should gradually ease as government subsidies are recognized, as deduction from fixed assets, and the utilization rate improves.

Looking ahead, if trade policies and global geopolitical development further strengthen local demand visibility, the company does not rule out additional capacity expansion, but any such decision will be considered only if existing expansion projects demonstrate profitability and are supported by customers' commitment and government incentives, while maintaining financial discipline. Next, I will explain how recent capacity expansion has affected our financial performance.

The income statement also presents a simulation assuming we do not undertake the recent global expansion. In that scenario, our short-term profitability would appear higher, with 2025 gross margin reaching about 31.4% compared with actual gross margin at 24%.

However, revenue scale would have been so much smaller. Under that simulation, our 2025 revenue would have been about only NT$58 billion, lower than the actual one.

More importantly, without these investments, GlobalWafers would have had limited ability to participate in the mass production opportunities related to advanced process technologies and next-generation product platforms, which could weaken collaboration with key customers and reduce our long-term competitiveness. By contrast, proactive investment in capacity and process capabilities positions us to capture the demand as advanced technology scale, laying the foundation for future growth.

Therefore, although expansion placed short-term pressure on financial performance, as new capacity ramps up and utilization improves, these investments are expected to translate into revenue growth and stronger longer-term profitability. Next, I will explain the balance sheet.

As of the end of 2025, we have about NT$19 billion in cash. Including term deposit and restricted cash, actually our total cash-related assets will exceed NT$48 billion, reflecting strong financial flexibility.

The change in PP&E primarily reflects the impact of accounting recognition related to certain government subsidies and tax incentives. Based on auditor's professional judgment and in accordance with applicable accounting standards, the company has estimated and recognized the effects that are reasonably supported by current available information by reducing the carrying amount of relevant equipment.

As a result, both PP&E and total assets declined accordingly. The final amount of such subsidy remains subject to approval by the relevant authorities, and any differences will be accounted for in accordance with accounting standards.

On the liability side, our short-term and long-term borrowings have increased because we have advanced our global expansion. However, we continue to maintain positive net interest income of about NT$1.1 billion, reflecting effective treasury management and capital allocation.

Okay. Next, let me introduce SAS.

Within the group, SAS plays a strategic role in integrating resources across subsidiaries, enhancing cross-industry synergies, and driving long-term growth. Through a forward-looking investment strategy, we have identified and partnered with companies with strong growth potential, gradually building a diversified portfolio spanning semiconductors, automotive components, and renewable energy.

This portfolio provides SAS with multiple and resilient growth drivers, we could strategically expose to key emerging applications such as AI, HPC, EV, power management, and advanced semiconductor materials. Historically, SAS revenue was mainly generated from renewable-energy-related business.

However, as our strategy has evolved, our revenue structure has become gradually more diversified and balanced, reducing reliance on single industries while creating new growth drivers. With the addition of affiliates, we have also seen a clear shift in our revenue mix.

Supported by the stable operation of GlobalWafers, contribution from affiliates have contributed to an increase, rising from less than 1% in 2020 to 17.5% in 2025. This has further diversified SAS revenue base and reflects how our strategic investments and the industry positioning over the past years are gradually translating into new growth drivers.

Next, this is the highlight of our key group companies. Overall, the group's major affiliates have maintained stable operations.

Among them, Actron and TSCC, Taiwan Specialty Chemicals, delivered particularly strong growth, with both companies reaching record-high revenue in 2025. AWSC has also demonstrated solid growth momentum in recent years.

Next, I would like to briefly introduce SAS renewable energy business. In response to global energy transition and rapid growth in corporate demand for green electricity, SAS repositioned the organization of its renewable energy business in 2025 to further strengthen its overall deployment strategy.

Currently, the renewable energy segment focuses on two key areas. First is integrated renewable energy solutions platform centered on SGE.

The second is solar cell manufacturing business led by SUN. SGE has established integrated service covering power generation, power sales, energy storage, and energy efficiency solutions.

SUN, on the other hand, continued to expand into high-end applications such as US solar market and low Earth orbit satellite, supported by its high quality and high reliability products. Through this dual structure of manufacturing and energy services, the group continued to capture long-term growth opportunities arising from the global energy transition.

Next page is the highlight of SGE, which has built a one-stop RE100 platform combining diversified renewable energy portfolio with energy management. In 2025, revenue from retail electricity subsidiary SES and Neal grew by seven times YoY, with over 18 billion kWh of green power contracts signed, and REC trading ranking top three among Taiwan.

As corporate demand for green power rises, the platform is set to be a key growth driver for SAS group's renewable energy business. Corporate demand for renewable energy is rising, driven by policy and structural factors.

Taiwan's carbon fee will take effect in 2026, accelerating corporate decarbonization efforts, while initiatives such as RE100, SBTi, and ESG supply chain requirements further support renewable energy adoption. In addition, Taiwan's large electricity user renewable energy obligation, covering users with contracted capacity above 5,000 kW, provides a regulatory underpinning for sustained green energy power demand.

Together, these factors point to a long-term structural growth in renewable energy demand. Regarding US solar tariff policies, the US DOC has imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on solar products from four Southeast Asian countries, and has further issued preliminary CVD duty determinations on solar cells and modules from Indonesia, India, and Laos.

Overall, competition in the US solar market is gradually shifting from price-based competition toward supply chain compliance. Under this tariff framework, Taiwan solar supply chain maintains a relatively favorable tariff position, which also provides SAS with certain competitive advantages.

In terms of profitability, SAS net income attributable to the parent remained solid in the fourth quarter of 2025. SAS and most of its affiliated companies recorded YoY growth, and the overall earning structure continued to improve.

From a business segment perspective, both the semiconductor and the renewable energy segments delivered positive growth in Q4 2025, reflecting continued improvement in overall operating momentum. For the full year of 2025, consolidated revenue reached NT$78 billion, representing a slight decline compared to 2024.

From a business segment perspective, the semiconductor segment remained solid overall, while GlobalWafers' performance continued to reflect the ramp-up phase of its new capacity expansions. Both TSCC and AWSC delivered strong operating results.

Automotive component segment continued to grow, supported by record-high revenue from Actron. Although the renewable energy segment experienced relatively slower performance, quarterly results have shown continuous improvement.

Next, I will add more color on SAS income statement. On this slide, we also simulated figures to exclude the impact of GlobalWafers' global expansion.

While these investments weigh on near-term results, they are expected to support long-term growth and profitability. Under the simulation, 2025 gross margin would have been approximately 30.8%, operating margin at nearly 20%, and net profit margin at 19%, underscoring the resilience of the company's core operating profitability.

Let's go to the balance sheet of SAS. On the asset side, PP&E decreased year-over-year.

This also reflects accounting adjustments related to GlobalWafers' government subsidies. On the liability side, both short-term and long-term loans increased, mainly due to GlobalWafers' global expansion.

Now, I will address both the questions we have received from investors recently and those we anticipate to be raised. The first is GlobalWafers.

What is our revenue outlook for 2026, and how do we view the future trend of gross margin? Looking at the operating environment for 2026, we think the overall signals we currently observe suggest that 2026 will likely to be a year of gradual improvement.

In terms of overall revenue, measured in original currency, which is USD, revenue is expected to be slightly higher than or broadly in line with 2025. AI-related applications remain a key driver.

Meanwhile, certain non-AI segments, including power management, automotive, and industrial applications, have begun to show early signs of recovery after a period of adjustment. As a result, demand dynamics are gradually shifting from a previously AI-dominated pattern toward a more diversified growth profile, which could provide multi-pillar support going forward.

Overall, we maintain a cautiously optimistic outlook for the market environment this year. As customers continue to digest inventories, more positive signals have gradually emerged.

However, the global macroeconomic environment remains subject to uncertainties, including geopolitical tensions, tariffs, foreign exchange fluctuations, in particular, the developments in Middle East, which may have broader implications on transportation, energy cost, and overall consumer trend. We will continue to closely monitor the long-term market momentum.

From a long-term perspective, we are still very positive and optimistic about the semiconductor industry's structural growth trajectory. As end-market applications continue to evolve, the increase in silicon content has become a clear structural trend.

Emerging applications derived from AI are expected to offer significant long-term potential, given their highly integrated system architectures, encompassing computing, sensing, control, power management, and communications. This kind of application, they will require a lot of and a very different semiconductor components, and the demand is not limited to advanced nodes, but also includes a meaningful share of mature nodes and specialty technologies.

We think this technology continue to advance, and it will consume a lot more silicon and semiconductors. In terms of gross margin trend, the improvement in gross margin in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter mainly reflects the gradual easing of the factors that previously pressured margins in the third quarter.

Nevertheless, as capacity utilization gradually increases, process stability improves, and the product mix shifts toward higher-value-added offerings, gross margin structure is expected to begin showing signs of improvement. In addition, if relevant government subsidies are recognized according to schedule, they may help partially alleviate cost pressures and provide further support for margins.

Overall, in near term, gross margin may still fluctuate alongside ramp-up progress and cost structure. However, as subsidy recognition progresses, new capacity ramps up, utilization improves, and the product mix upgrades, we think the positive effects are expected to gradually emerge, supporting a progressive recovery in long-term gross margins.

Next is about our capital increase proposal. On March 3rd, GlobalWafers announced that the board approved the issuance of unsecured corporate bond, as well as potential domestic cash capital increase through issuance of common shares or GDRs.

Could the company share whether there are any specific execution plans or timelines for these initiatives? The proposal is our routine annual authorization arrangement.

The primary purpose is to maintain financial flexibility and funding options under different market conditions, and they do not indicate that we are going to issue plan or issue shares in the near term. In general, when Taiwanese companies establish such authorizations, it is typically from the perspective of capital structure planning and risk management, allowing the company to prepare for potential future growth opportunities, such as possible M&A or adjustment in operating scale under different business scenarios.

At the same time, given that the current international political and economic environment remains highly uncertain, company will also seek to preserve more cash on hand as buffer to reduce potential financial risk and cost in the future. The above explanation reflects general market practices and corporate governance considerations, rather than any indication of specific or near-term actions by GlobalWafers.

From an execution standpoint, the current authorization serves as a standby arrangement, and it is part of our annual planning process, which will be reviewed and resubmitted every year. The object is to maintain our financial flexibility and operational resilience, rather than announcing any predetermined capital market decisions.

The next is LTA execution. While some customers remain cautious in advancing new LTA agreements due to ongoing inventory adjustment, macroeconomic uncertainties, and evolving tariff policies, we are also seeing a constructive shift in customer behavior.

Against the backdrop of increasing supply chain localization requirement and more fluid policy environment, several representative international customers, they have proactively engaged with us to discuss new LTA cooperation frameworks. These discussions are aimed at early planning for local supply, mitigating policy-related risk, and ensuring supply stability.

Okay. The next is, what is the impact of Italy government subsidy on your financial results?

We have obtained government subsidy, with the first tranche fully approved and the related cash amount of €29.9 million. We received that in early March.

In accordance with accounting standards, this one-time recognition of subsidies was completed in the fourth quarter in 2025. Of the total amount, a portion was recognized as other income, while the remaining amount was recorded as reduction of PP&E, which in turn led to a decrease in depreciation expenses.

As a result of a reduced carrying value of fixed assets, depreciation expense is expected to decline by approximately a few millions per quarter going forward, thereby continuing to provide modest improvement in gross margin. In terms of gross margin impact, the subsidy in Q4 is about 0.8 percentage point, while the impact of full year 2025 is about 0.2 percentage point.

Next is our outlook of mature-node technologies. Looking into 2026, we think the mature-node market will show gradual and positive recovery, although the pace of recovery remains uneven across different segments.

From a regional perspective, Europe's recovery is driven more by improvement in pricing and product mix, momentum likely concentrated at the second half of the year. In North America, the demand remains relatively stable, though still influenced by tariff and pricing dynamics.

In China, domestic demand has been relatively moderate, but exports of new energy vehicles and hybrid vehicles continue to provide support. In Japan, automotive demand has begun to rebound from its bottom.

Overall, we think the market is moving in a gradual upward direction, although the recovery remains uneven. Okay.

Next is, the recent geopolitical situation in the Middle East affected GlobalWafers' logistic delivery schedules or your operations? As of now, the situation in the Middle East has not a material impact on GlobalWafers' shipments, delivery schedules, or overall operations.

From a risk management perspective, we adjust our logistic strategy several months ago. We avoid the higher-risk route and adopting alternative shipping lanes that are safer and well established.

In parallel, we have complete a comprehensive review of our key inventory, key materials in use, including helium. Based on existing inventory levels and confirmed supply, these materials are sufficient to support multiple years, and we have ample supply inventory in our supplier site, there is no near-term supply issues.

We continue to closely monitor developments such as energy price volatility, potential shipping risk related to the Strait of Hormuz, and the possible impacts on certain semiconductor materials and logistics costs. This is the question for GlobalWafers.

Next, I will answer the questions regarding SAS. The investor would like to know SAS's outlook in 2025 and its performance in outlook for 2026.

Overall, the 2025 marked an important year for SAS, because we have optimized our group structure and operational model, with impact of this adjustment gradually reflected in our stability of operations. In 2026, we think that semiconductor industry will gradually recover.

Renewable energy service is likely to grow, and the overseas manufacturing expansion progress. We think the overall operating performance will develop toward a more stable and resilient trajectory based on its existing foundation.

Next is the Iran-related conflict. Does it have any impact on SAS operations?

At this stage, the related tension has not resulted in any material impact on SAS as well, because from a cost perspective, while we are monitoring potential fluctuation in certain raw material and shipping prices, such impacts are managed through our commercial arrangements with our customers. In addition, our shipments do not transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

As a result, overall impact on SAS cost structure remains limited. Overall, we will continue to monitor the development in the region, including the freight cost and energy cost.

Next is regarding SAS deployment in solar in LEO, the low Earth orbit. In LEO application, the market place extremely high requirement on material reliability, durability, and long-term performance stability, the entry barrier is actually very high.

SAS leverage its mature P-PERC process as a technological foundation. Compared with the traditional material, this approach provides advantage in cost efficiency and production flexibility.

Also, through our proprietary MWT back-contact cell design, we are able to effectively mitigate performance degradation caused by space radiation. Okay.

I think it's all about the questions anticipated. Now, we would like to answer the questions we received from the Slido.

The first from Stanley from SinoPac: What is the revenue contribution from SOI wafer in 2025? Also, how is the revenue distributed across different wafer sizes?

The second is, consider the license deal with Soitec will terminated at mid-2026. Are you still able to ship SOI wafer using back-side grinding SOI, Smart Cut SOI for 8-inch and 12-inch SOI wafers?

Doris Hsu

Let me answer this question. The revenue contribution from SOI wafer in 2025 is below 10% of GWC total revenue, and 100% of the revenue is 200 in 2025.

We start 300 SOI wafer from 2026. Basically, yeah, we have maybe a little bit sample for 300 SOI last year, but super majority of the revenue in 2025 was from 200 SOI.

BESOI, I don't know you mean BGSOI or what. Stanley, maybe correct me or send me some message about BESOI, but no matter what, we don't have any issue to deliver the SOI wafer we are supplying to customer and developing for customer for now.

I need to double check with our engineers about maybe we use different nickname, BESOI. We use BGSOI or what, but let me clarify BESOI, and we'll get back to you.

In general, a very straightforward answer for your question is that there's no limitation. We have our own IP.

We have the full IP production and turnkey supply for SOI wafer, no matter for 200 or 300. That's my answer to your question.

Thank you, Stanley, for your question. Next.

Leah Peng

Next is Katie Chiang from Economic Daily. Could you please provide an update on your company's progress regarding perovskite solar business development?

Doris Hsu

Perovskite is definitely a new material for solar. It's very different from the silicon-based solar wafer we are producing today.

SAS haven't started the production or any investment for perovskite solar. Yes, but our R&D team and all of our marketing team, we monitor this very closely, not only looking to the technology, but also we are studying how China is developing, how they use this for BIPV or how Japan provide incentive to perovskite solar.

That's Japan status. We are evaluating.

We are monitoring the market progress, and also we are checking the technology. We know that there are some pros, but also there are some weak points of this technology, we are evaluating.

What's even more critical is that payback analysis. That's very critical, because if we enter this business, it's totally different from the silicon-based solar wafer we've been working for over 20 years.

That's totally new stuff, so that means that you have to develop the whole thing. Maybe the only thing you don't have to reinvest is clean room, you just use the existing clean room, but you have to develop a lot of things.

For this product, a quick answer is that, no, we don't have any business or big investment for this now. Number two is that we are monitoring the market, and also We are visiting a lot of perovskite solar companies, checking that any synergy we can develop.

Up to now, we are still trying to work out some solution to overcome the technology weak points and also try to work out a reasonable payback analysis. That's where we are.

Thank you. Next.

Leah Peng

Next is Felix Lee from Morningstar. Can you provide an outline of 2026 capex budget and the trend of 2027?

Given the tight logic and memory markets today, geographically, how will this capex be split? Hi, Felix.

I think I already answered part of your question in my introduction of GlobalWafers, because we already passed the peak. The capex peak is 2024.

In 2026, we just have a little engineering or construction that we need to complete. I think the overall 2026 capex amount will be much lesser than 2025.

This is under the precondition that we do not kick off any further expansion, because we have sensed a lot of positive momentum in our local customers. Especially during the war and during the shortage of memory and the AI chips, they all want to secure a local supply.

There are some preconditions for any further expansion. One is the profitability of the current expansion.

The second one is customer commitment, which is prepayment and the LTA. The third one is the government support.

If there is no further expansion, I think 2026 and 2027, the capex will go down further. Yes.

Doris Hsu

Thank you, Leah. Yes, that's exactly right.

Let me share a little bit about the current status of We receive a lot of invitations from our customers, especially American customers, inviting us to make further expansion. In the US, in Texas, we're in phase one, but we are requested by some customers to make further expansion for phase two or even phase three.

Phase three means building two. We have a lot of discussion with our customer, but again, just like what Leah said, that we have some precondition.

The condition has to be met before we really trigger the further expansion. I think by end of this year, maybe we'll make a decision for phase two expansion, go or no-go.

We'll make a decision for that. Not only Texas 300 advanced silicon wafer, I think our SOI, 300 SOI wafer, we receive a lot of requests from our customer to expand our 300 SOI capacity as well, and we are still evaluating.

No firm decision yet, but we're still working on this. That's just for your information.

Thank you. Next.

Leah Peng

Next is to follow up on capex. What is the approximate depreciation YoY growth in 2026 for GlobalWafers?

Without factoring in government grants, what is the peak depreciation for GlobalWafers? In 2025, I think the depreciation to revenue is about 15%.

In 2026, as the depreciation will go up, I think that will be 16 to 20%, much closer to 20%, that is 2026. Yeah.

Without factoring in government grants, what's the peak depreciation? I think that will be 2027.

Doris Hsu

Yes, roughly.

Leah Peng

Yeah. Thank you.

The next is Eric Chen. Could you explain the tariff structure currently applicable on SAS solar cells and your relative competitive position compared with peers under the current trade framework?

Doris Hsu

I think this is talking about US market, right?

Leah Peng

This is about

Doris Hsu

solar. US market.

Leah Peng

US market,

Doris Hsu

yes.

Leah Peng

I think in Taiwan, we have relatively favorable tariff structure, because now in SAS, our AD/CVD tariff rate is 2.57%. This is quite advantageous.

Doris Hsu

This is for GlobalWafer, for Taiwan.

Leah Peng

For SAS only. I think SAS has pretty low AD/CVD rate among all Taiwan peers.

Taiwan peers is close to 20%.

Doris Hsu

Right. Overseas Southeast Asia countries, many of them are even higher than 100%, and China also higher than 100%.

That means that first of all, Taiwan is very advantageous. Compared with all the other Taiwanese solar companies, I think we're doing pretty okay.

We're very competitive. Not only the tariff, but also efficiency.

Our efficiency is now already exceeding 26%. That's our strength as well.

Thanks for your question.

Leah Peng

Oh, thank you. Next is from an investor that, has China's recent export control measures targeting certain Japanese entities had any impact on GlobalWafers' operational supply chain?

Actually, we do a clear review on everything that is listed in the China Customs. We do not use any of the material, there is no impact to GlobalWafers for now.

Doris Hsu

Yes. The recent export control announced by China was to 40 Japanese companies.

We review one by one, because those 40 companies all of those 40 companies are very important material company or semiconductor-related company. We check we we review one by one to make sure that we no impact to GWC, GWC Group.

The answer is positive that we're okay for for for this for those 40 companies' export control. Thank you.

Next.

Leah Peng

Okay. Next, could you help us understand the subsidy application update for OBBA in the US, and could you help us understand the pricing trend of 8-inch and 12-inch wafer?

The main change in OBBA that affects GlobalWafers is that it has increased the tax incentive from 25% to 35% for facilities that place in service in 2026. This is additional 10% tax incentive for GlobalWafers, we are very grateful for that.

Doris Hsu

Yeah. Pricing the pricing trends.

Let me let me add a little bit color for the OBBA. Yes, the advantage the benefit for us is that because of the OBBA, our AMIT, advanced manufacturing investment credit, increased from 25% to 35%.

That means that, as someone said, our investment is meet the criteria, it's eligible, then we can get 35% grant from US government. We just filed the very first time to for ABBB OBBA 35% aim right now.

We haven't got the payment yet, so that's the current status. We're going to do this every year, we'll we'll we'll review we'll keep working on this one.

The current pricing trend for 8-inch and 12-inch, I think right now now is or I should put it this way, that Q4 Q4 and Q1 should be the the bottom of the pricing 8-inch, 12-inch, because rush orders pop up. More and more rush orders pop up.

Actually, price right now, I I won't say that we're seeing very good price improvement. No, it's it's again it's uneven.

For some advanced ones, we do see much more much much much better price improvement, but for the ordinary products like ordinary 8-inch or mature node, I think price is still flat. Because demand is strong, utilization is very high right now for especially for 12-inch, you can we have a little bit better position and better chance to to improve our overall product mix and our ASP, starting from now.

Q4 last year and Q1 is the bottom of the whole ASP trend. That's our view.

Leah Peng

Thank you. Now the floor is open for live questions.

If you have any questions, please use the Webex raise hand feature. Once acknowledged, please be ready to accept the host's invitation to unmute your microphone and share your thoughts.

Let me see. Is there any questions?

I see Sunny Lin from UBS. You have already raised your hand, please accept our invitation to unmute yourself.

Hi, Sunny. Can you hear us?

Sunny Lin

Hi, Leah. Hi, Doris.

Could you hear me okay?

Doris Hsu

Hi. Hello.

Good afternoon, Sunny.

Sunny Lin

Thank you very much for taking my questions. Number one, I want to double-check with you on your 2026 outlook.

Earlier, you mentioned total revenue could be flat or up a bit for 2026, but you also mentioned pricing is stabilizing, product mix should improve, and then you are also adding more capacity. Does that imply your guidance for flat or up a bit growth for this year could be a bit conservative?

Doris Hsu

Yes, that's a good question. Actually, we do see a lot of recovery, a lot of rush orders, and it seems that demand is getting stronger.

The point is that our customers not our customers are still pretty conservative. They can tell you that, yeah, Q1 I need this rush order.

We asked, "How about Q2? How about Q3?

Can you give us some forecast for the coming three quarters?" Many of our customers are relatively conservative.

They want to make sure that this is just not, because the inventory some of some product inventory is really pretty low. Is that just because they want to re- they want to re- restock, increase their DOI a little bit, or it's real demand-driven?

We're still monitoring this. I think we'll be able to give you a better answer in the in the maybe in the couple couple months.

The point is that we want to see that, is this a real demand-driven increase, or just inventory is too low, they just want to improve their inventory level a little bit? That that's what we need to figure out.

For example, just the couple the past couple weeks, we received a lot of rush orders of silicon carbide, and I asked our customers that, yeah, we're very okay to make further expansion. The tools, we want to we want to install more tools to increase our silicon carbide capacity.

We asked our customer to commit and tell us that how many wafer capacity you want, but customers are still pretty conservative. Part of the reason is that geopolitical is another another issue.

They don't know that how how long the the the geopolitical constraint will will be lasting. Also how much the oil price and energy cost will fluctuating.

I think customers are demand is here right now, but customers are a little bit conservative now. Leah, you want to add something?

Leah Peng

Yes. We actually in Lunar New Year, that all the Taiwan colleagues, they have to do the overtime, regardless which diameter it is, which includes both small diameters and big diameters.

We have seen some good improvement. We have also seen rush orders in US or in different regions.

Like Doris said, we are still monitoring if the momentum, that could sustain a few more quarters. Yeah.

Thank you, Sunny.

Sunny Lin

Got it. Maybe a quick follow-up in terms of your revenue mix.

Would you be able to quantify how large cloud AI-related, combining advanced logic and advanced memory, how large is cloud AI overall within your total sales?

Doris Hsu

By products, hard, but by diameter, I think over 2/3 of our revenue is from 300, over 2/3 or close to 70% is from 300. How much is for logic, how much for memory, we don't have the detail yet.

Sunny Lin

Got it. Sure.

Then maybe a second question on gross margin. Earlier, you mentioned depreciation could peak in 2027.

Does that refer to depreciation as a percentage of sales or in terms of absolute amount?

Doris Hsu

I think both.

Leah Peng

Yes, both.

Sunny Lin

Then for your absolute depreciation amount to start to drop, does that mean some of your current capacity, the depreciation would start to roll off pretty substantially from 2027, since you are still ramping new capacity globally? The depreciations,

Doris Hsu

I think our depreciation right now because some of the tools we have already installed, but it haven't passed the final acceptance confirmation yet. That means that we have the tools, we are testing, using them, try run, but haven't started the depreciation.

We believe that in the next couple quarters, more and more tools will pass the qualification and will start ramping up, and then by our internal definition, we have our criteria when you have to start the depreciation. That's why we are expecting to see more depreciation in the coming quarters.

Also, as I said that, many of our customers are requesting us to add more capacity. That means that even in phase one, they want us to add a little bit more advanced tools here, there.

It's very likely that we'll increase our scale of phase one. Even that's still phase one, but we will add several, for example, maybe we add some advanced wire saw, advanced epi reactor, advanced lapping tools, and advanced like SPA or some special measurement tools.

All of those discussions are still talking with our customer, it's very likely that we will add some more tools, much more than our original plan. That was why we believe that our depreciation will increase a little bit in the coming quarters.

Sunny Lin

Yes. Got it.

Yeah. You mentioned for GWA, the first phase would be as large as 300k wafer per month.

Is there a timeline that you'll get to the full capacity?

Doris Hsu

Yeah.

Leah Peng

I think the installation has or will be completed in April. You say the ramp-up schedule, when we will get the full capacity.

Now all our customers, because actually GWA, it doesn't only serve USA customers. It has the ability to serve worldwide customer.

Just now, we sense a very strong momentum and demand from local customers. They asked GWA to accelerate the qualification process so much faster than our original schedule.

Yes.

Doris Hsu

Our original schedule is that GWA phase one, 300,000 wafer a month, should be able to fully loaded by end of 2027, but it's very likely that it will be pulled ahead.

Sunny Lin

I see. Got it.

Thank you very much.

Leah Peng

Thank you, Sunny. Next is Donnie from Nomura.

Donnie, please accept our invitation to unmute yourself. Hi, Donnie, can you hear us?

We cannot hear you yet.

Doris Hsu

Hello, Donnie.

Leah Peng

Please accept our invitation.

Donnie Teng

Oh, can you hear me?

Leah Peng

Great. Hi, Donnie.

Donnie Teng

Hi, chairlady. Hi, Leah.

Thank you for taking my question. Good afternoon,

Doris Hsu

Donnie. Yes.

Donnie Teng

Good afternoon. Yes, just two very short questions.

The first one is regarding to your outlook on the semi wafer industry supply-demand dynamics, and when will you expect the sufficiency rate to improve further to maybe over 90% or even higher in the coming quarters? Second question is regarding to chairlady.

I think you have become the chairlady of AWSC as well. Can you give us more color on whether you have any kind of strategic consideration in terms of improving AWSC's operation or business opportunities in the future?

Thank you.

Doris Hsu

Let me answer the second question first. AWSC is a very good team, and they focus on RF semiconductor compound material foundry.

It's a very unique company. I believe that, Donnie, as you know that GWC has a lot of compound material as well, there is some synergies.

I believe that if these two companies work much closer together, we can leverage with each other and AWSC will be able to develop more new products, accelerate the launch schedule of the new product to their customer. That's our plan.

I'm expecting further synergy leverage of both companies, AWSC and GWC, for compound material. AWSC focus on 6-inch, and 6-inch GWC Taiwan is very good at 6-inch compound, I think that's another reason that we work together.

I'll put it this way, that up to now, AWSC is almost a very, very high percentage of AWSC's material is gallium arsenide. After I think in the next several quarters, I think AWSC will accelerate their non-gallium arsenide compound material as well, deliver the material to the market.

That's my answer to the second question.

Leah Peng

Donnie, the first, the sufficiency rate, do you mean our US fabs, they have

Doris Hsu

Or the industry?

Leah Peng

Yeah.

Donnie Teng

Industry-wise.

Doris Hsu

Okay. For the industry, I think it should be over 90%.

I'm talking about 12-inch only. It should be over 90% in the second half 2027, because more and more advanced packaging, 2.5D, 3D, advanced packaging technology will need more wafers, will lead the whole production more demand, more wafers as well, including that some special design, you need two wafers per device or even over two wafers per device.

We think that for the whole industry, 300 overall utilization rate will be over 90% by end of 2027. That's our view.

For 200 is currently overcapacity. It's recovering and you'll be getting over 85, 88% very soon, maybe by Q1 next year.

The whole industry will improve. Right now, it's about low 80s or even high 70-something, 8-inch, but it will be getting better.

I think maybe it will take some time to really get back to 90% if it can make it that way. Because for the industry is that if you have a little bit bigger volume 8-inch device, then the most cost-competitive way is that you migrate to 12-inch.

That's a better way. As long as then 8-inch capacity is available in the market, then everyone, those 8-inch main runners will be migrated to 12-inch.

That will be the direction. You will see 12-inch increase the utilization rate before you see 8-inch improve.

That's the current status. That's our view.

I hope you find this okay. If you need more details, feel free to reach out to us.

Leah Peng

I could add more color to this. Like what we just discussed with every investor, stakeholders, that we have seen quite a lot of improvement in utilization rate recently.

If we exclude all the new expansion lines, actually GlobalWafers 12-inch wafer, the utilization that is fully loaded. Some site even more than 100%.

Doris Hsu

Correct.

Leah Peng

Yeah. In terms of 8-inch and 6-inch wafer utilization, actually it also improved quite a lot by 10 to 15% this quarter.

I think this is a sign of recovery, just that this might be uneven, and we need to monitor whether this is sustainable.

Donnie Teng

Understood. Very clear.

Thank you, Leah and chairlady.

Doris Hsu

Thank you, Donnie.

Leah Peng

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to all of you for your valuable participation today.

The earnings call concludes now. Thank you, and have a wonderful evening.

Bye-bye.

Doris Hsu

Thank you. Bye-bye.