German chipmaker Infineon raises revenue, margin guidance on chip boom

German chipmaker Infineon raised its guidance on Tuesday for revenue and margins in the current fiscal year, saying that demand was greatly exceeding supply and it continued to invest in additional capacity.

Munich-based Infineon, the leading semiconductor supplier to the car industry, lifted its revenue forecast for the year to Sept. 30 to a midpoint of 11 billion euros ($13.2 billion) from 10.8 billion.

It now expects a profit margin of 18%, up from an earlier view of 17.8%.

“The semiconductor market is booming,” Chief Executive Reinhard Ploss said, adding that demand greatly exceeded supply in most areas.

“Infineon’s manufacturing facilities are running at full speed and we continue to invest in additional capacity.”

A snapback in demand for everything from smartphones to cars, following an slump caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, has disrupted supply chains especially in the car industry.

Ploss said there were bottlenecks in those segments where Infineon relies on so-called foundries, or contract manufacturers, especially automotive microcontrollers and products used in the industrial internet.

Infineon reported second-quarter revenue of 2.7 billion euros, up 3% from the prior quarter and by 36% from the same period a year earlier and beating a consensus forecast of 2.63 billion euros in a poll of analysts published by the company.

Segment result margin, management’s preferred measure of operating profitability, came in at 17.4% in the quarter – below a consensus view of 18.6% in the poll by Vara Research.

The company forecast third-quarter revenue of 2.6-2.9 billion euros, saying revenue growth would be curbed by supply constraints following a temporary shutdown at its plant in Austin, Texas, following a winter storm and capacity limitations at foundries. It saw segment margin at 18%.