New annual and quarterly sales records for X-FAB
Specialty foundry group, X-FAB, says it achieved new annual and quarterly sales records, following five quarters of consecutive growth.
Revenues in the fourth quarter came in at USD 172.3 million, within the guided USD 170-180 million, up 27% YoY and 2% QoQ. Full year revenues reached USD 657.8 million, up 38% against the previous year.
Quarterly revenues in X-FAB’s core markets – namely automotive, industrial, and medical – amounted to USD 138.0 million, up 32% YoY and 3% QoQ. For the full year 2021, revenue in the core markets totaled USD 525.1 million, up 43% against 2020. X-FAB points to the ongoing electrification in the automotive and industrial markets as major growth drivers in 2021.
X-FAB says in its fiscal report that 2021 was marked by tremendous demand with fourth quarter bookings reaching an all-time high of USD 249.5 million, up 31% YoY and 25% QoQ. The company says that demand remained strong across all end markets with automotive bookings recording a particularly steep increase in the fourth quarter – not only driven by the electrification of the auto industry, also by the pressure resulting from the ongoing chip shortage.
Due to high order intake, which significantly exceeded short-term production capacities, X-FAB says it continued to allocate capacity to customers and backlog kept rising.
X-FAB says in the fiscal report that the process of converting the French site’s capacity to manufacture the group’s core technologies is ongoing – with new equipment being delivered and installed regularly. This is expected to contribute positively in meeting the high demand, in particular for X-FAB’s 180nm automotive technology.
“The ever-growing need for semiconductor-based innovative solutions will ensure healthy demand for our specialty technologies in the long term. In the short term, it is key to manage the challenges arising from the tremendous demand requiring full attention and commitment of all X-FAB teams. Our key focus has been and will be on execution excellence and productivity improvements for the best possible supply to our customers. The installation and qualification of new tools to remove bottlenecks will particularly contribute to an increase of wafer output going forward,” says Rudi De Winter, CEO of X-FAB Group, in the fiscal report.
Throughout the fourth quarter, all factories ran at high load. Productivity improvements thus remained a top priority in order to further increase wafer output. The most important measures, according to X-FAB, include eliminating production bottlenecks and recruiting additional staff.
Fourth quarter EBITDA was USD 33.9 million. For the full year 2021, EBITDA amounted to USD 153.3 million.
“While it is currently not clear how the semiconductor industry and, in light of all the uncertainties, the world economy will evolve, I am confident that X-FAB is perfectly placed to achieve its growth targets for 2022 and beyond,” the CEO concludes.
