Over 150 semiconductor companies report earnings: revenue "generally increases" but profits are "mixed with joys and worries." Will the price hike trend add variables for 2026?

The earnings season begins, coupled with the spread of a price increase wave, drawing market attention back to the semiconductor sector.

According to Wind data compiled by Times Finance, as of February 28, 2026, out of 173 listed companies in the Shenwan semiconductor industry, 152 have disclosed their 2025 earnings forecasts, quick reports, or annual reports.

From the disclosures, the semiconductor sector is currently in a complex stage of intertwined high costs and structural recovery. Overall industry revenue is rebounding, with over 80% of companies reporting positive revenue growth, but profit performance remains mixed.

Specifically, within the sector, company profits are “a mixed bag.” Among them, 78 companies (including 64 with pre-increases, 13 turned losses, and 1 continued profit) reported positive results; the remaining 74 companies (including 50 with pre-losses and 24 with pre-reductions) faced pressure on net profits attributable to parent company shareholders.

On one hand, amid exploding demand for AI computing power and accelerated domestic substitution, some companies have seized the cycle, with net profits soaring. Zhenlei Technology (688270.SH) leads with nearly six times the net profit increase, earning the title of “Pre-Increase King.” Buwei Storage (688525.SH), Sitow-W (688213.SH), and others also performed well.

On the other hand, due to price wars in some niche segments, capacity ramp-up depreciation, asset impairments, and restrictions on overseas control, some companies still struggle with losses or declining profits. Companies like Wentai Technology (600745.SH) and Shanghai Silicon Industry (688126.SH) have reported rare large losses.

Mixed Performance Results

Data Source: Wind; Chart: Times Finance

Among the companies with forecasted increases, seven companies—Zhenlei Technology, Buwei Storage, Zhongke Lanjing (688332.SH), Sitow-W, Shen Gong Co., Ltd. (688233.SH), Weice Technology (688372.SH), and Zhongwei Semiconductor (688380.SH)—delivered outstanding results, with net profit growth exceeding 100%.

Zhenlei Technology is currently the “Pre-Increase King.” Its earnings report states that in 2025, net profit reached 133 million yuan, a 582% increase year-over-year. The growth is attributed to the recovery of downstream industries, sustained customer demand, and the implementation and delivery of core business orders, driving continuous revenue growth.

In terms of business structure, Zhenlei’s products and technologies are mainly applied in data links, electronic countermeasures, phased array communications, and other specialized fields, as well as civilian sectors like satellite internet. Affected by domestic specialized industry cycles, downstream customer demand has increased, and the company’s expansion in satellite communications is accelerating.

Following closely is Buwei Storage, with a net profit surge of 438% to 866 million yuan in 2025. Buwei’s rebound reflects the cyclical recovery of the entire storage industry. After storage prices declined quarter by quarter in 2024 and bottomed out in the first quarter of 2025, driven by strong demand from AI servers and data centers, the industry’s prosperity turned in the second quarter. Stabilizing product prices and rapid growth in emerging AI applications on the edge have become key drivers of performance improvement.

Similarly, storage industry leader Demingli also benefited. Despite suffering losses of over 27 million yuan in the first three quarters of 2025, it turned the tide in Q4 as storage prices entered an upward channel, boosting gross margins. For the full year, it achieved a net profit of 688 million yuan, a 96.35% increase year-over-year.

However, contrasting sharply with the high-flying pre-increase camp, another group of semiconductor companies are deep in losses, facing severe challenges from rising costs and asset impairments.

Data Source: Wind; Chart: Times Finance

Among 50 loss-making companies with disclosed earnings forecasts or reports, 8 reported losses exceeding 500 million yuan.

Wentai Technology is expected to incur a net loss of 9 to 13.5 billion yuan in 2025, mainly due to restrictions on overseas assets. In Q4 2025, its subsidiary Anshi Semiconductor received orders and court rulings from the Dutch government, limiting its control over Anshi, which is expected to lead to significant investment losses and asset impairments.

As a leading domestic silicon wafer manufacturer, Shanghai Silicon Industry reported a loss of 1.476 billion yuan in 2025. The company explained that despite the high growth in the global semiconductor market driven by AI applications, demand in consumer electronics and industrial electronics remains weak. Additionally, capacity expansion projects are still ramping up, and previous profits have not been fully realized, while high R&D costs also weigh on short-term profitability.

Furthermore, companies like Lihui Micro (688589.SH) and Geke Micro (688728.SH) are also expected to see performance declines, with Lihui Micro’s net profit forecasted to drop by nearly 80%, mainly due to reduced procurement in the smart grid market and increased R&D in non-grid IoT fields, leading to significant profit decline.

Data Source: Wind; Chart: Times Finance

The “Price Increase Wave” Spreads

Behind the performance divergence, a global wave of semiconductor industry chain price hikes is accelerating at the start of 2026.

Following initial price increases in AI computing chips and storage chips, the effect has further propagated to semiconductor manufacturing, packaging and testing, as well as upstream key materials and core components.

On February 25, domestic power semiconductor leader Xinjieneng (605111.SH) issued a price increase notice, citing sharp rises in upstream raw materials and precious metals globally, which have caused continuous increases in wafer foundry and packaging costs. The company can no longer bear the rising costs alone and has decided to raise prices for MOSFET products by at least 10%, effective shipments from March 1, 2026.

In fact, since the beginning of the year, more than ten domestic semiconductor companies—including Zhongwei Semiconductor (688380.SH), Guoke Micro (300672.SZ), China Resources Micro (688396.SH), Meixin Sheng (688458.SH), Yingjixin (688209.SH), and Biyi Micro (688045.SH)—have announced product price hikes ranging from 10% to 80%, covering categories such as MCUs, Nor flash, integrated KGD storage, and power devices.

A senior industry insider told Times Finance that rising costs, exploding AI demand, and insufficient capacity supply are the core reasons behind this round of price increases across the semiconductor supply chain. “Especially for mature intermediate and small power discrete devices like general MOSFETs and diodes, metal raw materials account for a high proportion of packaging costs—often 60-70% or more.”

It is understood that core metals such as gold, silver, copper, aluminum, and palladium have seen significant price increases since 2025, pushing up production costs. Citic Securities research reports indicate that in 2025, futures prices for gold, silver, and copper rose by over 50%, 150%, and 50%, respectively. According to data from Business Society, as of January 29, copper prices had surpassed 101,600 yuan/ton, up 35.08% year-over-year.

Looking at 2025 performance, this round of price hikes is also a passive response by some semiconductor manufacturers facing inverted costs and squeezed profit margins.

For example, Zhongke Micro explicitly stated in its 2025 earnings forecast that because the company’s main products did not see price adjustments, rising raw material costs led to lower gross margins, becoming a key factor in performance pressure.

Mainly discrete device maker Blue Arrow Electronics (301348.SZ) also admitted in its earnings forecast that although production capacity and shipments increased compared to last year, slow recovery in demand from traditional consumer electronics and industrial sectors, coupled with intensified market competition, has put significant pressure on product prices. Meanwhile, rising raw material costs further increased cost pressures, leading to a decline in gross profit margins.

For companies with bargaining power, full capacity, or in an upward cycle, price increases are a direct way to restore gross margins. A staff member from China Resources Micro’s securities department told Times Finance that since February 1, the company has raised prices across its entire microelectronics product line, with a minimum increase of 10%. “A 10% price increase can actually cover and surpass the impact of rising costs, improving our gross profit margin. Currently, demand remains strong, and capacity is fully booked. Future adjustments will depend on raw material price trends, and further price moves are possible.”

According to multiple industry reports and expert opinions, this industry chain price increase is not a short-term phenomenon.

On February 28, the National Development and Reform Commission’s Price Monitoring Center stated that since September 2025, driven by explosive demand and capacity shortages, the global memory market has widened, with storage chip prices continuing to rise. Over the past month, the increase has accelerated, and it is recommended to monitor the impact on downstream prices. Data shows that as of January this year, the prices of the two main storage chip products—DRAM and NAND flash—reached their highest levels since 2016.

For example, the average contract price of DDR4 8Gb (1G8) in January was $11.5, up about 24% from the previous month and approximately 83% from September 2025; NAND flash (128Gb 16G8 MLC) averaged $9.5, up about 65% from last month and nearly 1.5 times higher than September 2025.

The Price Monitoring Center also noted that storage chips are currently in an upward cycle. With the continued growth in AI server computing power, global demand for storage chips will remain tight, and prices are expected to keep rising. The increase in storage chip prices is gradually passing through to consumer electronics products.

Looking ahead, Donghai Securities’ research reports that AI infrastructure construction remains in a large-scale investment phase, with overseas top CSP (chip-scale packaging) manufacturers increasing capital expenditure year-over-year, and demand for computing power expected to explode. The global semiconductor industry’s sales in 2025 are projected to hit a record high, with the price hike wave spreading from storage chips to power, analog, and MCU (microcontroller) sectors. Overall, the industry is in a period of structural high growth.

(Article source: Times Finance)