Sumco Corporation

For Q4 fiscal 2025, sales were JPY 105.2 billion, operating profit was minus JPY 4.5 billion, ordinary profit was minus JPY 5.9 billion, and profit attributable to owners of the parent was minus JPY 10.8 billion. For the full year, sales were JPY 409.6 billion, operating profit was JPY 1.3 billion, ordinary profit was minus JPY 3.8 billion, and loss attributable to owners of the parent was JPY 11.7 billion. CapEx for the year was JPY 79.9 billion versus JPY 214.9 billion in 2024; depreciation was JPY 115.6 billion, up JPY 36.7 billion year on year; EBITDA was JPY 112.4 billion; operating cash flow was positive JPY 100 billion; free cash flow was negative JPY 11.4 billion. Total assets were JPY 1,127.9 billion, equity-to-asset ratio was 51.3%, and gross D/E was 0.61x. For Q1 fiscal 2026, the company guided to sales of JPY 100 billion, operating loss of JPY 6 billion, ordinary loss of JPY 10 billion, and net loss attributable to owners of the parent of JPY 10 billion; FX assumption is JPY 155 to the dollar.

CEO Mayuki Hashimoto framed the year as a turnaround and said he felt it was a good time to hand over leadership because cash flow has returned to positive territory after a period of heavy investment. Strategically, he emphasized a split market: 300-millimeter is improving on AI-led demand, but 200-millimeter is structurally weak and unlikely to rebound, so the company must keep modernizing capacity and cooperate with customer inventory normalization. He was upbeat about the new president’s international experience and the team he built, and he said he has confidence in Sumco’s future.

CFO Shinichi Kubozoe said the Q4 miss on operating profit was largely explained by higher depreciation, lower production from periodic maintenance and year-end shutdowns, and a product-mix headwind, partly offset by forex and better utilization. He highlighted full-year CapEx of JPY 79.9 billion, down JPY 135 billion year on year from JPY 214.9 billion, while depreciation rose to JPY 115.6 billion, and noted operating cash flow of JPY 100 billion versus free cash flow of minus JPY 11.4 billion. On the balance sheet, cash and deposits fell JPY 20.4 billion, liabilities fell JPY 35.2 billion to JPY 480.2 billion, retained earnings declined JPY 17.4 billion, and debt was largely unchanged.

Analysts pressed on the leadership transition, longer-term supply-demand balance, LTA renewal timing, pricing power, and the risk of legacy inventory overhang. Hashimoto said the succession was timed after the company restored positive cash flow, and that the new president was chosen for international business experience and customer-facing capability. On LTAs and pricing, he said the next round of contracts is a long way off and that prices should be fine, but also stressed that wafer prices are driven by supply-demand balance rather than customer profitability alone. On inventories, he said the correction in mature-node products should last until the end of this year, while leading-edge volumes should start to improve gradually from the second half.