On October 29, the CMP semiconductor equipment supplier Huahai Qingke announced its 2024 third quarter report in the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily.

The company achieved revenue of 2.452 billion yuan in the first three quarters of this year, an increase of 33.2% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent company was 0.721 billion yuan, an increase of 27.8% year-on-year; non-net profit attributable to the parent company was 0.615 billion yuan, an increase of 33.8% year-on-year; and net cash flow from operations was 0.876 billion yuan, an increase of 136.1% year-on-year.

In the third quarter of this year, the company achieved revenue of 0.955 billion yuan, an increase of 57.6% year-on-year; net profit attributable to the parent company was 0.288 billion yuan, an increase of 51.7% year-on-year; non-net profit attributable to the parent company was 0.246 billion yuan, an increase of 62.4% year-on-year.

As of the end of the third quarter, the company's total assets were 10.938 billion yuan, an increase of 20.0% compared to the end of the previous year; and the total net assets attributable to the parent company were 6.165 billion yuan, an increase of 11.7% compared to the end of the previous year.

Regarding the growth in operating income, Huahai Qingke stated that it is mainly due to the company seizing the market opportunities brought about by the demand drive in the integrated circuit industry, increasing research and development investment. Their CMP product, as one of the key process equipment for the front-end manufacturing of integrated circuits, has continuously increased its market share.

"As the market share of the company's CMP products expands, the scale of key consumables, maintenance services, and other businesses gradually increases, while revenue from wafer regeneration and wet equipment increases gradually, leading to an increase in the company's operating income compared to the same period." Huahai Qingke further stated.

In the first three quarters of 2024, the company's gross margin was 45.82%, a decrease of 0.64 percentage points year-on-year; net margin was 29.40%, a decrease of 1.25 percentage points from the same period last year. Looking at the individual quarterly indicators, in the third quarter of 2024, the company's gross margin was 45.08%, a decrease of 1.65 percentage points year-on-year.

HuahaiQingke stated that due to slight differences in the company's revenue structure between quarters, it is normal for the gross margin to fluctuate slightly between quarters. Next, they will maintain the company's gross margin and net margin at a relatively stable level through continuous development of new customers and products, improving process efficiency, cost reduction, and efficiency enhancement.

HuahaiQingke is a high-end supplier of semiconductor equipment, with main products including CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) equipment, thinning equipment, liquid supply systems, wafer reuse, key consumables, and maintenance services. Among these, CMP equipment sales account for about 90%, being the main source of revenue for the company.

The "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" noticed that besides increasing vertical sales and market share of CMP equipment, HuahaiQingke also focuses on the market demand for ultra-precise grinding technology required for wafer thinning in advanced IC processes and the outsourcing of regenerated wafers, and develops thinning equipment, consumables, and technical services.

Recently, HuahaiQingke mentioned during an institutional research that the 12-inch ultra-precise wafer thinning machine Versatile-GP300 has secured batch orders from several leading companies in various fields and has gained high recognition from customers. Some machines are expected to be accepted in the second half of this year; the 12-inch wafer thinning film laminating machine Versatile-GM300 has been sent to leading domestic packaging and testing companies for validation.

Regarding the progress of the company's thinning products, on the evening of September 19 this year, HuahaiQingke announced that the 12-inch ultra-precision wafer thinning machine Versatile-GP300 has completed its first validation.