Hua Hong Semiconductor discloses earnings! Q4 revenue hits a new record high.
Recently, SMIC (00981.HK) took the lead in disclosing its 2025 preliminary earnings report, which has attracted widespread attention.
After the market close on February 12, another foundry giant, Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347.HK), which won two awards at the 2025 Hong Kong Wealth Management Summit Forum and the 12th "Top 100 Hong Kong Stocks" Awards Ceremony, also disclosed its Q4 2025 results, showing solid performance.
How were the Q4 results?
Looking at the core financial data, for the full year 2025, Hua Hong Semiconductor achieved sales revenue of $2.402 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.9%, with scale steadily climbing; the gross profit margin was 11.8%, up 1.6 percentage points year-on-year, indicating continuous improvement in profitability. Profit attributable to owners of the parent for the full year was $54.881 million, a year-on-year decrease of 5.6%.
On a quarterly basis, Q4 sales revenue was $660 million, not only up 3.9% quarter-on-quarter but also achieving a year-on-year increase of 22.4%, setting a new historical high for sales revenue, mainly benefiting from increased wafer shipments and higher average selling prices; the quarterly gross profit margin rose to 13.0%, down 0.5 percentage points quarter-on-quarter but up 1.6 percentage points year-on-year. Profit attributable to owners of the parent during the period was $17.454 million, compared to a loss of $25.199 million in the same period last year and a profit of $25.725 million in the previous quarter.
In comparison, SMIC's multiple indicators remain stronger. Data shows that in Q4, SMIC achieved sales revenue of $2.489 billion, up 4.5% quarter-on-quarter and 12.8% year-on-year, setting another quarterly record; the gross profit margin was 19.2%, down 2.8 percentage points from 22.0% in Q3 2025; profit attributable to owners of the company was $173 million, down 9.9% quarter-on-quarter but surging 60.7% year-on-year.
Bai Peng, Chairman of the Board and President of Hua Hong Semiconductor, commented: "Hua Hong Semiconductor's Q4 2025 sales revenue reached another historical high, and the quarterly gross profit margin was 13.0%, both in line with guidance expectations. For the full year, the company achieved sales revenue of $2.402 billion and a gross profit margin of 11.8%, both showing year-on-year growth and meeting management expectations. Against the backdrop of the global semiconductor market being driven by AI and related product demand and the recovery of domestic consumer demand, the company's capacity has maintained high utilization, placing it at a leading level among foundry enterprises."
These data points are also worth noting
In terms of shipments, the full-year equivalent 8-inch wafer shipments were 5.384 million pieces, up 18.5% year-on-year; Q4 equivalent 8-inch wafer shipments reached 1.448 million pieces, up 19.4% year-on-year and 3.4% quarter-on-quarter.
Capacity is the core competitiveness of a foundry. Hua Hong Semiconductor's capacity utilization rate remained at an industry-leading level in 2025, with the full-year capacity utilization rate reaching 106.1%, up 6.6 percentage points from 2024. The Q4 capacity utilization rate was 103.8%.
For comparison, SMIC's average capacity utilization rate for the full year 2025 was 93.5%, rising to 95.7% in Q4.
Although dubbed the "Foundry Duo," Hua Hong Semiconductor, with its differentiated specialty process portfolio, has achieved a higher capacity utilization rate, reflecting the strong demand for its products in niche markets.
The continuous upgrade of the product mix is the core driver of Hua Hong Semiconductor's performance growth. In Q4 2025, revenue from 65nm and below processes surged 44.7% year-on-year, primarily driven by increased demand for products like flash memory, MCUs, CIS, and RF; revenue from 90/95nm processes grew 54.0% year-on-year, stemming from increased demand for products like MCUs and smart card chips. The rapid growth of these two core processes is driving the continuous upgrade of the company's product mix.
By technology platform, in Q4 2025, sales revenue from analog and power management grew 40.7% year-on-year; sales revenue from embedded non-volatile memory grew 31.3% year-on-year, mainly benefiting from increased demand for MCUs and smart card chips; sales revenue from stand-alone non-volatile memory grew 22.9% year-on-year, mainly benefiting from increased demand for flash memory products.
Bai Peng, Chairman of the Board and President of Hua Hong Semiconductor, stated in the announcement: "Through optimizing the product portfolio and improving cost efficiency, all of the company's specialty process platforms performed strongly, especially the stand-alone flash memory and power management platforms, which strongly supported the company's revenue growth and margin improvement."
In terms of capital expenditure, the company's capital expenditure in Q4 2025 reached $633 million. Sustained capital investment provides solid support for capacity expansion and process upgrades.
Steady Outlook for Next Quarter
For Q1 2026, Hua Hong Semiconductor provided steady guidance, expecting Q1 sales revenue to be between $650 million and $660 million, maintaining a high quarterly level; the gross profit margin is expected to remain between 13% and 15%, indicating a likely continuation of steady growth.
Bai Peng, Chairman of the Board and President of Hua Hong Semiconductor, also stated: "The company will continue to focus highly on building a world-class specialty process technology platform through innovation and rapid iteration, and deepen cooperation with strategic customers at home and abroad. The company is confident in seizing growth opportunities amid the global semiconductor industry transformation and strives to meet shareholders' long-term expectations."
Overall, the "report card" for the full year 2025 and the guidance for Q1 2026 disclosed by Hua Hong Semiconductor are relatively steady.
From the capital market's reaction, as of the time of writing, its A-shares rose slightly by 1.8% on February 13, while its H-shares edged up 0.85%, showing a flat performance. However, looking at the performance from 2025 to date, its A-shares have accumulated a gain of over 180%, and its H-shares have surged nearly 360%, outperforming SMIC.
Author: Ming Xi
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