Winbond Electronics, a manufacturer of specialty DRAM and flash memory, sustained operating losses throughout the first quarter of 2024, including a NT$464 million (US$14.4 million) net loss attributable to the parent company and NT$0.11 per share loss.
As the specialty memory market strengthened, Winbond's shipments surged in the first quarter, and its quarterly revenue grew to more than NT$20 billion, up 4.94% from the fourth quarter of last year and higher than the levels in each quarter of 2023. Winbond's first-quarter gross margin was 27.64%, down 0.82% from the fourth quarter of 2023. Nonetheless, the chipmaker's operations continued to incur losses.
In addition, Winbond's board of directors approved plans to issue 320 million common shares at NT$10 each, for a total of NT$3.2 billion. The additional funds will go toward the company's process and technology improvements. The board also authorized NT$395 million in capital expenditures for production equipment, according to a recent filing by Winbond with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).
Winbond has set a memory capex target of NT$17.4 billion for 2024, a 15% increase over the NT$12.7 billion budgeted in 2023. Most of the company's 2024 capex will be allocated to 16nm R&D and Kaohsiung fabrication equipment.
