Whether upward revisions to demand for AI-related testers materialize in FY2027-H1

FY2027-Q1 revenue was ¥367.473 billion, up 39.3% year on year, while operating profit was ¥189.990 billion, up 53.3%. Profit before tax was ¥234.082 billion, up 92.9%, and profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥174.780 billion, up 93.8%, meaning that profit growth outpaced revenue growth. The earnings presentation also stated that revenue and profit reached record highs for a first quarter.

The company raised its FY2027 full-year revenue forecast by ¥294.0 billion, from ¥1.420 trillion to ¥1.714 trillion, and its operating profit forecast by ¥218.5 billion, from ¥627.5 billion to ¥846.0 billion. The profit before tax forecast was raised from ¥629.0 billion to ¥891.0 billion, and the net profit forecast from ¥465.5 billion to ¥660.0 billion. The company explained that the main reason was an outlook for test demand for ASICs, CPUs and DRAM for inference AI to exceed the assumptions as of April 2026. The focus at the next results announcement will be whether this demand outlook materializes not merely as an upward revision but as H1 deliveries and revenue.

Q1 progress against the full-year forecast was 21.4% for revenue and 22.5% for operating profit. These figures are slightly below the 25% implied by a simple quarterly allocation, but the company has not disclosed a quarterly allocation incorporating seasonality, so the figures alone cannot be used to assess the risk of missing the forecast. For FY2027-H1, we will use revenue of ¥857.0 billion and operating profit of ¥423.0 billion, half of the full-year forecasts, as mechanical benchmarks, while checking Q2 standalone revenue, margins and the pace of AI-related product deliveries.

The latest earnings information does not disclose specific figures for order intake or order backlog. To assess the sustainability of AI-related demand, it will be important to see whether the company provides quantitative explanations of the H1-end order backlog, customer delivery requests and supply plans from Q3 onward, in addition to actual revenue. Even if the full-year forecasts are maintained, clearer assumptions for the order backlog and second-half revenue would make it easier to assess the quality of the upward revision.