Advantest shares jump as AI chip demand drives earnings outlook upgrade

 Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) shares jumped on Thursday after the semiconductor testing equipment maker raised its full-year earnings forecast, citing stronger-than-expected demand for equipment used to test artificial intelligence chips.

Advantest shares rose 7.3% to 3,7480 yen by 05:29 GMT, after climbing as much as 9.1% earlier in the session, helping lift Japan's Nikkei share average.

The company raised its operating profit forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2027 to 967 billion yen ($6.3 billion) from 846 billion yen, an increase of 14%, following a sharp rise in first-half earnings.

The company also lifted its full-year revenue forecast to 1.863 trillion yen from 1.714 trillion yen.

For the six months ended September, revenue rose 60.5% year-on-year to 845.2 billion yen, while operating profit surged 96.5% to 456.8 billion yen. Net profit climbed 116.8% to 368.1 billion yen.

Advantest said demand for testing high-performance AI semiconductors was expanding faster than expected as investment in data centres increased. It also expects the semiconductor tester market to reach a record high as demand for chips used in AI inference grows.