ams OSRAM has reported revenues of €820 million in Q1/25, above the midpoint of the guided range of €750-850 million.
Revenues declined by 7% quarter-over-quarter, a typical seasonal decline by magnitude, says the company, despite the cyclical weakness in automotive and industrial semiconductor business.
As part of a balance sheet improvement plan the company is disposing of its Kulim, Malaysia eight-inch wafer plant.
The company is also considering strategic options for various additional assets with the goal to generate proceeds well above €500 million.
“Even though economic uncertainties are increasing, our structural profitability is continuously improving thanks to the seamless implementation of our ‘Re-establish the Base’ (RtB) strategic efficiency program, which is ahead of plan. Our global footprint and customer base enables us to deal with the volatilities of the new tariff regime,” said Aldo Kamper (pictured), CEO of ams OSRAM.
Revenues for optoelectronic semiconductors decreased by €14 million to €336 million in Q1/25 compared to €350 million in Q4/24. Main contributor to this development was automotive with a seasonal decline and no further reduction of backlog orders that contributed in Q4/24.
Revenues for CMOS sensors and ASICs decreased by €22 million to €236 million in Q1/25 compared to €258 million in Q4/24 in line with its typical seasonal decline in demand for components for consumer handheld devices.
Semiconductors industry dynamics
Revenues from the two semiconductor business units represented approx. 70% of Q1/25 revenues, or €571 million, compared to €578 million a year ago, essentially flat with a small cyclical decline of 1% driven by automotive and I&M. Like in the previous quarter, end-markets continued to show different cyclicality in the first quarter. Growth in the core portfolio compensated the phased-out non-core portfolio that still contributed meaningfully a year ago.
Automotive: the automotive business came in slightly better than expected against the backdrop of an inventory correction in the optoelectronic semiconductor supply chain and the revenue tailwind in Q4 from order backlog. Customers continue to order on very short notice, reflecting a high level of uncertainty at the carmakers. The company benefited from ramping up of new sensor products and some tailwinds from the stronger US dollar resulting in a 6% quarter-over-quarter decline. The year-over-year decline comes in more pronounced with 11%, clearly showing the inventory adjustments in optoelectronic products due to demand uncertainties seen by Tier-1 and OEM customers.
Industrial and medical: the industrial & medical business showed again a mixed performance across verticals, e.g. horticulture with a seasonal decline, industrial automation stabilised on a low level, mass market with a regionally differing performance showing some signs of improvement. The cyclical trough seems to be reached with a 9% decline compared to a year ago. Quarter-over-quarter, revenues came in 11% lower than in Q4/24 due to end-of-life of certain legacy products.
Consumer: demand for new products and for consumer portable devices in general remained healthy following broadly its typical seasonal pattern. Revenues came in just 2% lower than in the previous quarter, supported by order from legacy products, representing a very small seasonal decline. Year-over-year, revenues increased by 21% due to a strong contribution of new products, despite meaningful contribution from non-core products a year ago that were mostly phased-out by December 2024.
The Lamps & Systems segment represented approximately 30% of Q1/25 revenues, equalling €249 million. The business development followed its typical seasonal pattern with a quarter-over-quarter decline of 9%. The year-over-year reduction of 7% comes mainly from discontinued OEM products and the gradual structural decline in the OEM halogen lamps business for new cars.
