In a year marked by financial downturns, Macronix International experienced a significant drop in its financial performance in 2023. The company’s revenue for the fourth quarter plummeted to NT$5.808 billion, a stark 20% fall from the previous quarter and a 36% plunge compared to the same period in 2022. This downturn was mirrored in their annual figures, where revenue reached only 27.624 billion yuan, down 36% from the prior year.
The tech giant’s gross profit margin suffered a similar fate, declining to 19.1% in the fourth quarter, a drop of 5.1 percentage points from the third quarter and 15 percentage points year-on-year. The annual gross profit margin stood at 24.5%, falling 19.7 percentage points from 2022. Consequently, Macronix reported a distressing after-tax loss of 1.007 billion yuan for the quarter and 1.699 billion yuan for the year, marking a drastic shift from profit to loss compared to 2022.
The revenue breakdown for 2023 revealed that NOR revenue was the most substantial at 51%, followed by ROM at 15%, and NAND at 9%. The foundry business contributed 6%. NOR applications were diverse, with automotive electronics and industrial/medical/aerospace each accounting for 24%, and computer and communications-related applications at 25% and 18%, respectively.
Looking ahead, the company’s leadership braces for a challenging 2024, anticipating it to be a tough year with continued market adversities and slow inventory adjustments. Despite stable NOR/NAND Flash prices, external factors like inventory loss provisions and capacity amortization impacted the company’s performance. The appreciating New Taiwan Dollar further compounded these challenges, leading to a substantial decrease in profitability.
