Advantest raised its operating profit forecast for the year to March 2027 to ¥967.0bn from ¥846.0bn in July, after AI-related demand for its chip testers lifted first-half sales to ¥845.2bn, up 60.5% on a year earlier. The board also approved a ¥49 interim dividend and a share buyback of up to ¥280bn on the same day.
What the half-year shows
Operating profit for the six months to September 30, 2026 was ¥456.8bn, up 96.5%, and net profit was ¥368.1bn, up 116.8%. Advantest says sales, operating profit, pre-tax profit and net profit were each a record for a half-year. It credits higher AI-related chip volumes, more complex devices and a better sales mix, and also cites yen weakness: the dollar averaged ¥160, against ¥146 a year earlier.
Pre-tax profit of ¥510.2bn includes about ¥57bn of financial income, mainly valuation gains on investment securities. The release attributes ¥54.2bn of it to financial instruments tied to strategic investments, so it is not operating income.
Test systems sales were ¥770.2bn. The company points to AI-related SoC testers and, in memory, to DRAM and non-volatile memory testers.
The guidance change
| Metric | July forecast | Revised forecast |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | 1,714.0 | 1,863.0 |
| Operating income | 846.0 | 967.0 |
| Operating margin | 49.4% | 51.9% |
| Net income | 660.0 | 741.5 |
The second-half operating margin is expected to exceed 50%, about three percentage points above the July forecast. Advantest says higher component costs are factored in, and that stronger SoC tester sales and a better product mix drive the improvement.
The forecast assumes ¥150 to the dollar in the second half, against the ¥160 first-half average. Advantest puts the full-year operating profit sensitivity at ¥5.8bn per one yen of depreciation against the dollar.
Advantest left its calendar 2026 tester market forecast unchanged from July, with SoC testers near the upper end of the range and memory testers around the midpoint. It expects supply to stay constrained in 2027, barring geopolitical and macroeconomic risks. It says SoC tester capacity of more than 5,000 systems a year has been reached, and it aims to hit its 10,000-system target well ahead of the original schedule. The company sees limited direct impact so far from the Middle East situation, though some cost increases, including logistics, are expected.
The capital-return package
The interim dividend of ¥49 a share compares with ¥29 for the prior-year interim. It totals ¥35.4bn and takes effect on December 1, 2026. Advantest had given no interim figure in its July dividend forecast, and the notice lists the year-end dividend forecast for the current year as undetermined. Its policy aims for a total return ratio (dividends plus buybacks, divided by consolidated net profit) of at least 50% cumulatively over the three years of its third medium-term plan, with ¥30 a share as the annual dividend floor.
The buyback covers up to 11 million shares, 1.5% of shares outstanding excluding treasury stock at September 30, for up to ¥280bn. Purchases run on the Tokyo Stock Exchange from October 29, 2026 to March 24, 2027. Both figures are limits, not purchases made. The company says it considered the forecast and cash on hand, and that return levels may change if growth investment opportunities arise or market conditions deteriorate. It spent about ¥105.9bn on buybacks in the half-year just reported. For background, see Earlier Tokyo Brief coverage.
The dividend also adjusts terms on Advantest's 2031 euro-yen convertible bonds. The conversion price moved to ¥35,946.5 from ¥36,000.0, applied from October 1, 2026, under the bond's adjustment clause.
The half-year release is not subject to auditor review. Advantest plans to file its half-year report on November 13, 2026.