DISCO's operating profit rose 47.9% to ¥116.6bn in the six months to September 2026, an operating margin of 45.4%, and the company used the same day to publish April-December guidance it had not previously disclosed. Sales were ¥257.1bn, up 32.1%, while shipments reached ¥284.6bn, up 37.2%. The company attributes the strength to generative-AI demand, and its forecast gives readers a dated number to hold it to.
Shipments run ahead of booked sales
DISCO says continued data-centre investment kept demand for high-performance chips, including advanced logic and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), at a high level. Shipments of precision processing equipment were strong, centred on high-value products, and shipments of consumable processing tools stayed high in line with customers' equipment utilisation. These are the company's own explanations.
Shipments and sales are different measures. DISCO says sales rose on progress in machine acceptance, and the 37.2% shipment growth outpaced the 32.1% sales growth. Contract liabilities on the balance sheet rose to ¥79.6bn at the end of September from ¥50.0bn at the end of March, and the company cites that increase as a driver of its ¥111.7bn operating cash inflow.
Margin and the currency line
DISCO says its gross profit margin rose because of exchange-rate effects and a richer product mix, absorbing higher personnel and research costs. Ordinary profit rose 44.0% to ¥114.4bn and net profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 43.7% to ¥80.4bn, a net margin of 31.3%. Below the operating line, the income statement shows a ¥3.1bn foreign-exchange loss, against a ¥21mn gain a year earlier, which is why ordinary profit grew more slowly than operating profit.
A forecast with a short horizon
The new guidance covers only April to December 2026. DISCO expects nine-month sales of ¥389.5bn (up 28.2%), operating profit of ¥174.7bn (up 38.4%) and net profit of ¥121.9bn (up 31.6%), or ¥1,123.43 a share. It expects shipments of ¥434.2bn for the period and assumes ¥151 to the dollar for October-December.
| Metric | Six months to Sept 2026 | Change | April-Dec forecast | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shipments | ¥284.6bn | +37.2% | ¥434.2bn | Not given |
| Sales | ¥257.1bn | +32.1% | ¥389.5bn | +28.2% |
| Operating profit | ¥116.6bn | +47.9% | ¥174.7bn | +38.4% |
| Net profit | ¥80.4bn | +43.7% | ¥121.9bn | +31.6% |
The short horizon is deliberate. DISCO says customers' investment appetite in semiconductors and electronic components swings sharply over short periods, making demand hard to forecast, so it discloses guidance only one quarter ahead. The forecast therefore says nothing about the full year to March 2027, and the interim results summary says the year-end dividend forecast is undecided.
Dividend and cash
The board declared an interim dividend of ¥186 a share, a total of ¥20.2bn, with a September 30 record date and payment starting December 1. That compares with ¥129 for the same period a year earlier; the notice lists ¥171 as the latest prior forecast. The figure follows DISCO's policy of paying 25% of consolidated half-year net profit, with a floor of ¥10 a half. At year-end, DISCO adds roughly one-third of any cash above its planned needs, except in a loss year.
Cash and equivalents rose by ¥16.1bn to ¥200.6bn, even though time deposits grew by ¥41.8bn. The equity ratio fell 2.8 percentage points to 76.1%. The interim summary is not subject to audit or review by an accounting firm.
For earlier reporting on the company, see Earlier Tokyo Brief coverage.