Rorze has raised its profit forecast for the year to February 2027 by almost two-fifths, and the numbers in its interim results and investor presentation explain why. The company expects operating profit of ¥53.078bn, against the ¥38.112bn it forecast on 9 April, and attributes the change to strong semiconductor demand. The more useful question for readers is how much of that rests on orders already in hand and how much on factories that have yet to be built.
The upgrade in numbers
Revenue is now forecast at ¥180.007bn, up from ¥159.021bn and above the ¥128.794bn of the last financial year. Net profit attributable to owners of the parent is forecast at ¥37.779bn, up from ¥27.809bn. Earnings per share are forecast at ¥217.84. Rorze also raised the planned year-end dividend to ¥28 from ¥20, against ¥17 a year earlier. The dividend goes to a shareholder vote at the annual meeting planned for May 2027.
| Measure | Previous forecast | Revised forecast | Prior year actual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥159.021bn | ¥180.007bn | ¥128.794bn |
| Operating profit | ¥38.112bn | ¥53.078bn | ¥31.154bn |
| Ordinary profit | ¥38.241bn | ¥54.889bn | ¥32.621bn |
| Net profit attributable to owners of the parent | ¥27.809bn | ¥37.779bn | ¥19.048bn |
| Earnings per share | ¥159.62 | ¥217.84 | ¥109.33 |
| Year-end dividend per share | ¥20 | ¥28 | ¥17 |
The company's reason is short: strong demand for semiconductors lifts sales, and higher sales lift profit. Its forecast note adds the usual warning that actual results may differ.
What the first half delivered
For the six months to 31 August 2026, revenue rose 21.5% to ¥79.733bn and operating profit rose 42.4% to ¥23.096bn. Ordinary profit rose 68.4% to ¥24.538bn, helped by a ¥1.589bn foreign-exchange gain where a year earlier there was a ¥2.368bn loss. Net profit rose 45.7% to ¥15.839bn. Rorze notes that the interim earnings statement is outside the scope of review by an accountant or audit firm.
Rorze's own table puts the second-half requirement at ¥100.273bn of revenue and ¥29.981bn of operating profit. The first half therefore accounts for 44.3% of the revenue forecast and 43.5% of the operating profit forecast, so the second half has to be larger than the first.
Orders carry the case
Semiconductor-equipment orders in the six months came to ¥120.54bn, or 256.4% of the prior-year level. The semiconductor equipment backlog stood at ¥103.863bn, 229.8% of a year earlier. In the presentation, Rorze says second-quarter orders for these machines were ¥78.509bn, up 87% on the first quarter and 3.2 times the year-earlier quarter. It calls this the third consecutive quarterly record, and the backlog is 2.3 times its level a year ago. Rorze's overseas subsidiaries report on a calendar-quarter basis, so its second quarter covers April to June for them and June to August for the parent and domestic units.
Rorze attributes the jump to a sharp rise in sorter and stocker orders from a North American memory maker, plus more orders for front-end wafer-transfer modules (EFEMs) from Chinese equipment makers. It frames the backdrop as generative-AI demand and high-bandwidth memory driving chipmaker capital spending. These are the company's explanations, not independent findings. Rorze does not name the memory maker.
The interim statement does name two customers in its sales table. Applied Materials accounted for ¥17.325bn, or 21.7% of sales, up from ¥10.488bn and 16.0% a year earlier. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company accounted for ¥11.628bn, or 14.6%. By customer headquarters, the US, China and Taiwan together made up about four-fifths of sales.
Mix inside the new forecast
The raised outlook rests on semiconductor equipment, forecast at ¥152.97bn against ¥132.48bn before. Parts and repairs are now forecast at ¥14.579bn, up from ¥10.636bn. Two other lines were cut: analytical instruments to ¥3.49bn from ¥4.225bn, and flat-panel-display equipment to ¥7.349bn from ¥10.09bn. Rorze says analytical-instrument sales fell because customers delayed equipment acceptance and parts lead times lengthened.
Capacity and supply risk
Rorze is spending to turn the backlog into sales. In Vietnam it is hiring faster, raised wages in August and is moving warehouse functions out to rented space so it can convert freed floor to cleanroom assembly. It has also brought forward the start of its new Vietnam plant to the fourth quarter of 2027 from the first quarter of 2028. The company's floor-area estimate puts assembly space at 60,000 square metres against 14,400 at the existing site, and parts manufacturing at 53,200 against 18,150. In Shanghai's Lingang district, its listed measures include moving the existing plant to a two-shift system and renting a nearby building, due to start in spring 2027.
The presentation lists the risks as persistently high memory prices, long lead times on purchased parts, and a scramble among buyers to book components early. Rorze says it is pre-ordering parts, building inventory and securing alternative parts and suppliers to limit the effect on delivery dates. Inventories rose ¥5.87bn in the half as raw materials and work in progress built up with orders.
One-offs and open items
The half-year includes a ¥2.158bn litigation settlement booked as an extraordinary loss, and a ¥7.429bn litigation-loss provision on the February balance sheet fell to nil. Rorze says it settled on 3 August a US patent suit brought by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, after a jury verdict on 13 March. It will not disclose the terms, citing confidentiality, and says the settlement ends the case with no effect on future business.
Its consolidated subsidiary Nanoverse is still waiting on a customer's evaluation of delivered equipment, and Rorze says it is negotiating so that sales can be booked this fiscal year. The presentation says Nanoverse weighed on first-half operating profit through personnel costs of ¥1.011bn and goodwill amortisation of ¥1.489bn. Rorze plans to file its half-year report on 14 October.