SAMCO, the Kyoto-based maker of semiconductor processing equipment, ended the year to July 2026 with an order backlog of ¥11.46bn, up 123.6% from a year earlier. The company said it expects further orders in datacenter and communication lasers and power-device applications within compound semiconductors, defect-analysis applications within silicon semiconductors, and radio-frequency-filter applications within electronic components.
Non-consolidated sales for the year rose 15.6% to ¥10.8bn, with the increase attributed by management to what it calls vigorous capital-investment demand in compound semiconductors tied to generative-AI datacenter buildout. Operating profit climbed 28.2% to ¥3.0bn, ordinary profit rose 31.0% to ¥3.11bn, and net income increased 31.4% to ¥2.23bn.
The split inside SAMCO's own product mix is stark. Compound-semiconductor applications, including the lasers used in datacenter optical links, generated 41.4% of sales and grew 45.9%. Electronic-component uses, which include MEMS, capacitors, inductors, sensors and radio-frequency filters, grew 59.2%. Sales in the silicon-semiconductor field, covering wafer defect analysis and other silicon processing, fell 52.7%.
| Segment | Sales | Share of sales | Change YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compound semiconductors | ¥4.47bn | 41.4% | +45.9% |
| Electronic components | ¥3.19bn | 29.6% | +59.2% |
| Parts and maintenance | ¥1.52bn | 14.1% | +12.5% |
| Silicon semiconductors | ¥787mn | 7.3% | -52.7% |
| Other | ¥740mn | 6.9% | -30.6% |
| Healthcare | ¥83mn | 0.8% | -55.2% |
| Total | ¥10.8bn | 100.0% | +15.6% |
By equipment type, etching tools, used for laser processing, defect analysis and filter work, brought in ¥7.0bn, up 27.3% and now 64.9% of total sales. CVD equipment sales fell 20.0% to ¥1.44bn even as cleaning-equipment sales rose 21.4% to ¥832mn.
SAMCO is betting the pattern continues. It is guiding for sales of ¥14.5bn in the year to July 2027, a 34.3% increase, and net income of ¥2.74bn, up 22.8%, based on an assumed exchange rate of ¥155 per US dollar. The company raised its annual dividend to ¥75 a share from ¥60, and cash and equivalents jumped 63.4% to ¥8.21bn, even as the equity ratio slipped to 72.6% from 76.3%.
The same day, SAMCO's board also approved officer changes for its October 27 shareholder meeting: an internal executive who currently heads the company's corporate planning and general affairs functions is nominated to join the board, replacing a retiring outside director, and a certified public accountant who previously worked as a partner at Azusa Audit Corporation is nominated as a new outside auditor. The chairman and president posts are unchanged.
The AI-demand explanation is management's own framing, not an independent assessment, and SAMCO is one small supplier reading a much larger cycle. Its backlog growth of 123.6% still outpaces the 34.3% sales increase it is guiding for next year, which points to either conservative planning or a pipeline filling faster than the company is yet promising to deliver.