(Yicai) Aug. 14 -- China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation and Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor reported triple-digit profit increases for the second quarter, as the two Chinese foundry giants benefited from soaring demand for artificial intelligence chips and tight supply of older process nodes.

SMIC’s net profit soared 262 percent to USD479 million in the three months ended June 30 from a year earlier, and revenue rose 36 percent to USD3 billion, it said in an unaudited financial report released late yesterday. The Shanghai-based firm attributed the strong growth mainly to higher wafer shipments, higher average selling prices, and a better product mix.

Gross profit jumped 69 percent to USD761 million, with gross margin improving to 25.3 percent from 20.4 percent in the same period last year and 20.1 percent in the first quarter.

Hua Hong had a quarterly net profit of USD38.6 million, up 386 percent from a year ago, its earnings report showed yesterday. Revenue soared 27 percent to a record USD717.5 million, and gross profit climbed 92 percent to USD118 million. The Shanghai-based firm’s gross margin expanded to 16.5 percent from 10.9 percent a year earlier and 13 percent in the prior quarter.

“Since the start of the year, artificial intelligence has continued to drive demand growth across the global semiconductor industry,” said Bai Peng, chairman and president of Hua Hong. “This demand was first reflected in memory chip products and has gradually expanded to logic and analog semiconductor products associated with AI applications.”

Foundry prices have been on the rise since the first quarter, with average increases of 5 percent to 15 percent, according to data from global market intelligence firm TrendForce. And industry participants are even discussing another round of increases that could happen between the second half of this year and next year.

Capacity Utilization Rates

The average eight-inch wafer capacity utilization rate among the world’s 10 largest wafer foundries rebounded to 88 percent in the first half and could reach 90 percent in the second half, TrendForce’s data also showed.

Both SMIC and Hua Hong maintained high capacity utilization rates in the quarter, nearing 94 percent and almost 103 percent, respectively. In addition, SMIC’s capital expenditure exceeded USD1.8 billion, up 18 percent on the first quarter.

SMIC forecast this quarter’s revenue to rise 2 percent to 4 percent from the second quarter, with a projected gross margin of between 26 percent and 28 percent. The company will release its semi-annual earnings report on Aug. 28.

Hua Hong said it expects revenue to range between USD770 million and USD780 million in the third quarter, and gross margin to fall to between 16 percent and 18 percent. The firm will publish its first-half report on Aug. 26.

SMIC’s shares [HKG: 0981] closed 5.6 percent higher at HKD771.30 (USD9.09) each in Hong Kong today, while its Shanghai-listed equity [SHA: 688981] ended up 2.7 percent at CNY132.87 (USD19.71). Hua Hong’s shares [SHA: 688347] sank 8.6 percent to CNY253.24.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione