By Leo Marchandon and Ozan Ergenay

(Reuters) -BE Semiconductor Industries (Besi), a supplier of advanced packaging tools for chipmakers, said on Wednesday its order bookings grew in the first quarter as Asian subcontractors ordered more AI related data centre applications.

Investors are banking on growing orders for Besi's hybrid bonding solutions and its first-mover advantage amid a surge in demand for AI-enabling technology.

The Dutch group's bookings, an important indicator of future growth, rose 8.2% against the fourth quarter of 2024 to 131.9 million euros ($150.1 million). Revenue fell 6.1% to 144.1 million euros in the same period, weighed down by muted shipments for mobile and automotive applications.

Besi said it expected the revenue to remain steady in the second quarter, with a possible deviation of 5% into either direction.

The timing and trajectory of the expected demand upturn is more difficult to predict now given the uncertainties around the escalating trade war, CEO Richard Blickman said in a statement.

Besi had said in February it expected mainstream assembly markets to start to recover only in the second half of the year, depending on end market trends and the course of the global trade restrictions.

"However, demand for advanced packaging for AI applications remains strong given upcoming new device introductions and use cases planned in the 2026-2028 period," Blickman said.

Besi produces the world's most accurate hybrid bonding tool, a critical chip technology allowing two chips to be bonded directly on top of each other.

"We received hybrid bonding orders from two leading memory (chip) producers for HBM 4 applications as well as follow-on orders from a leading Asian foundry for logic applications," Blickman added.

($1 = 0.8787 euros)

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Ozan Ergenay in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi)

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