[Core News] STMicroelectronics suffered a net loss in Q2 and acquired NXP’s MEMS sensor business (2025-07-25)

1. STMicroelectronics (ST): First loss in Q2 in nearly ten years, MEMS acquisition breaks the situation

1. Core data of financial report (2025 Q2)

• revenue: US$2.766 billion,Year-on-year - 14.4%, month-on-month +9.9%
• Gross profit margin: 33.5%, year-on-year - 6.6pct, month-on-month + 0.1pct
• profit：GAAP net loss $97 million(First loss in nearly ten years), non-GAAP profit of US$57 million
• main reason: Provision of US$190 million in asset impairment and restructuring charges;MCU business slumps(Revenue of US$847 million, -6.5% year-on-year), weak automotive demand

2. Downstream structure: strong in industry, weak in automobiles

• Industry: Order-to-bill ratio > 1, month-on-month + 15%, confirming Q1 as the bottom
• car: Order-to-bill ratio<1, year-on-year - 24%, lower than expected
• personal electronics: Slight growth, partially hedged declines

3. Major M&A: US$950 million acquisition of NXP MEMS

• transaction: All-cash acquisition of NXP MEMS sensor business, expected to be completed in the first half of 2026
• Business scope：
  • Automotive: airbags, vehicle dynamics inertial sensors, TPMS, engine management sensors
  • Industrial: Pressure sensors, accelerometers
• strategic value：
  • Reinforce automotive-grade MEMS and complement ST’s existing consumer/industrial MEMS
  • The revenue of the acquired business will be approximately US$300 million in 2024, and high gross profit will enhance ST performance.
  • Strengthen automotive Tier-1 customer coverage and seize the smart cockpit/autonomous driving sensor track

4. Q3 Outlook

• Revenue $3.17 billion,MoM + 14.6%, gross profit margin is approximately 33.5%
• Destocking is coming to an end, and it is expected that volume will increase and prices will stabilize, with a moderate recovery.

2. Texas Instruments (TI): Analog stands out, industrial + Chinese two-wheel drive

1. Core data of financial report (2025 Q2)

• revenue: US$4.448 billion,YoY + 16%, month-on-month + 9%
• operating profit: US$1.563 billion,+25% year-on-year
• business structure：
  • Analog (77.5%): $3.452 billion,YoY + 18%(core engine)
  • Embedded processing: $679 million,YoY + 10%

2. Downstream and regional highlights

• Industry: Year-on-year + nearly 20%, the strongest support
• China area：YoY + 32%, benefiting from industrial recovery + stocking up before tariffs
• car: Only single-digit growth, a slight decline month-on-month

3. Q3 Guidance

• Revenue $4.45 billion–$4.8 billion (median $4.62 billion),Cautious
• Worried about tariff uncertainty, fading stocking effect, and pace of automobile recovery

3. SK Hynix: HBM dominates, AI storage reaches record high

1. Core data of financial report (2025 Q2)

• revenue: 22.232 trillion won (approximately US$16.17 billion),Year-on-year + 35.4%, month-on-month +26%
• operating profit: 9.21 trillion won,Year-on-year + 68.5%
• net profit: 6.996 trillion won,Year-on-year + 69.8%
• profit margin: Operating profit margin 41%, net profit margin 31%

2. Growth Core: HBM (High Bandwidth Memory)

• HBM market share: approx.70%, the world's first
• HBM3E: 12-layer products have fully increased their sales volume and salesMonth-on-month + 80%, year-on-year + 250%
• Customer: Core suppliers of AI chip giants such as NVIDIA and AMD
• status：Beyond Samsung, becoming the world’s largest memory chip company

3. Financials and Outlook

• Cash reserves of 17 trillion won, net debt ratio of only 6%, financial stability
• It is expected that the high boom of AI storage will continue, and HBM4 (12-layer) will be mass-produced in the second half of the year.

4. Smartway: Domestic 1-inch outsole CIS breakthrough, flagship camera main camera in place

1. New product: SC5A5XS 50-megapixel 1-inch image sensor

• Specifications: 1-inch super large base, 1.6μm large pixels, 50 million pixels
• Craftsmanship: 28+nm Stack (stack type),National supply chain
• core technology：
  • SuperPixGain HDR：110dBUltra-high dynamic range, fusion of three frames in a single exposure
  • AllPix ADAF：100% full pixel focus
  • SFCPixel-2: low noise (<1e-), stronger night scene
• Performance: Sensitivity 2569mV/lux・s (+72% compared to previous generation), power consumption **-10%**

2. Strategic significance

• Domestic CIS breaks through the 1-inch flagship main camera barrier for the first time, benchmarking against Sony and Samsung
• Helping domestic mobile phone imaging upgrades and accelerating the autonomy of high-end supply chains

5. Intel: 18A process sprints into mass production, 14A is built according to customer orders

1. Process strategy (letter from CEO Chen Liwu to employees)

• 18A（1.8nm）：priority, in risk mass production,Mass production by the end of 2025
  • First product: Panther Lake processor (client)
  • Powered by PowerVia backside, High-NA EUV lithography
• 14A（1.4nm）：
  • Locate foundry nodes,Invest according to customer confirmation order
  • Risk mass production is expected in 2027, the industry’s first High-NA EUV node

2. OEM transformation

• Moving from IDMFoundry 2.0, open advanced processes to external customers
• Jointly define 14A with major customers to ensure economical investment

6. Industry Summary and Trends

1. Market differentiation：AI Storage (SK Hynix) > Analog (TI) > MCU / Automotive (ST/NXP)
2. M&A integration: ST acquires NXP MEMS to strengthen automotive sensor barriers
3. Domestic breakthrough: SmartSite 1-inch CIS, RISC-V, and automotive-grade chips accelerate replacement
4. Advanced process: Intel 18A competes with TSMC 2nm, 14A cautiously expands production
5. demand driven: Industrial recovery, AI computing power, and tariff preparation are the short-term main lines; automobile electrification, robots, and humanoid machines are the long-term tracks.