X-FAB: orders up 38% in the third quarter, but net loss of $2.8M
X-FAB published its third-quarter results on October 29, 2026, showing two distinct trends. Order intake reached $224.7M, up 38% year on year and 30% quarter on quarter, and the order backlog grew 7% to $313.6M.
Year on year, the income statement remains down: EBITDA fell 30% to $37.5M, and net income was a loss of $2.8M, compared with a profit of $16.6M a year earlier. Compared with the second quarter, EBITDA and operating income are up.
Revenue within announced range, profitability down year on year
Revenue of the specialty semiconductor foundry came to $194.4M, down 15% year on year and 3% quarter on quarter.
Excluding the impact of revenue recognized over time (IFRS 15 standard), it reached $200.7M (-12% year on year, +2% quarter on quarter), within the announced range of $195M to $205M.
EBITDA fell 30% year on year to $37.5M, representing a margin of 19.3% compared with 23.6% in the third quarter of 2025. It rose 12% compared with the second quarter, whose margin stood at 16.8%.
Excluding IFRS 15, the EBITDA margin reached 18.6%, within the 17% to 20% range targeted by the group. The gross margin stood at 16.3%, compared with 21.1% a year earlier and 15.3% in the second quarter.
Operating income came to $4.3M, down 82% year on year and up 107% quarter on quarter.
Net income was a loss of $2.8M, compared with a profit of $16.6M a year earlier and a loss of $14.8M in the second quarter. The loss per share of $0.02 compares with an average loss of $0.09 anticipated by the analysts surveyed.
Over the first nine months, EBITDA reached $105.3M compared with $154.5M a year earlier, for a margin of 17.9% compared with 23.8%. Cumulative net income stood at -$16.7M, compared with a profit of $28.4M over the same period of 2025.
Orders up 38% year on year, backlog at $313.6M
The main change this quarter concerns demand. Order intake reached $224.7M, its highest level in two years, bringing the order-to-revenue ratio to 1.12.
The order backlog stood at $313.6M at the end of the quarter, up 7% from $291.8M recorded three months earlier. According to the group, the growth in orders and backlog supports expectations of a recovery in the second half of 2026.
In automotive, the largest market with $119.1M in revenue (-19% year on year, +3% quarter on quarter), X-FAB indicates that inventory adjustments no longer weighed on order intake, which increased sharply. The industrial segment reached $49.6M (+4% year on year, +10% quarter on quarter), mainly driven by silicon carbide.
The Wide Bandgap activity (silicon carbide and gallium nitride) generated $16.2M, up 68% year on year and 52% quarter on quarter, with a “record” number of SiC wafers sold. In gallium nitride, the number of customers in development rose from six to twelve over twelve months.
Conversely, medical declined to $19.1M (-10% year on year, -9% quarter on quarter), notably due to lower orders from a major customer. The Smart CMOS & SOI activity stood at $158.6M, down 17% year on year and up 1% quarter on quarter.
A fourth quarter targeted between $205M and $215M in revenue
For the fourth quarter of 2026, X-FAB expects revenue between $205M and $215M excluding IFRS 15 impact, with an EBITDA margin between 19% and 22%, based on an average exchange rate of 1.14 USD/euro. Analysts anticipated on average $221M in revenue for this quarter.
Cash stood at $196.0M at the end of the quarter, up $32.5M over the quarter, and net debt reached $315.5M, up $3.2M. Financing cash flows amounted to $31.5M, with $87.2M in borrowing proceeds and $43.7M in repayments.
Capital expenditure for the quarter reached $31.8M, reduced to $29.9M after the first payment of the funding provided under the EU Chips Act for the new microsystems plant in Erfurt. Work on this project, named Fab4Micro and supported by €127.4M, had started on October 5, 2026.
“Order intake reached its highest level in two years, and the capacity utilization rate of our plants is rising,” said Damien Macq, the group's chief executive officer.
The most structuring fact of this publication remains this level of orders of $224.7M, 12% higher than the quarter's revenue excluding IFRS 15.
