On October 13, DRAM maker Nanya Technology reported Q3 2026 results at its earnings call, with revenue and net profit hitting record highs and gross margin climbing to a record 85.7%. GM Lee Pei-Ing expects DRAM ASPs to keep rising in Q4, with room for further margin gains.
Q3 revenue was NT$133.649 billion**, up **611.7% year-over-year** and **61.9% quarter-over-quarter**; gross profit was **NT$114.482 billion at an 85.7% margin, up 6.2 points QoQ; operating profit was NT$106.894 billion** at an **80.0% margin**, up **6.3 points QoQ**; after-tax net profit was **NT$87.627 billion, up 5,474% year-over-year and 117.2% QoQ, a 65.6% net margin, with EPS of NT$25.40**. For the first three quarters of 2026, cumulative after-tax net profit was **NT$163.877 billion, EPS NT$49.28**, and net value per share was **NT$118.99 as of September 30.
Growth was driven by AI compute demand expanding the DRAM market, with consumer memory supply for phones and PCs tightening. Q3 DRAM ASP rose over 60% QoQ, while unit sales dipped slightly on higher prices. Nanya, long focused on niche DRAM, has pushed into AI, with server, networking, and storage AI infrastructure revenue now over 20%. Its AI ASIC memory project with US and Western customers has begun small-volume shipments, with expansion to follow customer timelines.
Lee said AI applications keep expanding demand for high-capacity, high-bandwidth, customized memory architectures, spreading from HBM and LPDDR5 to networking and storage, with a clear supply-demand gap. AI absorbing capacity has tightened traditional DRAM supply and pushed prices up; some end customers are cutting specs, reducing memory usage, extending product lifecycles, or using recycled DRAM to control costs. The ASP surge came as some long-term supply agreements expired in June—signed during the memory downcycle—with new contracts from July repriced to market. Industry inventory is low, and makers plan capacity around long-term agreements to stabilize supply. Strategic customers have proposed equity stakes to lock in DRAM capacity, with talks ongoing.
For Q4, the company expects DRAM prices to keep rising, with varying increases by product and margins likely to improve further.
To meet demand, Nanya is raising capex: over NT$50 billion for the full year**, and **over NT$200 billion in 2027. Its board approved the Linkou 5A 12-inch fab, with a maximum investment of NT$346.6 billion—its largest ever and Taiwan's biggest single DRAM investment in nearly 20 years. The fab will be built over four years, adopt EUV, and use a next-gen 10nm-class DRAM process, with 35,900 wafers/month in phase one. Tool move-in starts Q1 2027, reaching 30,000 wafers/month by end-2028 and 50,000 by end-2030, with wafer production starting H2 2027.
A Pingtung Science Park 3D wafer packaging and testing plant is also planned, focused on 3D IC, TSV, and wafer bonding, expected to start production in H2 2028, funded independently by Nanya. The manufacturing team will be in Pingtung, with R&D staying in Linkou, New Taipei. On process R&D, the third-gen 10nm-class 1C process is slated for customer validation in Q1 2027, with 1D, 1E, and EUV advancing on schedule. Expansion will prioritize long-term AI customer orders.
On finances, Nanya holds about NT$270 billion in net cash, enough to cover 2027 fab tool move-in capex without new debt, while keeping ample net cash. On mainland DRAM expansion, Nanya said the past decade of capacity growth did not significantly disrupt the industry, and actual production scale remains to be seen. Global DRAM makers mostly tie expansion to long-term supply agreements, supporting stable supply-demand. On employee incentives, bonuses will be based on revenue and gross margin metrics, with Q3 bonuses expected to exceed Q2.
ICgoodFind Summary: Nanya's quarterly net profit surged 54x with DRAM ASPs up over 60% QoQ, showing memory makers' profit elasticity at its extreme as AI crowds out capacity. Strategic customers seeking equity stakes to lock capacity signals this shortage runs deeper than standard contract frameworks.
