A major Japanese PCB manufacturer, CMK Corporation (TYO: 6958), announced on November 6 a reduction in its revenue and operating profit forecasts for fiscal year 2024 (April 2024 - March 2025) due to continued weak demand in the automotive PCB sector and challenging order conditions. Despite these revisions, CMK maintained its net profit forecast, which was higher than market expectations, sending its shares soaring.

According to Yahoo Finance, as of 9:30 a.m. Taipei time on November 7, CMK's stock jumped 4.15% to 427 yen, having reached a two-month high of 444 yen earlier in the session.

In its earnings report, CMK lowered its full-year revenue projection from 94 billion yen to 92 billion yen, now representing a 1.6% year-over-year increase. Operating profit guidance was also cut from 5 billion yen to 3.8 billion yen, indicating a 7.7% increase. However, due to a weaker yen against the U.S. dollar and Thai baht, CMK retained its net profit forecast of 3.5 billion yen, a 9.2% year-on-year decrease, outperforming the QUICK survey's consensus forecast of 3.35 billion yen.

For the first half of fiscal 2024 (April-September), CMK posted a 7.1% year-over-year increase in revenue to 46.28 billion yen. Operating profit surged by 209.2% to 1.766 billion yen, and net profit soared by 241.7% to 2.595 billion yen, supported by foreign exchange gains of 1.96 billion yen.

Regionally, CMK's revenue in Japan rose by 0.7% to 27.278 billion yen, with operating profit up 230.6% to 1.051 billion yen. In China, revenue grew 14.6% to 9.237 billion yen, although operating profit declined by 15.4% to 621 million yen. Southeast Asia saw a 27.1% revenue increase to 7.375 billion yen, with operating profit reaching 441 million yen, compared to an operating loss of 203 million yen in the prior year. In Europe and North America, revenue rose by 5.0% to 2.384 billion yen, while operating profit grew 3.8% to 173 million yen.

In a related development, Meiko Electronics, another major Japanese PCB manufacturer, raised its full-year earnings forecast on November 6, citing strong orders, with expectations to achieve record net profit.