Amkor Technology Inc

NASDAQ:AMKR

Earnings Call Analysis

Quarterly Performance and Future Outlook

Amkor delivered second quarter revenue of $1.46 billion, a 7% sequential increase, driven by advanced SiP and 2.5D technology. Despite a slight decline in gross margin to 14.5%, gross profit rose 5% to $212 million. Net income for the quarter was $67 million, translating to $0.27 per share. The company expects a robust third quarter with revenue projected at $1.835 billion, a 26% sequential increase, primarily from premium tier smartphones and a new wearable product. Gross margin is expected to be between 14% and 16%, with net income between $105 million and $140 million, or $0.42 to $0.56 per share. CapEx for the year remains at $750 million.

Quarterly Performance and Strategic Developments

Amkor reported second quarter revenue of $1.46 billion, marking a 7% increase from the previous quarter. This growth was driven by strong demand for advanced System-in-Package (SiP) and 2.5D technology, key components in premium smartphones and AI solutions. Despite a slight decline in gross margins to 14.5%, the company's gross profit rose by 5% to $212 million. Operating expenses were lower than anticipated at $131 million, but the third quarter is expected to see a rise due to costs associated with their new factory in Vietnam. Overall, Amkor posted a net income of $67 million for Q2, translating to earnings per share (EPS) of $0.27. EBITDA for the quarter stood at $247 million, corresponding to an EBITDA margin of 16.9%.

Q3 and Full-Year Expectations

For the third quarter, Amkor projects revenue to surge by 26% to approximately $1.835 billion. This increase is primarily driven by ramping up advanced SiP products supporting the launch of new premium smartphones and a next-generation consumer wearable product. Although high bandwidth memory constraints might limit revenue growth, especially in AI devices, the company anticipates gross margins to range between 14% and 16% due to a higher material content. Net income for Q3 is expected to climb to $105-$140 million, resulting in EPS of $0.42-$0.56, representing more than an 80% increase compared to Q2. The full-year capital expenditure (CapEx) forecast remains at $750 million, focusing on expanding 2.5D and advanced SiP packaging capacities as well as manufacturing facilities expansion. The company signed a preliminary memorandum with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $400 million in funding under the Chips and Science Act, aiding the development of a new facility in Arizona.

End Market Dynamics

In the communications sector, revenues grew 10% sequentially due to a seasonal increase in premium smartphone builds. Notably, revenue from the Android supply chain, while slightly down sequentially, showed strong 20% year-on-year growth. Conversely, the automotive and industrial market segments faced challenges, with a 2% sequential revenue decline as demand remained weak and inventory corrections continued. Despite these short-term issues, the long-term outlook remains optimistic due to increasing semiconductor content in vehicles driven by advances in ADAS, electrification, infotainment, and telematics. In the computing market, revenues increased by 20%, fueled by demand for AI devices and ARM-based PCs. However, supply constraints in high bandwidth memory are expected to limit further revenue growth in this segment.

Operational Challenges and Strategic Moves

The second quarter saw Amkor navigate various operational challenges, including low utilization rates in several factories and a capacity ramp for 2.5D technology in Korea. The company also qualified advanced SiP and memory technology in Vietnam while preparing for the third-quarter ramp. Significant progress was made on the advanced packaging and test facility in Arizona, supported by a preliminary agreement for Chips Act funding. With these strategic initiatives, Amkor aims to strengthen its manufacturing scale and innovation to meet increasing market demands.

Future Growth and Industry Position

Looking forward, Amkor remains confident in the fundamental growth drivers of the semiconductor industry. The company expects the communications market to continue showing strength into the second half of the year, driven by seasonal smartphone demand and the launch of a new IoT wearable device, forecasted to grow by up to 75% sequentially. Continued expansion in the 2.5D technology capacity is also expected to drive future growth, with full-year 2.5D revenue projected to quadruple compared to 2023. The company is also fostering strong partnerships with leading semiconductor firms and expanding globally to capitalize on industry mega-trends, thereby positioning itself for sustained growth as it exits the current market cycle.

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q2

[Operator]

Good day, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Amkor Technology Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Diego, and I will be your conference facilitator today. Please note, we are having some system issues with our webcast and slide technology. So if you're connected via the webcast, you may not see the slide presentation, but you will hear the audio of this webcast via the webcast link. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the call over to Jennifer Jue, Head of Investor Relations. Ms. Jue, please go ahead.

[Jennifer Jue, executive]

Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Amkor's Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Joining me today are Giel Rutten, our Chief Executive Officer; and Megan Faust, our Chief Financial Officer. Our earnings press release was filed with the SEC this afternoon and is available on the Investor Relations page of our website, along with the presentation slides that accompany today's call.

During this presentation, we will use non-GAAP financial measures, and you can find the reconciliation to the U.S. GAAP equivalent on our website. We will make forward-looking statements about our expectations for Amkor's future performance based on the environment as we currently see it. Of course, actual results could differ. Please refer to our press release and SEC filings for information on risk factors, uncertainties and exceptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations. Please note that the financial results discussed today are preliminary, and final data will be included in our Form 10-Q.

And now I'll turn the call over to Giel.

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Thank you, Jennifer. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining the call today. Amkor delivered second quarter performance in line with expectations with revenue of $1.46 billion and EPS of $0.27. Total revenue increased 7% sequentially, driven by demand for advanced packaging, notably for premium tier smartphones and 2.5D technology for AI solutions.

During the quarter, we maintained focus on our strategic pillars to elevate our leadership position. We successfully brought online additional capacity for 2.5D technology in Korea and qualified advanced SiP and memory technology in Vietnam to support production ramps in the third quarter. Additionally, we are excited that we have reached a significant milestone in establishing a U.S. manufacturing presence for advanced packaging. We aligned on a nonbinding preliminary memorandum of terms with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $400 million in grants under the Chips and Science Act. These funds will support building a new facility in Arizona, enabling advanced packaging and test for high-performance computing, AI, communications and automotive markets. We look forward to being part of a strong ecosystem of front-end fabs, IDMs and suppliers in establishing a resilient U.S. semiconductor supply chain.

Now let me review the current dynamics in each of our end markets. Revenue in the communications end market increased 10% sequentially. Within the iOS ecosystem, we experienced a larger than seasonal increase driven by bills for the full launch of premium tier smartphones. Revenue within the Android supply chain declined slightly sequentially, but still showed a strong 20% year-on-year growth. Our advanced packaging technology supports a wide range of applications and functionality throughout the phone. With our advanced SiP technologies for heterogeneous integration together with our proprietary flip chip package on package technologies, we support the full range of applications from RF and camera to the latest AI-enabled processors that require high-speed and high-density interconnect with fine pitch bonding.

Revenue from our automotive and industrial end market was down 2% sequentially. The coverage in this market is taking longer than anticipated due to weak demand and ongoing inventory corrections. Despite these near-term dynamics, we believe the long-term drivers for growth remain intact. Semiconductor content per car is expected to continue to increase, driven by the proliferation of ADAS, electrification, infotainment and telematics all requiring advanced packaging technology.

Amkor is the leading automotive [ OSAT ] and has multiple decades of experience meeting the stringent requirements of the automotive industry. With a broad portfolio of advanced and mainstream technologies and establish large-scale manufacturing base in critical regions like Europe and Japan and trusted relationships with key customers in the automotive supply chain, Amkor is well positioned to support the secular growth in this market when it exits the current cycle.

Revenue from the computing end market increased 20% sequentially, driven by strength in AI devices and several new product introductions for ARM-based PCs. We executed on our planned expansion for 2.5 week capacity for AI devices more than tripling our capacity versus second quarter of 2023. In the third quarter, we expect constraints and high bandwidth memory supply to limit revenue growth.

Amkor is leading the OSAT supply chain with the deployment of 2.5D technology. And with the robust demand and additional capacities, we now expect the full year 2.5D revenue to quadruple versus 2023 levels. We continue to partner with multiple customers on next-generation technologies utilizing organic interposers and expect those solutions to be brought to market in the first half of 2025. Revenue from the consumer end market decreased 6% sequentially, driven by the wind down of legacy IoT devices ahead of the expected ramp-up of next-generation products. Traditional consumer product demand has been muted, but the high-volume production ramp of a new wearable product utilizing advanced SiP technology is expected to start in the third quarter. Consumer IoT devices require many authorization with increasing levels of integration. Our advanced SIP technology for heterogeneous integration positions us well to meet these requirements and our new Vietnam facility enables us to continue to drive manufacturing scale and innovation.

During the second quarter, our manufacturing organization had to manage multiple challenges. On one hand, several factories still showed low utilization where focus was on cost control while maintaining high-quality standards. On the other hand, we executed the capacity ramp for 2.5D technology in Korea, qualified advanced SiP and memory technology in Vietnam and prepared for the steep seasonal ramp in the third quarter. Additionally, the team further progressed with our advanced packaging and test facility in Arizona by advancing factory design and construction planning and working with customers to develop the technology road map and capacity loading scenarios. During the second half of the year, cost and quality, together with managing a steep seasonal ramp, will remain top priorities.

Now let me turn to our third quarter outlook. Considering current market conditions, we expect third quarter revenue of $1.835 billion at the midpoint of guidance. This represents sequential growth of 26%, driven by advanced packaging in support of the seasonal launch of premium tier smartphones, the ramp of a new consumer wearable device and continued strong demand in high-performance computing and ARM-based PCs. The slower-than-expected recovery in the automotive and industrial markets, together with the continued weak demand in traditional data centers has dampened anticipated growth in the third quarter. Looking forward, we remain confident that the secular growth drivers for the industry remain in place. With our strong technology leadership in advanced packaging, a uniquely diversified global footprint and partnerships with lead customers, we are well positioned to accelerate while exiting this cycle.

With that, I will now turn the call over to Megan to provide more detailed financial information.

[Megan Faust, executive]

Thank you, Giel, and good afternoon, everyone. Amkor delivered second quarter revenue of $1.46 billion. This was in line with guidance and represents a 7% sequential increase driven by strength in advanced SiP and 2.5D technology. Second quarter gross profit was $212 million, and gross margin was 14.5%. While gross margin declined modestly from Q1 due to higher material content, gross profit dollars expanded 5%.

The Operating expenses for the quarter came in lower than expected at $131 million. We expect Q2 to be the peak for operating expenses in 2024 due to preparation costs for our factory in Vietnam. We are on track to begin production in Vietnam in Q3, and we expect a portion of the cost to move to cost of goods sold when production begins.

Operating income was $82 million, and operating income margin was 5.6%. The Net income for the second quarter was $67 million, resulting in EPS of $0.27. Second quarter EBITDA was $247 million and EBITDA margin was 16.9%. Our balance sheet remains strong. We ended the quarter with $1.5 billion of cash and short-term investments and total liquidity of $2.2 billion. Our total debt as of the end of the quarter is $1.1 billion, and our debt-to-EBITDA ratio is 1x.

Moving on to our third quarter outlook. We expect Q3 revenue of around $1.835 billion, representing a significant sequential increase of 26%. Our Q3 increase is primarily driven by advanced SiP products, supporting the fall launch of premium tier smartphones as well as a next-generation consumer wearable product. While we have expanded our capacity for 2.5D technology supporting AI devices, high bandwidth memory constraints may limit sequential revenue growth. Given the soft demand and ongoing inventory corrections in the automotive and industrial market, we anticipate this end market may stay fairly flat compared to Q2.

We expect gross margin to be between 14% and 16%. We are anticipating a higher than seasonal material content due to a product mix concentrated in advanced SiP. While this does constrain gross margin, absolute profitability will expand at a much higher growth rate than revenue. We expect Q3 operating expenses of around $125 million. We expect our full year effective tax rate to be around 18%. Third quarter net income is expected to be between $105 million and $140 million, resulting in EPS of $0.42 to $0.56, this represents more than an 80% increase in profitability compared to Q2.

Our CapEx forecast for the year remains at $750 million. Our investments are primarily focused on increasing advanced packaging capacity for 2.5D and advanced SiP as well as expanding select manufacturing facilities. Last week, Amkor signed a nonbinding preliminary memorandum of terms with the U.S. Department of Commerce to receive up to $400 million in direct funding as a part of the Chips and Science Act. We are proud to be the leading advanced packaging and test OSAT headquartered in the U.S. and this milestone underscores our commitment to ensuring U.S. semiconductor manufacturing security and innovation.

In closing, Amkor continues to execute on our three strategic pillars. First, technology leadership by providing expanded capacity to support growing demand for 2.5D enabling AI; second, expanding our broad geographic footprint by hitting a significant milestone with our U.S. manufacturing plans and signing a preliminary memorandum of terms for Chips funding; and third, our focus on industry mega trends. We believe that the secular growth drivers for the industry remain in place and that our partnerships with leading semiconductor companies will drive growth as we exit the cycle.

With that, we will now open the call up for your questions. Operator?

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] And our first question comes from Tom Diffely with D.A. Davidson.

[Thomas Diffely, analyst]

A few questions. Megan, first question on the model itself. When you look at the margin guidance versus previous expectations for incremental gross margins as you ramped up revenue. I'm curious, how big of an impact is it moving from the operating expense line to the gross margin line of this new facility? What is the relative kind of quarter-over-quarter impact of that?

[Megan Faust, executive]

Tom, with respect to the Vietnam production facility going online, that movement from operating expenses, the order of magnitude isn't going to be that much more than what you're seeing in our guide between Q2 and Q3 going down. So that's less than $10 million. That is not the biggest impact to the Q3 margin guidance.

[Thomas Diffely, analyst]

So when you look at the Q3 margin guidance and what is the biggest impact that's kind of counteracting the -- just the revenue growth, incremental margin?

[Megan Faust, executive]

Yes. So really, what's happening with respect to our Q3 profitability is it's a function of utilization as it relates to certain products and product mix. So while we are anticipating an increase in our utilization in Q3, probably in the low 70s, the way that, that's spreading amongst our factories is very dynamic. We have high utilization in factories such as Korea that are supporting advanced SIP while others are much lower than expected and as what we had estimated previously. And that's really due to some ongoing lower demand in our traditional consumer, traditional data center. And as we had mentioned in our prepared remarks, in the automotive and industrial. So with respect to those dynamics, we are going to see a peak seasonal material content in Q3. So that's the biggest driver that will constrain flow-through. That is just a function of demand and product mix. It's not a structural cost. So that's where your first question about the Vietnam cost, it's not structural. In fact, the manufacturing costs estimated for Q3, which we characterize as labor, depreciation and COGS that excludes materials. Those are only going to increase in the [ mid-single ] digits as compared to the 26% increase in revenue.

[Thomas Diffely, analyst]

And then Giel, when you look at the PC and the server market, you talked about how some of the new PCs were getting more active, but yet the servers are still pretty weak. Is that different than normal seasonality? Is there seasonality in that? Or is it really just a cyclical impact that you see in the PC and servers?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Yes, Tom. Let me try to give a little bit of color there. Well, first of all, we see some initial recovery in the general PC market, where we see specific growth for Amkor is in the ARM-based PCs and they were ramping up start in Q1, and that goes into Q4 of this year with significant ramps and that goes across multiple customers here. So it's the general PC market gradually recovering and very specifically ARM-based PCs, that's where we have a good position, it's ramping up in the course of this year.

[Thomas Diffely, analyst]

And then just on the service side, what's your expectation for that recovery?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Sorry, can you repeat?

[Thomas Diffely, analyst]

Just for the server Chips and the server market itself?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Well, I mean, the server market is a broad market. I mean if we take the category of based servers, then we expect that to continue to grow into the remaining part of this year and also into 2025. for the conventional service, we still see weakness. We believe that in data centers, the investments that are being made by the hyperscalers are really tuned towards the AI servers and that means that the more, let's say, conventional servers are still fairly weak. So far, I cannot report an improvement there.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Charles Shi with Needham & Company.

[Yu Shi, analyst]

I want to ask a couple of questions. first, glad to hear that you guys are getting tractions on the organic interpose. You will come to the market in first half next year 2025, I wonder, can you provide us a little bit more color because I believe you have three customers on your 2.5D [indiscernible] at least that was the case 90 days ago. I wonder if you can give an update. And two, what's the mix in terms of engagement with your customers? How many are sticking with the silicon in the poster and how many are actually looking at [ organic interposer ramp ] with you in first half of next year? And if I may, just the third part of this question would be the tools you put in place for silicon interposer base of 2.5D versus organic interposer base of 2.5D are they fungible?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Let me start with the last part of your question with respect to the tools that we are investing in. A bit more specifics there. I think we had the first tranche of investments finalized in the second quarter. And we went for [indiscernible] the same order of magnitude of investment that will become available in the early part of 2025, late this year, early part of 2025.

Most of these tools are fungible across wafer-based technologies. So that's both 2.5D with interposer as well as what you call organic interposal or high-density fan-out technology. Now with respect to the transition from one technology to another for the organic interposer, we are engaged with a broad range of customers let's say, between 5 and 10 customers. We're currently running pilot production initial runs, and we expect to ramp into mass production early 2025. That engagement is broader from a customer engagement perspective and also from a product portfolio perspective. If we take the traditional 2.5D with interposer then we indeed have in the order of magnitude of 3 to 5 customers where we run, let's say, a variable, let's say, volume production currently and we expect that to continue into 2025 also. So although initially, there was expected a faster change over one month technology to another. We now see that 2.5 will continue well into 2025.

[Yu Shi, analyst]

May I ask a second question, maybe to Megan. Megan, I think you previously expect 30% half-over-half revenue growth understandably, there's a little bit of softness still in auto in traditional consumer, 2.5D, brand it looks like there is some upstream constraints on the [ HPM ] side. Does that change that 30% half-over-half growth outlook you originally thought that it's going to be the case, let's say, 90 days ago?

[Megan Faust, executive]

Charles, Yes. So while there may have been some mix shift changes and we did perform slightly better in the second quarter than expected, our full year top line expectations have not fundamentally changed. We are expecting a muted first half followed by a stronger than seasonal significant growth in the second half. And what's driving that is also consistent with respect to our strong seasonal ILS launch cycle, our new consumer wearable program. We have installed and have incremental capacity for our 2.5D. However, that will be limited somewhat with some of the high-bandwidth memory constraints and really, the only change then is with respect to the ongoing automotive and industrial continuing to be weak.

However, for automotive and industrial, we do expect Q2 to be the trough and we are expecting some mild recovery and increase in Q3. So overall, with respect to the shape of the year with Q1 and Q2 outperforming somewhat, that might have adjusted the shape, but the full year expectations are the same.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Randy Abrams with UBS.

[Randy Abrams, analyst]

I wanted to follow up just on the prior comments you made on outlook. Just a couple of clarifications. One on the HBM constraints. Is that a view? Is it a production or yield issue that's limiting the ramp up? And is there a visibility or how your feeling is how long that constraint holds.

And then I wanted to step up. I think your full year relatively unchanged despite a little bit impacts on third quarter. So if you could give an initial view, just the tail end of the year fourth quarter, are you seeing above seasonal? And where do you see us kind of drivers continuing into Q4?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Okay. Let me try to give a little bit color on the high-bandwidth memory constraints. Now currently, we're working with all three suppliers for high-bandwidth memory. So we're fully qualified for all three -- the constraint is not related to yield. It's related to supply from high-bandwidth memories, mostly from the biggest supplier there. It started by the end of the second quarter, and it goes into, let's say, this month, and we expect that the next two months of the third quarter, it will normalize. But overall, it has some impact on further revenue growth in the 2.5D business.

With respect to your second part of the question, what are the drivers in second half growth? There are in line what we expected in the, let's say, at the end of the first quarter, the main drivers are, as Megan already highlighted, the ramp of seasonal launch of -- in the iOS system together with Android recovering. So although that in the second quarter, Android was sequentially slightly down. We still see a 20% year-on-year in the second quarter, and we expect that strength to continue in the remaining part of the year. So definitely, in the communications side, we expect strength in the second half.

Also, the ramp of the IoT earable device, that will be a meaningful contribution in the second half. We executed that qualification, and we expect that ramp to go as planned, as is the 2.5D capacity expansion that we put in place. And there, the outlook, the forecast is in line with expectation and that will grow Megan already mentioned the rebalancing in the automotive and industrial markets that takes slightly longer than expected, although we believe that the second quarter of 2024 is the trough and that from here on, we see a much more balanced supply chain, the inventory situation on most of the subsegments in automotive is much more balanced than it was when we started this year. And the feedback from our customers is that going into Q3, there will be a slight recoveries and then going into Q4 and 2025, the automotive market will go back to original seasonality.

[Megan Faust, executive]

And Randy, just to add to you question about Q4. Our historical seasonality for Q4 is usually a sequential flattish to up or down plus or minus 1%.

[Randy Abrams, analyst]

Okay. But -- and maybe to clarify, I guess two quick follow-ups. The [indiscernible] -- it sounds like your implied as it's rolling all those pieces up should at this stage. It seems like it's a little better.

And I guess the other -- we just had a clarification. The iOS, and it seems like your competitor also [ ceded ] a little earlier build. Is that what you're seeing because I notice second quarter, I think you had a bit. Is it -- do you feel it was a little earlier so cool is that? And then -- or do you think it's actually strong. It feels like it's actually stronger. So that kind of ties to the fourth quarter being better than that flat plus or minus.

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[Giel Rutten, executive]

Yes. We believe it's for the iOS ramp, we saw second quarter revenue better than expected. In my view, there are two elements to this. One is indeed an early build for the second half ramp. And also, we saw a very large correction in the first quarter so I believe that correction was probably too significant, and therefore, it needs to be corrected a little bit in the second quarter. So two main effects. The net effect is more strength in the second quarter, but we also expect that to continue in the third and fourth quarter.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Craig Ellis with B. Riley Securities.

[Craig Ellis, analyst]

I wanted to follow up on some comments that seem to have been a theme through a number of prior questions, and it relates to the changes in [indiscernible] versus three months ago in Ottawa Industrial, the traditional server part of the PC market. And some of the upstream constraints in high-bandwidth memory. I'm wondering if it's possible to one just rank those in terms of how they're impacting the business in the third quarter versus what you would have expected three months ago? And then in aggregate, can you quantify what that impact is versus what you were thinking back in the April 10 [ print ]?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Megan, can you comment to that?

[Megan Faust, executive]

Yes. So Craig, I'll give some color there. One, we didn't guide Q3 a quarter ago. So just want to establish that there that there's really not a baseline for us to compared to. But as far as it does really, we did indicate the margin profile, which would have had a product mix associated with that.

The auto and industrial, we had expected that to start to recover faster than it is. So that's probably the largest of the three that you mentioned, followed by the traditional data center. That one also has continued to decline. It's more difficult to see that within our computing segment because that's being offset by the strength in ARM-based PCs as well as the really significant 2.5D. And last, that's not -- that is impacting Q3 is, as Giel mentioned, a bit of a slower start on the incremental capacity that we've installed given some of that high bandwidth memory constraints that we are seeing start to come back through. So from that perspective, that's the order of magnitude on those three items.

[Craig Ellis, analyst]

The second thing I wanted to do is just understand the [ ANI ] market dynamic a little bit better. So it's encouraging to see that the business should be up a little bit in 3Q. The question may be more for Giel regarding what you're hearing from some of your bigger customers in that area. And admittedly, there might be a lot of smaller ones, but what are they indicating about the timing of when that business really starts to come back? Would it gain materially in the fourth quarter? Or are they setting an expectation that it really isn't coming back to something resembling prior health until 2025?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Yes, that's a good question, Craig. From the customer feedback, I can give you a bit of color here. First of all, on calling the second quarter this year, the trough quarter for automotive, that seems to be across our customer base, a consistent message. There are a few exceptions there, but the portfolio that they serve for the automotive market is slightly different. So if you look to our own exposure to the automotive market, then our customers really consistently give us the message the second quarter is the trough. Going from here, and if you take the impact on [ MCOS ] revenue on a year-on-year basis, it's roughly 20% down in automotive and industrial. So from here on, we expect a gradual improvement.

Now if we take the, let's say, the improvement in the second -- in the third quarter, it's still moderate, let's say, low to mid-single digit up versus the second quarter, but we expect that improvement to continue, but it will continue well into 2025 before we are back to our normal run rate. That's one thing.

Second thing is, of course, for us, it's very important to check our market position and validate that. And we are convinced that we're still gaining market share in the automotive markets. And you may have seen the announcement in Europe with one of the bigger power companies in automotive for silicon carbide, where we're investing or co-investing in our factory in Portugal. And that project continues as planned. And actually, to some extent, we're accelerating there because they expect that the demands going towards the second half 2025 and 2026 is actually increasing. So overall, yes, step-by-step improvements into Q3, Q4 and further improvement into 2025 to exactly predict when we are back at the full run rate is difficult to say. Although some feedback from customers gives also the indication that the Tier 1s and the OEMs are actually sort of overreacting to the, let's say, inventory situation. So currently, some of the Tier 1s seem to go back to a 2-week inventory level. So you may see a swing there getting out of this correction in 2025. But for now, I think that's our assumption.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Ben Reitzes with Melius Research.

[Benjamin Reitzes, analyst]

I wanted to talk about gross margin and utilization rates. So if you could just discuss the puts and takes on gross margin as we head into the second half, it looks like about a 0.5 point improvement on the midpoint in the 3Q, and I was wondering if you were going to get more leverage in the 4Q, how material that could be, given the pace of sales? And then I know you had a depreciation benefit in the prior quarter. I just was wondering if there's any other puts and takes we need to be thinking about with regard to what we just saw in your outlook.

[Megan Faust, executive]

Ben, Okay. So with respect to our Q3 guide with 15% at the midpoint for gross margin, utilization is what is constraining that, which has been I would say, had an impact on the product mix based on the nature of the products that are underutilized or the factories that are underutilized. So with respect to our automotive and industrial being weaker than expected. That is having an impact on what we would say are highly profitable products as well as the 2.5D where we're not seeing the magnitude of sequential growth that we would have anticipated.

That being said, we are seeing really strong growth as it relates to communications and consumers that is primarily supported by our advanced SiP technology, and that has a very high material content. So while that is constraining the gross margin to around 15%, we are seeing very significant bottom line earnings expansion. So you'll note that our bottom line EPS is growing more than 80%. So there continues to be significant leverage in our financial model.

You also asked about potential Q4 puts and takes while we're not guiding Q4 at this time. We do anticipate some of those product mix items to have some growth as Giel has just mentioned with respect to automotive as well as our 2.5D technology specifically.

And then you also asked about the depreciation change in [ useful life ]. That was a $0.05 benefit and had an impact of around 100 basis points in Q1. That's a fairly similar impact for Q2. That will also be similar, albeit it will somewhat decline as we get into the second half and some of those assets roll off. Did that address your question, Ben?

[Benjamin Reitzes, analyst]

Yes. So the depreciation was bill -- a $0.05 benefit in the quarter you just had, and it will diminish as you go throughout the year, is that right?

[Megan Faust, executive]

Correct, comparable to Q1.

[Benjamin Reitzes, analyst]

And then just with regard to the interposer comment that Giel made that for the first half of '25, is there anything that we need to be aware of with regard to seasonality or impact on margin as you make that transition and help those customers move to that? Is there something that with regard to the model, when it comes out that we should be aware of?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Well, a few comments there, Ben. With respect to the organic interposer versus the 2.5D with interposer, the value adds that we deliver in organic interposer is more significant, is larger than for 2.5D because there we procure the interposer. That interpose is not present there, but we delivered basically an organic interpose ourselves. So we expect some uplift in March in that transition. How that transition exactly pans out depends on the product changeover and what we're currently seeing is that products in all the technologies seem to last longer and that some of the newer products may be launched a little bit later than expected. But that's the impact that we have foreseen.

[Benjamin Reitzes, analyst]

So it's safe to say just pulling back that communications and -- are better than expected, and that's continuing throughout the year. Is that the same case with the AI PC? Or is the AI PC -- because there's been some reports that the AI PC has been a little muted, but you're saying it's going to increase sequentially throughout the year. So I believe that hits in the computing segment. So are you seeing strength in the AI PC area? Like you are in smartphones? Or are you seeing it kind of below expectations? That's my final question.

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Overall, the absolute revenue in AI PC is still small. However, I mean, the transition from x86 to ARM architecture is definitely an upside for Amkor. And we believe that we have a good market position there.

We started with our lead customers three generations ago, and they are currently ramping up. They're also expanding their own silicon in that same PC. So that gives us more traction. But also a second customer that launched their products that seem to be very attractive for the PC makers. And they're now launching new products in the market with that architecture. So we believe it will have [ lags ] and it will further grow. Some specifics over the growth during the year or in the year, we see that over the quarters, there is a step-up quarter-on-quarter and from what we see now, that will continue into 2025.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Toshiya Hari with Goldman Sachs.

[Toshiya Hari, analyst]

My first one is on Q3. Your Q3 revenue guide, Megan, you mentioned auto industrial should be up modestly if I caught that right. Curious how you're thinking about comms, consumer and computing. Comms from a seasonal seasonality perspective, I'm guessing strong double digits. But computing in particular, with some of the HPM constraints that you spoke to, can that business grow double digits? Or is it more like single digits? Any sort of quantitative context there would be super helpful.

[Megan Faust, executive]

Toshiya, I can give you some color there. So as I mentioned, automotive, we said would have a mild growth sequentially. As it relates to computing, we aren't seeing that double-digit growth that was possible given some of the dynamics with the high-bandwidth memory constraints. So that's also going to be in the low to mid-single digits for computing. Communications is going to be very strong. Historically, we've seen very, very strong sequential communications ramp. That being said, we did have a stronger than seasonal Q2 so that Q3 seasonality will probably be a little bit softer. But overall, it will be very significant. Consumer, however, with our new launch of a IoT wearable device that will have the largest percentage increase sequentially for the quarter, and that can be up to 75% or more sequential growth given the scale of that launch.

[Toshiya Hari, analyst]

And then as my follow-up, a multipart question on the U.S. facility. I know it's early, but just wanted to get a feel as to how you're thinking about Arizona. So timing of CapEx or capital spending outlay over the next couple of years, several years, in terms of chipset funding, how does that come through -- and again, long term. What percentage of capacity do you expect to have in the U.S. and the cost competitiveness of your facility in the U.S. vis-a-vis your current locations? Any color around that would be very, very helpful.

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Well, let me start and then Megan can help on the financial part, Toshi. The facility that we're planning to build in the U.S. is a sizable facility. I think we started off with a 40,000 square meter clean room. And currently, we're working with the design companies to look at closer to a 60,000 square meter clean room, so it's sizable.

How much will it contribute to Amkor total? I think it will be less than 10%, significantly less than 10% of our total but that's the order of magnitude that we will grow to in the future. The rate of growth and which customers and which technologies that we will ramp up. I think that's currently under evaluation. We are working with customers on the road map and on the ramp scenarios for [indiscernible] and there is definitely a high interest in the high-performance computing parts but also in the communication part. So early to tell, but it's a significant sizable facility in the size of what we're currently having in our K5 facility in Korea. And the same technologies will run in the U.S. as what we're currently running in Korea.

[Megan Faust, executive]

I can add a few comments on the investment. As far as it relates to '24, this won't have any material impact on our 2024 investment. We'll start to see some of that CapEx come into play in 2025 as we're planning to break ground in the second half of 2025. But the most significant investments, which will include our machinery and equipment those will happen in '26 and '27. So as it relates to Chips funding, it's a bit too early to tell. Typically, those will lag the investments themselves. So as we get closer, we'll update you. With respect to '25, we do anticipate being able to continue in our low teens capital intensity.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Krish Sankar with TD Cowen.

[Sreekrishnan Sankarnarayanan, analyst]

I have the first question, you mentioned [indiscernible] AI and ARM-based compute are strong. I understand this is very small. Is there a way to quantify how much [indiscernible] the complete revenue to total revenues is [ today ]. And where could it be exiting [ down into '24 ]? And how do you think about the shape of that growth longer [indiscernible]?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Chris, the line is not very clear. But the part of your question, the second part was, as I understood it well, the revenue contribution of AI currently. What I can say there is that we shared the capacity ramp that we triple our capacity by the second quarter of this year and we executed upon that. What we can share on top of that is that we share for 2024, we will quadruple our revenue versus 2023. So it's a significant ramp for the year. The exact percentage of total revenue for Amkor is still in the single digits, but it's growing rapidly.

[Sreekrishnan Sankarnarayanan, analyst]

[indiscernible] revenues. So it's simply small, is it better [ in that ]?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Sorry, I think we missed the line is breaking up. Let me look here at Jennifer. Can you repeat Krish?

[Sreekrishnan Sankarnarayanan, analyst]

Yes. Sorry to [indiscernible] [ compute revenues ]. how much is it today?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Our compute revenue to date as a percentage of total revenue, let me find that for you. It's in the order of 15% to 17% of total revenue.

[Sreekrishnan Sankarnarayanan, analyst]

And [ ARM ] PC? Like there non x86 PCs. How much is that?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

We don't go into the details. I just mentioned before, that, that category of PCs is just ramping up now. We have two main customers being introduced in the market. It's still below $100 million of revenue in the quarter. So it's still relatively small.

[Sreekrishnan Sankarnarayanan, analyst]

And then a follow-up for Megan. Thanks to the [ caller ] on the $40 million in PAT from Chips. But if I understand as well, the $4 million in [indiscernible] you get [indiscernible] it implies [indiscernible] a total of [indiscernible] of your own profit. Is that a fair assumption? And you mentioned that the major income [indiscernible]. So should we assume this [ $2.3 billion ] we spent from calendar '25 [indiscernible] '28?

[Megan Faust, executive]

So Krish, again, we're trying to make sure we heard your question appropriately. I think you're referring to the timing and magnitude of our U.S. investment and how that counterplays with the chips funding. For the full project, we're expecting to spend about $2 billion. We are going to do that in phases, which is what this particular Chips program is aligned to. So as it relates to Phase 1, we expect that to -- within the next three years, be up and running. So we will have had an investment in the order of magnitude of $1.5 billion in order to get that phase up and running to its fullest. Timing of that investment will be concentrated in '26 and '27, and The chips reimbursement traditionally will lag that investment as it relates to that. We can't share further details on that at this time.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Randy Abrams with UBS.

[Randy Abrams, analyst]

Just a couple of follow-up questions. First, for the gross margin. It seems like the one area lagging aside from SiP is the mature nodes. So curious, as you go into next year and you see pick up how the leverage is and then also, how do you see the software for leverage for investment in the advanced packaging, given you have to spend to grow that business?

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Okay. Let me start to give some initial comments here on mature nodes. Mature nodes, for Amkor, if we take our mature node portfolio, specifically related to [ wire bundle lead frame ], that's very much tuned towards the automotive and industrial market. So we're not exposed to the commodity segment of the mature node markets where there is significant competition from China evolving supply chain. So we believe that in the automotive market, although they declined significantly year-on-year we were able to hold our market position for mature nodes in the automotive markets, and we work with critical customers there, mostly in Europe, U.S. but yes, on our manufacturing, but also in Japan, and the dynamics in each of these markets is similar, but not completely the same, but we expect that going towards the end of the year. And early next year, we will see a gradual recovery there. That relates to the mature nodes with respect to the investment in advanced packaging. We already mentioned the profitability for that investment portfolio and the product and service portfolio is higher than corporate average. And we believe that's a good investment for the company. We also believe that the 2.5D is and the high-density share fan-out technology is a technology, let's say, is developing as a standard technology in the high-performance computing and AI domain, we have a leadership position there. And given the interest we get from a broad customer base, we believe that, that will be a sustainable position going forward.

[Randy Abrams, analyst]

And the final question is [ hit ] on the OpEx with the ramp-up of all these more complex technologies, do you see changed R&D intensity or OpEx level that you need to spend like absolute dollars to have to pick up or OpEx ratio to advance some of these new technologies?

[Megan Faust, executive]

Randy, yes, we continue to focus and invest in R&D in order to ensure that we're supporting our customers in these new technologies. We don't see what I would characterize as step function in R&D that can be lumpy from time to time where we have programs that are accelerating before they move into production and move into COGS. I would say from a total OpEx perspective, I wouldn't see that increasing above 8%.

[Operator]

And at this time, I'm showing no further questions. I would like to turn the call back over to Giel for closing remarks.

[Giel Rutten, executive]

Okay. Thank you. Let me recap the key messages. Amkor delivered second quarter results in line with our expectations with revenue of $1.46 billion and EPS of $0.27. We successfully brought online additional capacity for 2.5D technology and qualified our Vietnam facility to support production ramps in the third quarter. We are expecting third quarter revenue to grow significantly with revenue of $1.835 billion at the midpoint of guidance, reflecting a 26% sequential increase. We reached a significant milestone with the U.S. Department of Commerce and aligned on the preliminary memorandum of terms for up to $400 million in direct funding under the Chips and Science Act to support our planned advanced packaging and test facility in Arizona. Looking forward, we remain confident that the secular growth drivers for the industry remain in place. And with our strong technology leadership in advanced packaging, a uniquely diversified global footprint and partnerships with lead customers, we are well positioned to accelerate while exiting this cycle. Thank you for joining the call today.

[Operator]

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.