Tokyo Electron Limited ($8035)

It's time for us to start Tokyo Electron financial announcement for the fiscal year ended March 2026. Thank you very much for joining us today despite your busy schedule. I am Yatsuda of IR Department, serving as a moderator of today's session. I'd like to introduce today's attendees -- Toshiki Kawai, Representative Director, President and CEO.

I am Kawai. Thank you very much.

Next, Hiroshi Kawamoto, SVM & GM (sic) [ SVP & GM ] Division Officer of Finance Division.

I am Kawamoto. Thank you very much for joining us today.

Before starting the presentations, let me explain the flow of today's session. First of all, Kawamoto and Kawai will make presentations. After that, until 6:30 p.m. Japan Time, we will have a question-and-answer session where we entertain questions from the audience. This meeting uses 2 channels of Webex for the simultaneous interpretation between Japanese and English. As we explained in our e-mail, you are kindly requested to use apps on PCs or mobile terminals if you wish to ask questions. But if you are not going to ask questions, you can use telephones. Since this conference is intended for institutional investors and analysts, we would appreciate your understanding that we receive questions only from institutional investors and analysts, as usual. We will post the audio contents of this conference in Japanese and English on our website within a couple of days. It will be appreciated if you could also visit our website. Now Mr. Kawamoto will present the consolidated financial summary. Kawamoto-san, please.

Good afternoon. I am Kawamoto, Finance Division. I'd like to present the consolidated financial summary of the fiscal year ended March 2026. I will start with the quarterly financial summary. I will mainly refer to the figures in the blue box. In the fourth quarter, we generated net sales of JPY 711.8 billion, 28.9% increase from the third quarter, with net sales showed a temporary drop due to shipment timing. Accordingly, gross profit was JPY 333.1 billion, 41.3% increase from the previous quarter. Gross profit margin was 46.8%, 4.1 percentage point increase quarter-over-quarter. Although SG&A expenses increased mainly due to R&D expenses increase, SG&A to sales ratio declined, which resulted in 77.1% quarter-over-quarter increase of operating income at JPY 205.6 billion. Operating profit margin was 28.9%, increasing by 7.9 percentage points sequentially. Net income attributable to owners of parent was JPY 214.2 billion, 80.8% increase quarter-over-quarter, partly due to extraordinary income generated by selling strategic shareholdings. This slide shows net sales by region. As for the composition in the fourth quarter, proportion of sales in Taiwan significantly rose by 40% from the previous quarter to 22.0%. Meanwhile, as growth rate of spending for leading-edge nodes was higher than that of mature nodes, proportion of sales in China dropped to 26.8%, 5.0 percentage point decline quarter-over-quarter. On the full year basis, in the fiscal year ended March 2026, proportion of sales in China was 34.1%. Now I will move on to the full year financial summary. Since the leading customers continued active investment, and -- our Field Solutions sales were strong. Thanks to the increased utilization rate of the customers' fab, we generated net sales of JPY 2,443.5 billion, 0.5% increase year-over-year, hitting record high following the fiscal year ended March 2025. Gross profit was JPY 1,107.8 billion, exceeding JPY 1 trillion in the second consecutive year, while gross profit margin declined by 1.8 percentage point year-over-year to 45.3%. This is due to soaring costs in parts and materials, as well as changes in the product mix. Another factor is the increase of the number of field engineers outside Japan to prepare for the future growth. Operating income was JPY 624.9 billion. Operating profit margin was 25.6%, 3.1 percentage point drop year-over-year. This is because of active R&D investment to prepare for further growth and enhance our competitive edge. R&D expenses were JPY 277.8 billion, increasing by 11.1% year-over-year. Net income attributable to owners of parent was JPY 574.4 billion, 5.6% increase year-over-year, reaching all-time high. We sold strategic shareholdings and recorded extraordinary income of JPY 115.4 billion. Capital expenditures were JPY 216.0 billion, mainly due to the completion of the development buildings in Miyagi and Kumamoto and production and logistics center in Iwate, and procurement of in-house use evaluation tools. Depreciation was JPY 80.9 billion, 30.3% increase year-over-year. This is a graphic representation of the financial summary shown on the previous page on the chronological basis for your reference. ROE was close to 30% following the previous fiscal year. This shows SPE new equipment sales by application. In the fiscal year ended March 2026, from the top of this chart, sales to DRAM customers accounted for 31%, non-flat memory accounted for 10% and non-memory accounted for 59%. For DRAM, while investment in advanced technologies such as HBM continued to be strong, investment levels are varied among customers. As a result, DRAM sales and proportion remained almost unchanged from the previous year. For non-volatile memory, utilization ratio of our customers have improved significantly and investment has been back on course of recovery. Accordingly, both sales and proportion were in increasing trajectory. For non-memory, while investment for mature node paused tentatively, investment for advanced node was very active. Accordingly, non-memory investment exceeded JPY 1 trillion, just like in the previous year. This slide shows Field Solutions sales. In the fiscal year ended March 2026, Field Solutions sales was JPY 626.0 billion, increased by 16.3% from year-over-year. Along with further improvement in utilization rate of the customers' staff, our parts & service business grew, and there were quite a few modifications to enhance productivity. Accordingly, Field Solutions sales were strong. This slide shows the balance sheet. Total assets were JPY 2,860.9 billion. Cash and cash equivalents were JPY 506.2 billion, increasing by JPY 87.7 billion from the previous quarter. Notes and accounts receivables were JPY 525.8 billion, rising by JPY 124.3 billion sequentially. Inventories were JPY 713.1 billion, decreasing by JPY 12.2 billion from the previous quarter. Tangible assets were JPY 589.3 billion, increasing by JPY 15.3 billion quarter-over-quarter. For the liabilities and net assets shown on the right-hand side, liabilities were JPY 791.0 billion, increasing by JPY 161.2 billion quarter-over-quarter. Net assets were JPY 2,699 billion, rising by JPY 64.7 billion sequentially. This slide shows cash flow. The cash inflow from operating activities in the fourth quarter was JPY 205.7 billion. The cash inflow from investing activities was JPY 33.2 billion as a result of acquisition of tangible assets and sales of investments in securities, among others. The cash outflow from financing activities was JPY 150.8 billion due to the share repurchase. Free cash flow was plus JPY 239.0 billion. The full year free cash flow was also positive at JPY 433.2 billion. Both full year and quarterly free cash flow hit record high. Finally, I will present total return amount. The share repurchase we announced in February 2026 was completed. The total acquisition amount was JPY 149.9 million. At the Board of Directors meeting held on March 27, 2026, it was decided to cancel 3,600,000 treasury stocks on April 30, 2026. The total return amount in the fiscal year ended March 2026 was JPY 437.4 billion, which exceeded that in the previous fiscal year, reaching all-time high. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very much.

Now next, Kawai will talk about business environment and financial estimates. Kawai-san, please?

Once again, thank you very much. I am Kawai. I will present business environment and financial estimates. Let me start with fiscal 2026 full year business highlights. In fiscal 2026, we generated net sales of JPY 2,443.5 billion, hitting record high. In addition to the active investment for advanced logic and DRAM/HBM for AI servers starting in the previous fiscal year, investment for 3D NAND, which had been muted for a long time, finally showed some signs of recovery. Along with improvement of utilization rate of customers' fabs, our Field Solutions sales grew as well. We delivered record full year net income of JPY 574.4 billion as we strive to improve capital efficiency and recorded extraordinary income by selling strategic shareholdings. The R&D centers in Miyagi and Kumamoto and production and logistics center in Iwate, which we had been constructing to prepare for next phase growth were completed. We also started constructing a new production building in Miyagi, which adopt a smart production concept to support manufacturing in the future. To properly address rapidly expanding WFE market, we are securing robust and strong capacity. Winning PORs in advanced domains is another critical fiscal 2026 highlight, which will contribute to our sales growth in the future. For memory applications, where we are strong, we won high market share in major etching processes, including capacitor process and HBM interconnect process. For Advanced Packaging, which shows remarkable growth supported by our broad product portfolio, we won PORs for multiple products ranging from front-end process to 3D integration and testing. Next I will present the business environment. For 2 years from calendar 2026 and 2027, we expect the WFE market to grow by 20% or more from calendar 2025, ranging from $150 billion to $170 billion for each year. For spendings in the high-end devices we focus our efforts on, as we are currently receiving strong inquiries, we expect 30% or more year-over-year growth. As for ongoing geopolitical risks, for the time being, we do not see any changes in our customers' investment trends. When the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz is protracted, however, we must pay close attention as there is a concern about the shortage of parts and materials triggered by supply chain disruption. Now I will present our fiscal 2027 sales growth drivers under such business environment. Among the investment for high-end devices, which will drive market growth this year, coater/developers and etching systems are expected to make a significant contribution to our sales. In the coater/developer business, in particular, our share in the global market exceed 90%. We received inquiries regarding investment, both for capacity enhancement and device scaling from almost all customers as DRAM customers adopt EUV technology and logic customers introduce EUV multi-patterning. Accordingly, fiscal 2027 coater/developer sales are expected to grow by 50% or more year-over-year. For etching system, we are strong in the field of dielectric etching, recording 50% or more global market share at present. For DRAM capacitor process, we have won PORs from all leading customers and maintain a very high market share in the interconnect process, which is growing for HBM applications. For the GAA or gate-all-around structure, which was first adopted by 2-nanometer logic, business opportunities are expanding in gate etching and isotropic etching. Driven by these factors, fiscal 2027 etching system sales are expected to increase by nearly 30% year-over-year. As we have a broad product portfolio, we are blessed with numerous growth opportunities also for Advanced Packaging. In the business of prober for advanced logic, where we have a compelling market share, the sales are growing steadily and expected to top JPY 100 billion in this fiscal year. Sales of bonder/debonder for the HBM, permanent wafer bonding for logic 3D integration and bonder for 3D NAND are growing. In fiscal 2027, sales for Advanced Packaging, including coater/developer, etching systems, and deposition systems are expected to grow by 60% or more year-over-year. Next I will present the financial estimates. First of all, let me talk about a change of the financial estimate disclosure period. While SPE market is expected to grow in midterm and long term, the size of customers' investment gets bigger than before, and their investment plan may change in the middle of fiscal year due to supply/demand balance, customer strategy and geopolitical factors. Particularly as investment of some customers has been becoming extremely big in size, impacts of their movements on our group performance are getting relatively bigger. Taking account of those factors -- although in the past, we disclosed full year financial estimate of following fiscal year at the timing of year-end financial announcement -- from fiscal 2027 onward, we will disclose financial estimate of the first half of fiscal year, and thereby we will strive to share more timely and realistic information. For the financial estimate of fiscal -- first half of fiscal 2027, driven by the strong demand for AI server, we expect net sales of JPY 1.570 billion, gross profit of JPY 715 billion and operating income of JPY 431 billion, all of which are expected to hit half year records. For the second half of fiscal 2027, stronger growth than the first half is expected as we expect further increase of shipment, mainly to DRAM and advanced logic customers. As I said before, we must pay close attention to impacts of blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, but at present we do not see any changes in our customers' investment plans. We have secured parts and materials we will need for tools to be sold in the first half of fiscal 2027. This slide shows fiscal 2027 SPE new equipment sales forecast. The new equipment sales in the first half of this fiscal year are expected to grow by 41% year-over-year to JPY 1.200 billion. The breakdown by application is shown on this slide. Driven by AI server demand, sales of our system for high-end devices are expected to increase. This slide shows our plan for R&D expenses and CapEx. In fiscal 2027, we plan full year R&D expenses of JPY 330 billion. We will actively promote R&D to enhance foundation of our technology competitive edge and support semiconductor technology innovation. For CapEx, we plan to spend JPY 190 billion on the full year basis. We plan to acquire equipment for the new development buildings whose construction was completed in fiscal 2026, and we plan to complete construction of a new production building adopting the smart fab in summer of 2027. We will utilize robust infrastructure shown in this slide and capitalize on future development opportunities to maximize our corporate value. Finally, I will present the dividend forecast. Along with the revision of financial estimate disclosure period, for the dividend forecast as well, we present the forecast of interim dividend alone. Fiscal 2027 interim dividend is expected to be JPY 361 per share, maintaining a high level just as second half of fiscal 2026. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Now we will have question-and-answer session until 6:30 p.m. Japan Time. [Operator Instructions] So the first question is from Mr. Yoshida of CLSA Securities.

I am Yoshida from CLSA Securities Japan. Slide 15, I have a question regarding the outlook of the WFE market. Roughly speaking, according to this slide, CY 2025 WFE market was JPY 120 billion. By 2026, more than JPY 150 billion, maybe JPY 155 billion. Accordingly, 2027, that should be JPY 170 billion. That's what it looks like. So is that correct understanding? By application, I think you've made some comments by application '26 and '27. What sort of growth do you expect? Are there any changes from your forecast 3 months ago? And for China, I would like to see your view on China market as well.

Thank you very much. Let me answer to your question. This is Kawai. First of all, WFE market, as you just said, what you said is correct. Compared with this year, next calendar year, you can see increasing trend of WFE market. At present, we are receiving new inquiries. Some request for delivery could be put forward to this year. But as for this year, maybe $150 billion or more and going toward $170 billion next year. That's how we understand the trend of WFE market. Your second question, the composition. First of all, last year, composition, as Kawamoto said earlier in his presentation, DRAM and NAND accounted for 35% and logic accounted for 65% in calendar 2025. But this year, DRAM and NAND accounts for 40% and logic accounts for about 60%. So memory proportion is expected to grow slightly. That's how we view the composition for this calendar year. For China, composition for 2025, China accounted for about the high 30s percent, non-China accounted for low 60s percent level. For this year, China accounts for the mid 30s percent and non-China accounts for mid-60% level. So are there any changes from the 3 months ago in terms of application? Over the past 3 months, so maybe AI server inquiries have been added over the past 3 months, and there are some requests for pulling forward orders. So AI cyber demand is still very strong.

Is that DRAM logic?

Yes, that's correct.

Next question is from Tamura-san from Morgan Stanley MUFG Research Japan.

Yes. This is Tamura from Morgan Stanley. So this should be the final year of your midterm management plan. JPY 3 trillion is your target, and you can -- I can see the plan for this first year. And sales of the second half should be stronger. So I think you can achieve JPY 3 trillion. I would like to know the confidence level and your expectation for this fiscal year. Operating profit margin, your target is 35% as well, as I can see the figure of the first half of this fiscal year. It might be difficult for you to achieve 35% of OPM. What are the reasons why you failed to achieve the 35%, but what sort of the time span you have to achieve the 35% of OPM, including fiscal 2028?

Thank you very much. For our midterm management plan, our sales target is JPY 3 trillion or more, OPM of 35% or more, ROE of 30% or more. So this is our target. And this year is the target year, as you said in your question. As I said in my presentation, as for the sales, as you correctly said, the second half sales is more than the first half sales. And actually, the next fiscal year sales will be more than this year. So our targets in the midterm management plan for sales and ROE, we are steadily progressing toward the targets of midterm management plan. As you pointed out, the operating profit margin, so we try our best effort to achieve our target and getting closer to the target level of OPM. We still continue this effort. However, we understand the achievement of OPM is one of the challenging factor for us. For example, when we produce midterm management plan, foreign exchange has been drastically changed. Because of that, fixed costs have been changing by JPY 70 billion. In FY 2026 to '27, the foreign exchange rate is about JPY 146 to JPY 160 to the dollar. That's the reason why the fixed costs are increasing. So one of the reason is the impact of the foreign exchange. The other one is the labor cost. That's about 9% to 10% increase, and logistics costs in fiscal '26 to '27 increased by 10%. So the traveling expenses and transportation expenses are also increasing. So because of this rapid change in foreign exchange and inflation factors are impacting the operating profit margin. From when we produced the midterm management plan, the fixed cost to sales ratio has been increasing, but we are taking actions to do some more improvement. As I said earlier, inflation is the trend, and we need to take a proactive action against inflation and soaring cost of the materials and parts in addition to price increase, and we must enhance the productivity. At the same time, we will launch new models to the market. By using those countermeasures within 2 years to come, we try to achieve 50% or higher gross profit margin. That's what we are doing right now. In addition, we are receiving inquiries from our customers. So this fiscal year and next fiscal year, we are going to steadily improve operating profit margin so that we can achieve high level of the operating profit margin.

Next question is from Mr. Shimamoto of Okasan Securities.

I am Shimamoto of Okasan Securities. I have a question regarding share of etch system. So you disclosed the annual share of your products compared with last year, etching share declined by 5 percentage points. Last year, why did you reduce your market share? And you may see some increasing 25% or higher growth is expected. But when I look at WFE, expected to increase 25%. So maybe you may not incorporate the share increase with that level of WFE market growth. So could you let me know your actions to increase your market share?

When you look at process share for etching, our share is increasing. That's how we analyze the situation. However, when we convert it to sales, when you look at the share converted to share sales, actually, Tokyo Electron itself is 0.9% negative. Etching is -- has the strong contribution to that. Customer mix in terms of market share is another reason. And regulations are also impacting our performance. Customers start with purchasing the American tool vendors tools first and maybe the customer try to buy Tokyo Electron's tools in this fiscal year rather than last year. So 2 years ago, our etching share grew very rapidly significantly. So timing of delivery was another factor. Also customer mix and also regulation impact. Those 3 factors were major reasons to the result of the share. On the other hand, as I said earlier, the process share -- when it comes to process share, so our company is now waiting for the future growth. Especially in conductor etch, we are winning PORs. You can see some positive information. Interconnect process and capacitor process, we maintain our share and that will contribute to the future DRAM and logic growth, and we can see more opportunities. And also GAA, gas chemical etching, there are some business opportunities for gas chemical etching.

So if possible, could you let me know your target for share in this year?

For that question, so we need to closely watch the customer investment trend. We haven't disclosed information about this year's share. I'm sorry for that.

Next question is from Mr. Nakamura of Goldman Sachs Japan.

Regarding profitability, so for this fiscal year and onward, I want to get your take. So gross profit margin for the first half of this fiscal year, you showed us 45% level. So sales increased rapidly, but your prospect of gross profit margin is rather weak, maybe because of the impact of labor cost or inflation. That's what you said earlier. In addition to those, are there any other reasons, including product mix, to lower your forecast of gross profit margin? As for the second half of this year, you said the sales will be increasing further more. So second half of this year or next fiscal year. So what do you think about profitability?

Thank you for your question. As I said earlier, the fixed costs are increasing. That's what I said before. The exchange rate and inflation as well as logistic costs, traveling costs, those things are increasing. And we are taking appropriate action for price rise. When it comes to the productivity enhancement, at present, what is important for customer is how we can improve the productivity. So the throughput of process tool or yield enhancement, so we must expand our services to improve the throughput and yield. At the same time, we should introduce the new products. So this is how we can improve gross profit. So 1 year or 2 year, maybe we try to achieve gross profit margin of 50% or more by taking solid actions.

So within 2 years, you are going to achieve GPM of 50% or more. That's what you said. But GPM 50% at that stage, what is the level of the operating profit margin when you can achieve 50% of gross profit margin?

The midterm management plan target. Also depending on top line, when the gross profit margin goes up, then I think we can improve the situation. Therefore, we will make solid effort to achieve 35% of OPM. That's the intention that we have right now.

Next question is from Mr. Hirakawa of BofA Securities.

I have a question regarding the lead time of your products. At present, the lead time of your product is about 4 to 6 months, in average, 5 months. Is that correct understanding? In the first half of this fiscal year, you already received orders and about 90% of those orders are now waiting for the shipment. Is that correct understanding?

The lead time of our products are getting shorter. Rather than 5 months, depending on products, needless to say, might be 3 months or 4 months. We are trying to shorten the lead time of products. We must do that because we receive a huge amount of inquiries. For the first half of this fiscal year, yes, this rather high level of confidence for the figures for first half of this year. Yes, we do have the high level of confidence.

So your competitors just show us the first half, but the first quarter, but you are giving us the prospect of the first half of this year. So maybe 5 months to go, maybe you have the high level of confidence because you already received orders from the customer. Is that correct understanding?

We are very glad that our earnings draw a lot of attention. And we are trying to explain the market trend as much as possible. So there should be no major change within 6 months to go. And we try to look ahead when I -- so rather than 1 quarter, I try to show you our outlook of 6 months to go.

Next question is from Yoshioka-san from Nomura Securities.

I am Yoshioka of Nomura Securities. I have a question regarding Page 16. So the revenue driver for fiscal 2027. Starting from coater/developer, so Y-o-Y 50% or more, so your share is rather high from the very beginning, but you are outperforming market significantly and maybe you are very strong along with the exposure system. As you said in your presentation, but once again, I would like to know the reason why you can see this kind of drastic growth for coater/developer. And what is the level of confidence? That's one thing. On the same page, Advanced Packaging, FY 2027, you said JPY 120 billion increase in sales is expected. So what is the contributing factors to improve your sales out of JPY 120 billion, if there are some major driver, could you share your idea with us, please?

So coater/developer, regarding coater/developer, let me explain. This is Kawai. As you said, in principle, EUV-related demand and EUV multi-patterning. And for all exposure systems have coater/developer ranging from high end to the general purpose coater/developer, coater/developer essential for lithography process. So we have incorporated all those needs or demands. So the investment for device scaling and investment for capacity enhancement, everything will help us to increase our sales. So this area is growing very rapidly and 50% or more year-over-year growth. As for Advanced Packaging, Mr. Yatsuda will give you the answer.

So let me explain Advanced Packaging. This is Yatsuda. Advanced Packaging, so the advanced logic and HBM, those 2 are the drivers. We are receiving very strong inquiries in those 2 areas. Just like the front-end category, the coater/developer, etching and cleaning these area, we received the very strong inquiries for the Advanced Packaging. For coater/developer, not only resist, but also other coating film exists and receives many orders. And laser tool wafer bonder and HBM, temporary bonder and the bonder, we received quite a few inquiries in those areas. These are the major drivers for Advanced Packaging, and we expect a huge growth of our sales.

One follow-up question for bonder. So how much sales do you expect for bonders, please, if you have any figures for that?

As for bonder, we don't have a quantitative value we can disclose. But just for information, in last fiscal year, total sales is about JPY 30 billion. We can expect the huge increase. As I said 3 months ago, from this year and onwards to 2030, 5 years to come, so about JPY 500 billion sales on the laser tool bonder/debonder. The bonding-related product, we are expecting JPY 500 billion cumulatively. That means about JPY 100 billion for each year. So this year or next year, we can exceed that level. Next question is from Mr. Nakanomyo from Jefferies Securities.

I am Nakanomyo from Jefferies Japan. Just for confirmation, you said first half of this fiscal year, you just gave us the outlook for the first half, but you didn't disclose your outlook for the second half of this year. That means second half of this fiscal year, you cannot come up with clear figures, especially the figure for second half might change depending on the movement of the leading customers, and you also take account of the situation in Middle East. So based on your inquiries, you said the sales in second half is stronger than the first half of this year. Is that correct understanding?

Right. So we do receive inquiries, very strong inquiries. And for second half of this fiscal year, actually, our inquiry is increasing very rapidly to fill our shipment for second half of this year. However, when we think about the yield enhancement of customer fab and also they have very limited clean room space and lack of the labor force. And there are also geopolitical factors or macroeconomic trends. So in the future, we need to think about energy supply, cash flow, when the CapEx will be growing. Furthermore, we need to consider various factors not only for this fiscal year, but we need to continuously watch the situation under those business environment. We try to come up with high confidence figure. And there are many factors outside of the market and the actually semiconductor importance in increasing. So semiconductor market is affected by the outside of the market itself. So that's the reason why we are going to disclose the forecast within 6 months to go. That is more accurate and realistic. Actually, inquiries are very strong right now. So from this year and next year, with the range of the market size, $150 billion to $170 billion.

I have one follow-up question. For the first half of this fiscal year, so your shipment increased by 40%. Therefore, you will outperform WFE market. Maybe same for the second half of this year, fiscal year as well. But once again, this fiscal year, are you going to outperform the WFE market growth? And what are the factors to help you to do that?

So we are focusing on our core competence, the cutting-edge area. So AI server related high-end area devices, we can see the growing trend. That's the reason why we can have the high level of revenue better than the average.

Next question is from [ Mr. Franz from Fortis Securities ].

Major foundries like TSMC have announced silicon photonics service for customers. How do you see this market opportunity? And what product POR does TEL have for silicon photonics-related processes? The second question, Field Solutions grew by 16.3% in fiscal 2026. What were the main drivers? And in fiscal 2027, will Field Solution growth accelerate further in line with new equipment growth guided at plus 41% in first half of the fiscal year?

The first question is regarding silicon photonics, the Tokyo Electrons POR and product portfolio. When it comes to the silicon photonics in our company, the flat panel-related applications, we do have the product using glass substrate, the etching for flat panel. So those technologies that we have -- and also CMOS image center, we developed the technologies. Maybe we can use those technologies as well for silicon photonics applications. About the Field Solution, the 16% growth. Actually, utilization rate of the customers' fab has been increasing. Therefore, the parts revenue is increasing and also support revenue is growing as well. Along with the demand increase for semiconductor, utilization rate of customer fab is increasing, resulting in the growth of Field Solution sales.

So next question is from Mr. Yamamoto of Mizuho Securities.

Yamamoto from Mizuho Securities. About your pricing strategy, may I ask some questions. So by and large, you are working hard by buying equipment. So maybe coater/developer should be the easy area for you to improve or increase pricing. So now 50% or more growth is expected in this fiscal year for coater/developer. When it comes to them, maybe 50% increase. However, I think those revenue are recorded in second half of this year. Have you increased your price by about 10%? So you said earlier, more than 50% within 2 years to come. So maybe you are now preparing for the price increase for the new orders to come. So 50% decrease for coater/developer. And you said you are going to exceed the 50% of gross profit margin within 2 years to come. Does that mean you are going to raise price of the coater/developer?

So for all products, very similarly, the fixed costs are increasing throughout the product range. Therefore, we must be fair. We try to maintain fairness and we should have a good consensus with our customers, and we are going to raise price when it's necessary. So we don't pick up any particular products for increase in price. That's not our strategy. This is the price increase along with the soaring cost. And also, if we can contribute to the customers' productivity, we can provide high value, then we can increase the price for those products. And depending on the timing of the machine model, maybe not only coater/developer, etch and film deposition system as well as cleaning system, we are taking a very similar approach for different products.

So 5 percentage point increase for the gross profit margin, so that's because of cost increase. Then in the past, you didn't exceed 50% for gross profit margin. So you are now passing the cost increase to the prices, but it's so difficult for you to increase gross profit margin by 5 percentage points. So maybe productivity enhancement, when you add more value to the product, so that is the major driver or pricing for new product. Is that correct understanding?

Yes, we need to keep good balance among those 3 factors: productivity enhancement, contribution to the yield enhancement by providing high value-added products, new products, surcharge and price increase.

Second question from Mr. Shimamoto of Okasan Securities.

I am Shimamoto from Okasan Securities. So first half of this fiscal year, what is your plan for sales? Actually, your sales growth rate is rather high. So what is the driver? Are there any special driver to increase your sales in the first half of the year, some deferred sales recognition or some orders whose delivery is pulled forward. Are there such special factors in this first half of this year?

There are no special factors, just the AI servers, almost every week, our customers ask us to pull forward the delivery date. So that is a kind of escalation having positive impact of our business, and we are taking appropriate action to meet customer needs. So there are no such special factors. Rather instead, rather than first half of this year, customers want more products in the second half of this fiscal year. So current trend of the demand will support us to increase our sales.

One more question. For next year, so this kind of growth rate, do you think this level of growth rate continue in next year? How much expectation do you have?

$150 billion to $170 billion is this WFE market size. So this is the quantitative expression of our forecast. But there are more positive factors to improve the WFE market. AI implementation will be accelerated. So the race for investment to AI will be getting more and more severe and NAND -- HBM is now having higher priority. However, NAND shortage might get more and more severe, then the customer may further increase investment to NAND, then physical AI R&D investment will be accelerating. So these are the positive factors to drive the market furthermore. And there must be the business opportunity, and we try to capture those business opportunities properly.

Thank you very much. So now we received the first question. So there are 2 more questions. So Mr. Shibano from Citigroup Global Markets.

I'm Shibano from Citigroup Global Markets Japan. Thank you very much. Earlier, you talked about the current management midterm management plan. But next fiscal year, you are going to start the new midterm management plan. So in March, there are some changes in the leadership team because of the changes in officers. So now you are going to prepare the next midterm management plan as far as Mr. Kawai is concerned. What sort of focus area you have in your mind to be incorporated into the next midterm management plan? Which is the area which require the higher enhancement?

Thank you very much. In our company, our vision is a company filled with streams and vitality that contribute to technological innovation in semiconductors. So in the future, the growing area includes patterning, device scaling and heterogeneous integration. So these are the major drivers to drive the technology innovation of semiconductors. The front-end process to contribute to the device sharing, that's where we are going to enhance our share. In addition, Advanced Packaging area, which require heterogeneous integration. In our company, bonder/debonder, laser lift-off technology and device blowers, so these are the products of our company for Advanced Packaging. That's where we want to address the market properly, and SAM must be improved furthermore. In that sense, film deposition application need to be increased. That's another area we need to work on. So current product lineup, we need to enhance share. Now etch market is rather big and we must improve our share in the etch market. In addition, Advanced Packaging area as well as served available market should be expanded. This is how we can enhance top line along with the growing WFE market. And we are going to launch high value-added products. So this is how we try to take actions. And in principle, this ongoing midterm management plan, this is not our final goal. So through aggressive business and proactive management, we are going to pursue very close profit margin. And our sales is growing furthermore, and we need to take or catch the business opportunities as much as possible.

The last question is from Qiu-san of Berenberg.

So has your 2027 visibility become higher than previously? As you don't usually give WFE estimation for year out previously, is $170 billion the base case for 2027, is that kind of covered by customer commitment already?

Rather than customer commitment is a bit too much to say. So we have the very close communication path, and we are hearing from our customers, maybe this is the value what we can achieve. On the other hand, as you know, there are issues in the Strait of Hormuz. We must pay close attention to the development of the Middle East. So as far as customers' plan is concerned, I think $170 billion level of WFE market is achievable when I look at current customers' investment plan.

We have received some more questions, but it is time for us to close this conference. We will follow up the questions we couldn't answer today on our website in a few days. Lastly, we'd like to continuously improve our R&D activities based on your precious feedback. So we'd like to appreciate your kind cooperation in filling out the questionnaire survey before you exit the Webex. Thank you very much for taking time to join this conference despite your busy schedule today. Thank you very much. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]