[News] NAND Flash Controller Maker Silicon Motion Guides Up to 20% QoQ Sales Growth in 2Q After Record First Quarter
Amid an AI-driven supply squeeze lifting memory prices, chipmakers are posting strong Q1 results. NAND flash controller IC vendor Silicon Motion, cited by TechNews, delivered record revenue of $342.11 million in Q1 2026, up 23% QoQ and 105% YoY. Gross margin reached 47.2%, with net income of $53.85 million and diluted EPS per ADS of $1.58.
Momentum is set to continue into Q2. The company guides revenue to $393–411 million, implying 15–20% QoQ and 98–107% YoY growth. Gross margin is expected at 48.5–49.5%, with steady sequential expansion through 2026, according to its press release.
Notably, as previously reported by Liberty Times, citing Silicon Motion president Wallace C. Kuo, the overall memory capacity is expected to rise only about 15%–25% in 2026 despite continued demand acceleration. He also warned that market tightness is unlikely to ease until new capacity comes online in the second half of 2027 at the earliest.
As highlighted by Anue, Silicon Motion posted broad-based growth across all three product lines in Q1 despite acute NAND and DRAM shortages. Edge and enterprise SSD controllers slipped 5–10% QoQ but rose 40–45% YoY, while embedded eMMC and UFS controllers advanced 30–35% QoQ and surged 140–145% YoY. Ferri automotive storage and enterprise boot solutions led the upswing, jumping 205–210% QoQ and an outsized 755–760% YoY.
The company also flagged an earlier-than-expected ramp for its enterprise MonTitan SSD controller, with shipments set to begin this quarter and customer products scaling in 2H26, according to Anue. End demand is anchored by five tier-1 cloud service providers—two in the U.S. and three in Asia, the company said.
Module Houses ADATA, Team Group Ride AI-Driven Memory Upswing
Other downstream module makers are also cashing in. According to TechNews, Taiwan-based ADATA posted a second straight quarter of record results in 1Q26, with revenue, operating income, and net profit all hitting new highs. Notably, the report suggests its net profit during the quarter approached NT$10 billion—up 17x YoY—already exceeding its full-year 2025 total, while EPS topped NT$30, setting a new peak in the company’s 25-year history.
TechNews, citing Chairman Simon Chen, says DRAM and NAND contract prices are set to surge more than 40% in Q2, with NAND poised for a stronger upswing in 2H as guided in March. Against this backdrop, ADATA has moved early to secure ample NAND wafers, with inventories expected to exceed NT$40 billion by end-April and climb to NT$50 billion by end-June, the report adds.
On the other hand, Taiwan-based memory module maker Team Group also posted record results for Q1 2026, with consolidated revenue reaching NT$9.045 billion and gross profit at NT$3.438 billion, translating into a gross margin of 38.68%. Net profit surged to NT$2.294 billion, with EPS at NT$27—up 26x YoY and 181.5% QoQ—setting new highs in both revenue and profitability, as highlighted by UDN.
Building on the strong quarterly performance, the Economic Daily News, citing Team Group GM Ching-wen Chen, said the company sees DRAM’s long-term trajectory remaining firmly upward, with only two scenarios by end-2027: prices rising or staying flat, leaving little room for declines in the near term.
The company reportedly sources around 28–30% of its NAND supply from Samsung, mainly via distributors, but said the impact remains limited despite the ongoing tight supply environment, according to the Economic Daily News.
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(Photo credit: Silicon Motion)
