Welcome to the X-FAB Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 Results Conference Call. For the first part of the conference call, the participants will be in listen-only mode. During the question and answer session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing pound key five on their telephone keypad, or through the hand-raising option on the player. I will hand the conference over to Rudi De Winter, CEO. The floor is yours. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and welcome, everyone. We have today in the conference call with me, Alba Morganti, CFO, and Damien Macq, my successor and CEO. In the fourth quarter in 2025, we recorded revenues of EUR 222 million, up 18% year-on-year and down 3% quarter-on-quarter. The fourth quarter revenue in our core markets was EUR 204 million, up 13% year-on-year and down 5% quarter-on-quarter. The core business represented 94% of our total revenue. Full year revenue amounted to EUR 870 million, up 7% year-on-year, and within the guided range.
In the full year of 2025, our core business was EUR 814 million, which is 7% growth compared to the previous year, and our core business represented also 94% of the total revenue. Our order intake in the fourth quarter came in at EUR 164 million, and it understates actual underlying demand by approximately EUR 30 million-EUR 40 million. First of all, we have shorter cycle times, resulting in customers ordering later. Secondly, we have higher wafer yields, resulting in reduced order quantities. And third, because of the absence of new bookings in the 0.6 micron CMOS technologies that we are terminating in early 2027, customers already placed these orders following the last time buy announcement more than a year ago.
The backlog at the end of the quarter was EUR 318 million, down from EUR 347 million, and at the end of the quarter. The backlog relative to our revenue is still high compared to history, and pre-COVID situation. In the fourth quarter, automotive revenues came in at EUR 133 million, up 3% year-on-year and down 10% quarter-on-quarter. The sequential decline was mainly due to inventory corrections in various channels of the supply chain and also influenced by the end of major LTAs and the underlying end market. This trend is also evident in the full year automotive revenue, which recorded only a slight increase of 1%.
Although the shift to full electric mobility in 2025 advanced at a slower pace, it remains an important mega trend underpinning our automotive business. Key automotive applications driving the growth in 2025 included battery and thermal management systems, as well as onboard chargers for electric vehicles. In the industrial end market, we recorded a quarterly revenue of EUR 50 million. This was up 40% year-on-year and 6% quarter-on-quarter. The strong growth was driven by the recovery of the SiC business, the recovery of the fragmented industrial market, and the prototyping revenue for photonics, while an elevated level of production in last time buy technologies also contributed. The fourth quarter medical revenue amounted to EUR 21 million, up 28% year-on-year and flat sequentially.
The demand for DNA sequencing, ultrasound applications, as well as contactless temperature sensors was strong in the past quarter. In 2025, our medical business achieved a record revenue of EUR 71 million, marking a 26% increase over previous year. For a further update, I would like to pass the word now to Damien.
Thank you, Rudi. Good morning, good afternoon, everyone. Let's start with CMOS and SOI revenue. In the fourth quarter, this revenue was up 7% year-on-year and down 5% quarter-on-quarter. For the full year, revenue grew 8% compared to the previous year. Quarterly microsystem revenue was up 24% year-on-year and down 9% sequentially. In 2025, X-FAB microsystem business achieved revenue exceeding $100 million for the first time, representing an 11% increase compared to 2024. X-FAB silicon carbide business demonstrated remarkable recovery, achieving robust growth in the fourth quarter, driven by solid demand for data centers, electric vehicles, and renewable energy applications. Revenue increased by 77% year-on-year and 6% quarter-on-quarter. Silicon carbide wafer starts raised 60% sequentially.
This was the largest-ever Silicon Carbide wafer start in a quarter. The weaker quarter-on-quarter revenue growth reflects the much higher share of customer-supplied Silicon Carbide raw wafers, which carry lower billings due to the less pass-through of substrate costs. For the full year, Silicon Carbide revenue reached $33.8 million, $33.8 million U.S. dollar, which constitute a 34% decrease against 2024, when the first quarter was still exceptionally strong. Quarterly prototyping revenue was $20.3 million, $20.3 million US dollar, down 14% year-on-year and up 3% quarter-on-quarter.
Over the past three quarters, X-FAB recorded a notable increase in CMOS and SOI prototyping revenue, reflecting renewed customer confidence after capacity constraints were resolved with last year's completion of X-FAB capacity expansion program and from significant operational improvement in terms of product yield and cycle times. Let's now zoom in on specific product and development highlights achieved in 2025. In Q4, we secured a major design win for our 110-nanometer CMOS technology, particularly in sensing applications, which should contribute to revenue growth from 2028 onwards. For our 110-nanometer SOI platform, we see confirmation of the strong ramp-up for motor control and automotive LED drivers, and we booked an important design win for new ultrasonic applications. In Microsystems, interest in our through-silicon via technology continues to grow, especially for photon-counting CT scanners, CT scanners.
On top of the technology capability of X-FAB , another key factor in this engagement is our customers' ability to establish a fully localized supply chain for this next-generation scanner platform. In MEMS, we achieved the first design win for our next-generation inertial sensors. For power application, we launched as well an innovative snubber technology. This device is integrated inside silicon carbide inverters to reduce the switching losses by up to 70%, and therefore improving the electric vehicle range. This solution has already been adopted by one OEM and is under evaluation by several others. In the photonics space, we teamed up with LIGENTEC on the lowest-loss silicon nitride platform for various applications, the main one being quantum computing. This already contributed to 7% of our total NRE in 2025.
In GaN, we secured several major NRE, a first one for the development of industrial protection devices, two additional for traction inverters for small and medium EVs, and a fourth one for 800-volt data center applications. In silicon carbide, we continue to make excellent progress with a major Asian Tier One in EV traction inverter, achieving record-setting electrical performance. Our latest XSICM03 platform has also enabled multiple customers to reach leading-edge electrical performances, driving further design wins across renewable energy, automotive, data center, and circuit breaker applications. X-FAB technology portfolio, with the emphasis on power, sensing, and microsystem technologies, is strategically aligned with global mega trends, including the electrification of everything with worldwide decarbonization initiative and advancement in healthcare for aging populations. This alignment creates substantial opportunities within X-FAB key end markets, automotive, industrial, and medical, driving sustainable growth in the long term.
The short-term visibility remains limited, primarily due to continued inventory adjustment by automotive customers and persistent geopolitical uncertainties. Let's now go through the operational update. By mid-2025, X-FAB concluded its major three years, $1 billion capacity expansion program. In September, we celebrated the grand opening of our new facilities in Malaysia, following the launch of our production in this new clean room. All equipment related to this expansion have been installed and qualified. Production in X-FAB popular 180-nanometer technology is being ramped up gradually there. The site's target capacity of 40,000 wafer starts per month will be fully operational by the end of 2026. The increased capacity and reduced cycle time enable X-FAB to become much more attractive for new business opportunities and to respond more quickly to market opportunity when they arise.
In the fourth quarter, significant progress was made in securing financial support under the EU Chips Act for the growth of X-FAB's microsystem business. The funding will be used to further advance the MEMS and microsystem offering, and more specifically, to support the ongoing transition of the site in Erfurt, Germany, to the microsystem hub of X-FAB Group. Capital expenditure in the fourth quarter reached $25.2 million, bringing the total CapEx for the year to $204.1 million. This is lower than the initially projected $250 million, as some expenditure were postponed to the current year. New capital expenditure in 2026 are projected to come in at around $100 million.
This CapEx will be allocated to enhance our process capabilities, to facilitate the transition of the Erfurt, Germany, and Lubbock, Texas, sites to microsystem and silicon carbide, respectively, and to support necessary maintenance and further automation activities across all sites. In response to the short-term challenge and limited visibility, we are also introducing further cost efficiency measures. These initiatives include a planned headcount reduction in the high single-digit percentage range for 2026, as well as a gradual reduction of operational costs. By the fourth quarter of 2026, cost savings are estimated to reach $6 million per quarter. Concurrently, we remain well positioned to respond swiftly to increasing customers' requirements and growing demands. I will now pass it over to Alba Morganti, CFO of X-FAB, for the financial update.
Thank you, Damien. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We will now go to the financial update. I would like to start this financial section by highlighting that in 2025, we totalized $873 million sales, meeting the yearly guidance of $840 million-$870 million. This represented an increase of 7% compared to 2024. The sales in the fourth quarter totalized $222.3 million, which is an increase of 18% year-on-year, also in the guided range of $215 million-$225 million. In the fourth quarter, our EBITDA was $42.3 million, with an EBITDA margin of 19%.
If we exclude the impact from revenues recognized over time, our EBITDA margin would have been of 19.2%, which is still below the guided range of 22.5%-25.5%. The main reason for that is the miss that we missed our guidance is that the fourth quarter profitability was impacted by a one-off item totalizing $9.3 million, out of which $6 million resulted from the renegotiation of a long-term agreement for the SiC raw wafers, while $3.3 million were due to the reevaluation of our silicon carbide substrates inventory in Lubbock and at renegotiated lower prices. If we exclude these exceptional items, the EBITDA margin would have been of 23.6%.
I would like to add that with the productivity improvement plan Damien was referring to, we are on a trajectory to achieve a 30% EBITDA margin, with a quarterly revenue level of $240 million. Since a few years now, our business is naturally hedged, and our profitability remains unaffected by exchange rate fluctuations. At a constant U.S. dollar-euro exchange rate of 1.07, as experienced in the previous year's quarter, the EBITDA margin would have been 19.3%. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the fourth quarter amounted to $194.3 million, up $20.1 million compared to the previous quarter, while our net debt decreased by $4.5 million quarter-on-quarter.
Our cash position improved despite the fact that in 2025, we repaid several bank loans for more than $75 million, as well as leases for more than $24 million, and we also repaid some prepayment that we received from customers, including LTA contracts, for about $43 million.
And to conclude the financial section, I would like to share our next year's guidance. Next quarter, sorry. Our Q1 2026 revenue is expected to come in within a range of $190 million-$200 million, with an EBITDA margin in the range of 18%-21%. This guidance is based on an average exchange rate of 1.17 U.S. dollar Euro, and does not take into account the impact of IFRS 15. For the time being, we are not providing a full-year 2026 guidance due to the limited visibility and the current macroeconomic environment. And now, I would like to give the, the word back to Rudi.
Thank you, Alba. While we remain cautious about the near term, we are observing encouraging developments across our business. Momentum in our CMOS and SOI prototyping revenues is building, as our operational improvements make us again, more attractive. We see a high level of interest in our microsystem capabilities that is opening substantial new opportunities. Our silicon carbide business is on track for recovery, and we see strong traction for our photonics on the one hand, and the gallium nitride on the other hand, demonstrated by several new contracts. I firmly believe X-FAB is excellently positioned for robust growth. The fundamentals of our business remain strong, and I'm confident of X-FAB long-term sustainable growth. X-FAB is ready for what's next. With that, I'm very pleased to hand over the leadership of X-FAB to Damien Macq, who will succeed me as CEO of the group.
With that, we close the opening, and we're opening for questions.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six on your telephone keypad. You can also ask a question by using the hand-raising option on the bottom right corner of the player. The first question is coming from Robert Sanders from Deutsche Bank. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, good evening. Could I just get a bit of better understanding of the trends by end market? It looks like industrial medical is performing well, auto, clearly soft. Is that what you expect to be the story of the year, as it were, even if you can't give specific guidance, is there any reason to think that that's not the story of the year? And then the second question would just be around your lack of 300-millimeter footprint, and you know, your largest customer's business in China. They seem to be under big pressure to use local foundries. What can you do to mitigate the risk that they have to source locally as opposed from you? Thank you.
Yeah, I think your understanding of the end market, this is Damien speaking, is aligned with what we see right now. We see uncertainty on the automotive, so, but strong industrial. So I think the industrial will stay strong. Medical was a good year in medical and likely this will be prolonged as well, with important design wins as well in the pipe. Regarding the 300-millimeter footprint, at this point in time, we still see customers coming from China to look for our products. So basically, we differentiate our business by, you know, different technological items, being a high voltage, being automotive qualification.
Right now, we do not see the absence of 300 millimeter in our site as a handicap. So we keep seeing strong business coming out of companies that are headquartered in China, and we will need to monitor the evolution over the coming quarters to see where how the situation is evolving there. Does that answer your question?
Operator, are we still-
Yeah.
Okay.
I see Robert Sanders. I was waiting for a feedback, but I guess this replies to his question. So we have the next question coming now from Lucas de Soto. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
First of all, I would like to thank Rudi De Winter for the huge investment which you have done with X-FAB, and this without any dilution for the shareholders. I think this is incredible good job and how that has been managed financially. I see that there are now a lot of platforms and technologies available at X-FAB. What are the actions? That would be my first question: What are the actions to increase actually the sales? Because that is still a little bit lacking behind?
Yeah, so, that, that's a very good point. Maybe this, this was not disclosed in this presentation, but we are reorganizing ourselves also across three business units. So, we have moved some people closer to end customers, and we want to reinforce our co-design capabilities with customers. So, business development is and was, around 2025, a critical topic that is going to be prolonged in 2026. And if you see some of the result for 2025, so we observe quarter-over-quarter an improvement of our design win in in a CMOS technology. So this is something that we need to prolong.
You have also to realize that we are coming out of a period of allocation with a lot of stress and a lot of stretch with our customers. This period is now over, and it's really time to go hunt and fight to collect additional business. And I think the items that were described also in this call, also in regard with microsystems, are a good demonstration of the result that this can provide. So, it's a very good point. Deploying now the technologies and all the goodies that we have in hands to our customer is essential. Also, I want to repeat what I said earlier regarding photonics. So photonics is also a technology where we see a lot of traction from our customers.
I want to repeat that 7% of the total energy of the company was realized on photonics, with photonic technologies.
Okay. My second question is more towards finance. I see that the current liabilities are very high, EUR 702 million, while the current assets are at EUR 648 million. Are we going to have some stress on a financial basis?
Good evening. Look, no, we have credit lines available to support the working capital needs. We have our first revolving credit facility of EUR 200 million, which will expire end of this year, but we are in renegotiation with the banks of the syndication to use the clause which is included in the contract to extend it by one year, and we will still have the other one running until well, it's of... We have another three years for the other one. So for the time being, we see rather a decrease of the net debt, thanks to the fact that our major CapEx expansion plan is now over.
Therefore, we see a relaxation, actually, is the other way around, of our indebtedness. We have been able to repay several debts, which were due, so absolutely in line with expectations in 2025, and we will continue to do so, in the future.
Okay. So overall, actually, we just need to focus now on getting more sales in, and then everything will leverage out, and we will get the benefit of the investments, and-
That's clear.
Yeah.
That's clear.
It will be marvelous company.
Thank you for this lovely compliment.
Thank you.
Yes, you're absolutely right. Thank you.
Thanks.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six. You can also ask a question by using the hand-raising option on the bottom right corner of the player. There are no further questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing remarks.
Thank you. Damien speaking. Before closing the call, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the leadership and instrumental contribution of Rudi, as it was already mentioned, in this call. I'm grateful for the strong foundations that were built under his tenure over the past 15 years, and for the support from the board and from our global team as I step into the CEO role. My focus will be on further specialization through continuous innovation, offering unique capabilities on markets and customer diversification, and on disciplined execution in our operation to serve our customer with the level of performance and quality required to make them successful. For the past three years spent within X-FAB as COO, I had the opportunity to interact with our global teams.
I trust we are all ready and committed to building and delivering a robust growth on the momentum already in place. Uta, Alba, and myself remain available for any follow-up, and we look forward to speaking with you for our next quarterly conference call on the results of the first quarter, 2026. This call is scheduled on the 13th of April. Thank you very much to everyone. Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Thanks for participating to today's call. You may now disconnect.