IN Brief:
- First-half sales rose 15.4% to €314.5 million, while operating EBIT increased 36.1% to €75.8 million.
- Research and development spending reached €40 million as capital expenditure fell to €8.8 million.
- Elmos retained guidance for 12% sales growth and a 23% to 26% operating EBIT margin.
Elmos Semiconductor increased first-half revenue by 15.4% to €314.5 million as demand for its automotive mixed-signal devices remained firm. Operating EBIT rose 36.1% year on year to €75.8 million, lifting the operating margin from 20.4% to 24.1%.
Second-quarter sales reached €162 million, 11.2% above the comparable 2025 period, while gross profit increased 18.9% to €71.3 million. The quarterly gross margin rose to 44%, and operating EBIT advanced 31.6% to €39.6 million.
The company also reported a marked improvement in cash generation. Operating adjusted free cash flow reached €55.5 million for the six months, compared with €22 million a year earlier, and the corresponding margin increased from 8.1% to 17.7%.
Reported EBIT was lower than the operating measure because Elmos changed the accounting treatment of long-term share-based compensation after the near-complete cancellation of treasury shares. Even with that effect, reported EBIT rose from €55.7 million to €63.7 million, while net income attributable after non-controlling interests increased 2.5% to €47.3 million. Earnings per share moved from €2.69 to €2.75.
Research and development expenditure increased 15% to €40 million, equivalent to 12.7% of first-half sales. Capital expenditure moved in the opposite direction, falling 51.2% to €8.8 million as Elmos continued operating as a fabless automotive semiconductor supplier.
Dr Arne Schneider, chief executive of Elmos Semiconductor, said: “Our positive business performance in the first half of the year underlines the strength of our business model.” The company cited continuing demand, product introductions, and its project pipeline when retaining its outlook for the remainder of 2026.
Full-year guidance calls for sales growth of 12%, within a range of plus or minus two percentage points, and an operating EBIT margin between 23% and 26%. Elmos expects capital expenditure to remain around 5% of sales and is targeting an operating adjusted free cash flow margin of 19%, also within a two-percentage-point range. The guidance assumes an exchange rate of $1.15 to the euro.
The results arrive in an automotive semiconductor market that is no longer explained solely by vehicle production volumes. Each new platform carries more electronic content across sensing, thermal management, lighting, comfort systems, power control, and driver assistance, allowing mixed-signal suppliers to increase revenue when new designs enter series production even if wider vehicle output remains subdued.
Those programmes also bring long qualification cycles and concentrated exposure. Automotive devices must meet demanding reliability standards, and a successful design can generate revenue for years, but a delayed vehicle platform or a change in sourcing strategy can affect several reporting periods. Elmos’ higher development spending shows that it is continuing to fund replacement programmes rather than relying on current production alone.
Automotive mixed-signal portfolios also tend to broaden gradually rather than through one dominant device cycle. Revenue can be spread across sensors, interface products, motor-control devices, lighting controllers, and power-management components, with each design carrying its own qualification and production timetable. That diversity can moderate exposure to one vehicle function, but it makes programme execution and application support a continuing cost. It also complicates forecasting when individual customer launches move between reporting periods.
The lower capital expenditure supports cash generation in the near term, although the fabless model transfers more dependence to foundry, packaging, and test partners. Supply assurance therefore rests on capacity agreements, inventory policy, process portability, and the ability to qualify alternative manufacturing routes without compromising automotive standards.
Elmos enters the second half with stronger margins and substantially improved cash conversion, but its retained guidance leaves limited room for another broad inventory correction. The next measure will be whether new programme launches convert the current project pipeline into sustained revenue while development spending and external manufacturing capacity remain aligned.
