Arm, Coherent and GF Report Strong Data-Center Growth

The read

Data center demand again led the results. Arm said its data center royalties roughly doubled and its own AGI CPU has purchase orders running through 2027, Coherent's datacenter revenue rose 85% and GlobalFoundries reported record growth in data center and communications. In materials, Nikkei reported that Mitsui Chemicals plans to buy photoresist maker JSR, and a fire hit a Panasonic Group plant in Hsinchu that makes PCB and chip packaging materials.

What changed

AI and cloud demand

Arm: Revenue for the quarter ended Sept 30 was $1,443 million, up 27% from $1,135 million. License and other revenue rose 50% to $773 million. Royalty revenue rose 8% to $670 million, with data center royalties roughly doubling. Arm guided the December quarter to $1.54 billion, plus or minus $50 million. Arm said its own chip, the Arm AGI CPU launched in March, has purchase orders from multiple customers running through calendar 2027, with first commercial deliveries expected in its fiscal fourth quarter (January to March 2027). It said it has "confidence in achieving up to $2 billion in Arm AGI CPU revenue" across fiscal 2027 and 2028, which end in March. Arm also said Arm-based servers passed 50% share at the top hyperscalers in calendar 2025 and expects more than 60% by the end of 2026. Arm shareholder letter, Ex. 99.2 (Nov 4)

Foundry and logic

GlobalFoundries: Preliminary third-quarter revenue was $1.899 billion, up 13% from $1.688 billion and up 6% from the prior quarter. IFRS gross margin was 30.1%. GF guided fourth-quarter revenue to $2.0 billion, plus or minus $25 million. Purchases of property, equipment and intangibles were $301 million, against $96 million of government grant proceeds. GF cited record growth in communications infrastructure and data center. The release also cites a $2 billion multi-year agreement to supply US-made silicon interposers to TSMC for CoWoS packaging, with volume from Malta, New York ramping in the first half of 2028, and a new 300mm fab in Malta under a US-Japan initiative, with capacity expected in 2029. The IFRS net loss of $270 million included a $441 million non-cash charge tied to shares issued to the US government in September. GlobalFoundries 6-K (Nov 4)

Optics and photonics

Coherent: Pro forma revenue for the September quarter, which excludes divested businesses, was a record $2.37 billion, up 56% from a year earlier. Datacenter revenue rose 85% and communications 84%. Coherent guided the December quarter to $2.55 billion to $2.75 billion. It said internal indium phosphide capacity doubled from a year earlier, one quarter ahead of plan, and should more than double again by the end of calendar 2027. Industrial revenue was flat, and Coherent expects it to return to growth in the December quarter, citing semiconductor capital equipment bookings. Coherent earnings presentation, Ex. 99.2 (Nov 4)

Lumentum (released Nov 2; missed in the Nov 3 issue): Fiscal first-quarter revenue was $1,262.6 million, up 136.5% from $533.8 million. Lumentum guided the December quarter to $1.575 billion to $1.625 billion. The release cites qualification costs tied to the ramp of its Greensboro, North Carolina facility. It does not mention the Marvell deal. Lumentum 8-K, Ex. 99.1 (Nov 2)

Materials and supply chain

Panasonic Group, Hsinchu (reported by Taiwan News): A fire broke out around 2 a.m. local time on Nov 4 at a five-story factory in the Hsinchu Industrial Park in Hukou. The plant, run by a Taiwan subsidiary of Japan's Panasonic Group, makes high-speed printed circuit board materials and semiconductor packaging materials. Five employees were hospitalized and two were missing as search and rescue continued. The cause and the extent of damage are under investigation. No supply impact has been stated. Taiwan News (Nov 4)

M&A and restructuring

Mitsui Chemicals and JSR (reported by Nikkei; not confirmed): Nikkei reported, citing unnamed sources, that Mitsui Chemicals plans to buy photoresist maker JSR from the state-backed Japan Investment Corp. in a deal worth more than ¥1.3 trillion (about $8.2 billion), according to TrendForce. Mitsui said the report was not based on a company announcement, that it is exploring options including a JSR acquisition, and that no decision had been made. JIC took JSR private in 2024. TrendForce describes JSR as strong in advanced EUV photoresists. TrendForce (Nov 5 Taiwan time)

Analog Devices and Alif Semiconductor (Nov 3; missed in the Nov 3 issue): Analog Devices completed its acquisition of Alif Semiconductor, which makes AI-native microcontrollers and fusion processors. PR Newswire via Yahoo Finance (Nov 3)

Watch next

• Nov 9: The one-year stay of the BIS Affiliates Rule ends unless extended. Dechert reported Oct 28 that an extension through Jan 10, 2027 was expected and that no rule had yet been published. (Federal Register 2025-19846; Dechert)
• Nov 10: China's one-year pause on its October 2025 rare earth export controls is set to expire. (Mining Technology via Yahoo Finance)
• January to March 2027: Arm expects first commercial deliveries of its AGI CPU. (Arm shareholder letter, Ex. 99.2)