Starda Semiconductor's 1.5 Billion Convertible Bonds Approved to Accelerate Capacity Expansion, New Energy Becomes Core Engine with R&D Expense Ratio of 11.51%

Yangtze Business News ● Yangtze Business Reporter Zhang Lu

Domestic IGBT leader Starda Semiconductor (603290.SH) accelerates expansion.

On March 11, Starda Semiconductor announced that it received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to issue no more than 1.5 billion yuan in convertible bonds to unspecified investors. The funds will be used for capacity building in SiC, GaN, and IPM modules, as well as to supplement working capital, further strengthening the company’s core advantages in new energy vehicles and white appliances.

As the world’s fifth and China’s top IGBT module supplier, Starda Semiconductor has continued to invest heavily in R&D in recent years. From 2021 to the third quarter of 2025, R&D investment totaled 1.284 billion yuan, with R&D expenses rising from 6.46% to 11.51% of revenue, continuously reinforcing technological barriers.

Financially, the company maintained steady revenue growth, with a 23.82% year-over-year increase in revenue in the first three quarters of 2025. New energy business has become the main growth engine. Industry insiders say that this large-scale fundraising, combined with dual-driven R&D and capacity expansion, positions Starda Semiconductor to continue leading in the domestic power semiconductor substitution wave, with further long-term growth potential.

Proposed fundraising not exceeding 1.5 billion yuan to accelerate expansion

Data shows that Starda Semiconductor was established in April 2005. It is a leading domestic power semiconductor company, ranking fifth globally and first in China for IGBT modules. The company mainly designs, develops, produces, and sells power semiconductor chips and modules centered on IGBT, with products mainly used in new energy, electric vehicles, industrial control, and home appliances.

In recent years, Starda Semiconductor has accelerated capacity expansion, focusing on automotive-grade power semiconductors and third-generation semiconductor materials. Notably, this approval for the convertible bonds is the largest equity financing in the company’s recent history. The 1.5 billion yuan funds are clearly targeted, highly aligned with the company’s main business, and are significant for product upgrades, market expansion, and financial structure optimization.

Specifically, the “Automotive-Grade SiC MOSFET Module Manufacturing Project” and the “Automotive-Grade GaN Module Industrialization Project” are the key focuses of this fundraising, with a combined planned use of 800 million yuan, accounting for 53.33% of the total raised funds.

Among them, SiC and GaN, as core materials of the third generation of semiconductors, have outstanding advantages such as high frequency, high efficiency, high-temperature resistance, and high-voltage endurance. They are the key devices for 800V high-voltage platforms in new energy vehicles, onboard power supplies, and electric drive systems, and are also the focus of global power semiconductor technology competition. Through this fundraising, Starda Semiconductor aims to further expand the mass production scale of third-generation power modules for automotive-grade applications, consolidating its leading position in the domestic automotive-grade power device field.

Additionally, Starda Semiconductor plans to use 430 million yuan of the funds to supplement working capital, which will effectively improve the company’s asset-liability structure and reduce financial costs.

R&D expenses total 1.284 billion yuan over the past five years

From a financial perspective, Starda Semiconductor has seen steady expansion in overall operations, with excellent asset quality. Despite short-term pressures from industry competition and capacity depreciation, revenue has maintained high growth, demonstrating strong resilience.

In 2024, the company achieved revenue of 3.391 billion yuan and net profit attributable to shareholders of 508 million yuan. In the first three quarters of 2025, revenue reached 2.99 billion yuan, a 23.82% year-over-year increase, while net profit attributable to shareholders was 382 million yuan, down 9.80% year-over-year.

Facing structural adjustments in the power semiconductor industry, Starda Semiconductor focuses on a “high-end + customized” product strategy. It consolidates its core markets in new energy vehicles, renewable power generation (wind, solar, storage), industrial control, and power supplies, while accelerating the development of emerging fields to build a diversified growth matrix and navigate industry cycles.

Financial reports show that in the first half of 2025, the company’s new energy business achieved revenue of 1.213 billion yuan, a 52.82% increase, accounting for over 60% of total revenue. Among these, revenue from new energy vehicles increased by 25.80%, and photovoltaic energy storage business revenue surged over 200%, becoming the primary growth driver. Industrial control and power supply businesses generated 506 million yuan, while white appliance inverter business reached 215 million yuan.

In terms of product structure, IGBT modules remain the company’s core revenue source, accounting for over 92% of main business revenue in the first half of 2025. SiC modules saw rapid growth, becoming a new performance growth point.

Furthermore, Yangtze Business News notes that R&D innovation is the core competitiveness of Starda Semiconductor. The company consistently invests heavily in R&D, with continuous transformation of technological achievements. Data shows that from 2021 to the third quarter of 2025, R&D expenses were 110 million yuan, 189 million yuan, 287 million yuan, 354 million yuan, and 344 million yuan, totaling 1.284 billion yuan over five years. R&D expense ratios increased from 6.46% to 11.51% over the same period.

With ongoing R&D investment, Starda Semiconductor has achieved mass production and sales of independent IGBT chips, fast recovery diode chips, and SiC MOSFET chips, as well as large-scale production of IGBT and SiC modules.

In capital market performance, as of the close on March 12, 2026, Starda Semiconductor’s stock price was 109.06 yuan per share, up 0.91% that day. Its total market capitalization reached 26.12 billion yuan, with a trailing twelve-month P/E ratio of approximately 51.3, indicating a valuation within a reasonable range for the power semiconductor industry.

Editor: ZB