At a glance. The numbered print on this April call is a record 2025 — revenue NT$27.5bn, EPS NT$8.07, cash dividend NT$6. Q1 2026 was described as the trough, with sequential growth expected, a NT$43.1bn backlog, and a first semiconductor GIS order targeted for September. The AI data-center print is generators and HVAC, plus GIS into fabs. The call did not discuss 800 V, HVDC, SST, or DC busway.
What changed this quarter
2025 closed at a record, and the cash dividend was set at NT$6. That is the P&L the meeting walked through; Q1 was given as mix and backlog, not a full income statement.
The mix shifted toward services and IDC rooms. Green-related revenue (heavy electrical, solar, hydrogen) fell from a typical ~70% to 64%, because DUDU parking and IDC-room HVAC/electrical operations grew faster — and because January–February solar irradiation was poor, which cut the solar plants, not GIS. The CEO called the diversification intentional. GIS itself was still up year on year.
A semiconductor qualification cleared. Chung-Hsin is now a qualified supplier to a major domestic fab, with a first order expected in September 2026 and delivery early next year. Management would not size the order. Packaging and other satellite names are being worked.
Capex was raised to NT$2bn from an earlier NT$500–600m, split roughly in thirds: equity in peers to reach private-sector GIS, AI/automation (welding robots, an AI quoting system), and GIS redesign plus type testing against tighter Taipower specs. Plants are running at about 110%.
The numbers
| FY 2025 | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | NT$27.5bn (~US$873m) | +7.2% YoY |
| EPS | NT$8.07 (~US$0.26) | Record |
| DPS | NT$6 (~US$0.19) | Record |
Q1 2026 was not given as revenue, margin or EPS. What was given:
- Gross margin expected to stay in a 25–28% band, including in Q1, despite the lower green mix.
- Backlog at end-March NT$43.1bn (~US$1.37bn); Q1 new orders NT$6.3bn (~US$200m).
- Finished-goods inventory of about NT$2.6bn (~US$83m) warehoused against Taipower pull-in. Taipower has already paid 70%, so the cash risk is described as contained.
- Q1 framed as the low point of 2026, with sequential growth thereafter.
- FTSE ESG raised to AA from A.
NVIDIA 800V read-through
Chung-Hsin is a GIS and facility-power name. Nothing on this call belongs inside an 800 VDC rack.
NVIDIA converts 13.8–35 kV AC through an MV rectifier or SST into 800 VDC. Chung-Hsin's disclosed line is 345 / 161 / 69 / 22 kV GIS, campus EPC, generators, and chillers. That is the AC grid and the hall. It is not a rectifier, not a 5000 A DC board, not a 1500 A DC busway, and not a rack PSU.
Where AI and semiconductors actually show up:
- Generators and air-conditioning into AI and IDC halls, guided to +15% in 2026. Permanent-magnet centrifugal chillers, claimed 30% more efficient, already into Chunghwa Telecom, Fubon and Taoyuan Airport, with Vietnam as a follow-on.
- IDC operations — HVAC and electrical maintenance of computer rooms — large enough, with parking, to pull the green mix down to 64%.
- Semiconductor GIS, after qualification at a domestic major, first PO targeted September 2026. The commercial argument is local: flexible delivery against a fab schedule, north-central-south spares and repair, which foreign GIS vendors are said not to match.
- Modular container halls under discussion with listed companies and integrators — generator, HVAC, switchgear, server cabinets stacked in containers — still at an evaluation stage.
Keep Chung-Hsin as a second-tier medium-voltage / facility read on fab and hall buildout. Do not upgrade GIS, generators or chillers into NVIDIA 800 VDC.
Segments that moved
No Q1 product-share table was given. The moving pieces:
- GIS / heavy electrical — still growing year on year; ~80% of Taipower GIS and ~65% outside Taipower. Private-sector share is targeted +10 points in 2026 with a larger sales headcount. Domestic specs are the same family as Taipower's, with lower safety factors and a different cost stack, which still needs redesign money.
- Green mix — 64% in Q1, from ~70%, on parking, IDC operations, and weak Q1 solar, not on a GIS decline.
- Generators and HVAC — the AI/IDC growth line, +15% guided for 2026.
- Hydrogen — strategy has moved off delayed hydrogen buses onto a containerised methanol-to-hydrogen generating system intended as baseload (methanol can be supplied continuously), integrable with solar and storage, R&D in the United States. When asked about "modular computer rooms" in Q&A, the CEO pointed at this methanol system and the slide deck.
- Overseas — Haimen, China plant as the cost base for Japan, India (Kanohar) and Vietnam (ANC, a former Siemens agent). Management contrasted this with peers that have already spent years on the US market; Chung-Hsin's stated duty is to fill Taipower and domestic private demand first.
Automation: robot welding (better beads, less grind time) and an AI quoting system that reads specs and drawings into ERP, claimed 15–20% faster. About one-tenth of plant labour has been sent to sites to assemble, because the factory is at 110%.
Guidance
- 2026 revenue and profit expected to grow again and make another record.
- Q1 is the trough; subsequent quarters expected to rise sequentially.
- Semiconductor: first order September 2026, delivery early 2027; packaging and satellite names still being worked.
- Generators and HVAC: +15% in 2026 on AI/IDC halls.
- Capex NT$2bn, roughly a third each to peer equity, AI/automation, and GIS redesign/testing.
- Private-sector GIS share +10 points targeted in 2026.
- Risks named: slow Taipower pull-in (revenue timing and inventory), and a domestic shortage of site labour.
Management Q&A
Q: Versus peers such as Fortune Electric, why has Chung-Hsin's heavy-electrical path looked different, and what is the bottleneck?
A: The market strategy is different. Fortune Electric has been in the US for decades, while Chung-Hsin, as Taiwan's only GIS maker, says it must first supply Taipower and domestic private demand. Overseas, the Haimen plant in China — about NT$4bn of capacity and a lower cost base — is meant to serve Japan, India and Vietnam, and that benefit will take time.
Q: What is the opportunity with domestic semiconductor customers?
A: International-class semiconductor plants have rarely used domestic product; passing one major's stringent qualification is an important breakthrough. The claimed advantages are delivery flexibility against the customer's build schedule, timely repair with inventory and crews in the north, centre and south so the line does not stop, and adequate spares — localisation that foreign vendors cannot easily match.
Q: Q1 green-energy revenue mix fell; what was the gross-margin impact?
A: Gross margin did not change much and remains in a 25–28% range. The green mix fell because January–February sunlight was poor, which hit the solar plants, not because the GIS core declined. The CEO declined to say whether the quarter sat at the top or the bottom of that band.
Q: Roughly how large is the first semiconductor order?
A: The CEO did not give an amount. Besides that semiconductor customer, the company is also trying to enter a large packaging house and other satellite industrials in Taiwan.
Q: Of the NT$43.1bn backlog, what is the private versus Taipower mix, and can the two specs be shared?
A: The CEO did not give the mix. Taiwan has a unified specification, so the base spec is the same, but private customers do not require Taipower's safety factor, so the design can be simplified and the cost structure differs — which still means paying to redesign.
Q: How is the capex increase to NT$2bn allocated, and what is plant utilisation?
A: Roughly one-third is for investing in peers to expand the market, one-third for AI systems and automation, and one-third for new GIS product development and testing. Plant utilisation is about 110%, covered by overtime, and about one-tenth of the workforce has been sent to sites to help assemble. The systems spend is meant to raise efficiency by about 20%; peer investment is already contributing, including about 15% growth in HVAC generators.
Q: Can you say more about the new modular computer-room product?
A: The CEO pointed to the slides and described a containerised hydrogen system: methanol is converted to hydrogen, then a fuel cell generates power for the grid. Because methanol can be supplied continuously it can serve as baseload, and it can be combined with solar and storage; the near-term target is a 300 kg/day hydrogen unit in a 20-foot container, using the company's existing fuel-cell product.
Disclaimer
English notes on Chung-Hsin Electric and Machinery's investor conference of 23 April 2026, covering 2025 results and a Q1 2026 update. The call did not discuss 800 VDC; AI and semiconductor demand is GIS, generators and HVAC. Figures are as presented by management and have not been independently verified. USD equivalents are approximate at about NT$31.5 to the dollar. For reference only; not investment advice.