At a glance. A soft quarter inside a solid year, and the call where Delta stated an ambition few Taiwan suppliers can: to move above the rack into medium-voltage DC and solid-state transformers, extending from power supplier toward the grid architecture itself.
What changed this quarter
Margin broke its run. Gross margin fell from 34.9% in Q3 to 30.8%, and net income dropped 42% sequentially. Management gave three causes: an unfavourable mix while AI server products crossed generations, larger inventory write-downs, and a one-off quality problem at the Thailand plant.
The ambition moved up the stack. Asked about medium-voltage DC for data centers, management said it is actively developing MV inverters and solid-state transformers, and wants to extend from being a power supply vendor into the grid architecture. That is the layer NVIDIA would later specify for converting 13.8–35 kV AC directly to 800 VDC.
The rack roadmap was spelled out. Management described power moving from a single PSU, to an integrated power shelf, to a rack-level sidecar or power train — with GPU power rising from hundreds of watts past 1,500 W. Each step raises Delta's content per rack.
The numbers
| Q4 2024 | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | NT$114.2bn (~US$3.6bn) | +14% YoY, +2% QoQ |
| Gross margin | 30.8% | from 34.9% in Q3 |
| Operating margin | 9.4% | from 14.6% in Q3 |
| Net income | NT$7.18bn (~US$228m) | −20% YoY, −42% QoQ |
| EPS | NT$2.76 (~US$0.09) | — |
Full year 2024: revenue NT$421.1bn (~US$13.4bn), +5%; gross margin 32.4% versus 29.2% in 2023; operating margin 11.3%; net income NT$35.2bn (~US$1.12bn), +5%; EPS NT$13.56.
Operating expense rose 17% on R&D, acquisition-related amortisation, and litigation. The proposed dividend was NT$7.00, a payout slightly above 50%.
NVIDIA 800V read-through
This call predates NVIDIA's whitepaper, but it contains the two things that matter for Delta's later inclusion on the official partner list.
Medium-voltage DC and SST. Delta named both as active development areas. In NVIDIA's eventual reference design, a 17.5 MW block is built from 3.5 MW MV rectifiers, with SSTs as the future-proof alternative at up to 7.5 MVA. Delta is the only Taiwan name that has claimed a seat at that layer.
The PSU-to-rack progression. Delta described exactly the centralisation NVIDIA later formalised, and noted that DC-DC converters gain importance in the new architecture — the stage NVIDIA assigns to a 64:1 LLC converter beside the GPU.
Delta said it would show next-generation Blackwell power and cooling at GTC.
Segments that moved
Power electronics was 52% of Q4 revenue. AI server products were the growth driver but were between generations, which is part of why mix hurt.
Infrastructure was 27% and grew 21% year on year on data-center power and cooling — the segment where liquid cooling sits.
Automation was 12% and returned to growth, up 7% year on year, with a modest recovery expected through 2025.
Mobility was 9% and flat for the year on soft EV demand, but January 2025 revenue alone approached the entire prior-year run rate, which management read as a genuine recovery rather than noise.
Guidance
- 2025 revenue growth to accelerate, led by AI servers and EV.
- Gross margin expected to be stable versus 2024, helped by mix.
- Operating expense growth to slow, though likely still double digit.
- Capex to stay high to support capacity and technology upgrades.
Management Q&A
Q: What is Delta's position in medium-voltage DC products for data centres?
A: The facility-level medium-voltage market is still led by a few large names, and Delta has not done a great deal there yet. As a power-solutions supplier it wants to move up toward grid architecture, and it is developing products such as medium-voltage inverters and solid-state transformers. "Medium voltage" here means tens of thousands of volts, which is not the same as the 800V that data-centre racks call high voltage.
Q: What is the product plan for next-generation NVIDIA platforms such as GB200, GB300 and Rubin?
A: GPU power keeps rising — from a few hundred watts toward 1,500 W and beyond — so PSU wattage follows. The architecture is moving from a single PSU to a Power Shelf that packs several PSUs, then to rack-level sidecar or power-train solutions, which adds more of the bill for Delta, and DC-DC converters become more important in the new stack. New Blackwell-generation power and cooling were due to be shown at GTC; Rubin is still further out and still carries some uncertainty.
Q: What is the outlook for the EV business?
A: EV was roughly flat in 2024 after years of 50–100% growth, on slower end-market demand. 2025 is described as highly uncertain, and management does not dare expect much growth; without growth, profitability is not easy either.
Q: Why did Q4 2024 gross margin fall?
A: Three reasons: mix, with AI-server power in a generation gap and high-margin passives in their seasonal dip; larger inventory write-down provisions as stock levels rose; and one-off costs from a product-quality issue at a Thailand plant. Q2–Q3 margins had also been flattered by inventory-provision reversals that were not as large in Q4.
Q: What is the 2025 capex plan?
A: Capex is expected to stay at a relatively high level to support capacity expansion and technology upgrades, especially in the faster-growing businesses.
Q: What is the dividend policy?
A: The board proposed a NT$7.00 cash dividend for 2024, a payout just above 50%, in line with the articles of incorporation, which set a floor of 50%.
Disclaimer
English notes on Delta Electronics' investor conference of 11 March 2025, covering Q4 and full-year 2024. This is the most recent Delta call in our archive; the company's 800 VDC products advanced substantially afterwards. 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.