Is SCREEN Holdings profitable in 2026?

Yes. SCREEN Holdings reported FY2026 (ended March 31, 2026) net profit of ¥92.0 billion, though that was down 7.5% year over year as net sales fell 3.1% to ¥605.7 billion amid softer semiconductor equipment demand.

Who is SCREEN Holdings' biggest competitor?

Tokyo Electron is SCREEN Holdings' most direct rival, co-leading the wafer wet-cleaning equipment niche while also being a much larger player across the broader wafer fab equipment market, per a 2026-04-01 competitive analysis.

Could AI replace SCREEN Holdings?

No. SCREEN's core value is atomic-level wet-chemistry process engineering and precision hardware, not information work. As of mid-2026, AI/HBM-driven chip demand is cited by management as a revenue tailwind for equipment orders, not a substitution threat.

Is SCREEN Holdings laying off workers?

No, the opposite: consolidated headcount rose to 6,884 employees as of March 31, 2026, up 469 people (+7.3%) from 6,415 a year earlier, per company disclosure reported July 6, 2026.

Who owns SCREEN Holdings?

SCREEN Holdings is an independent public company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime market (ticker 7735) with no controlling parent, and had a market capitalization of about ¥3.15 trillion as of July 24, 2026.

What global market share does SCREEN Holdings have in wafer cleaning equipment?

Industry analysts estimated SCREEN Holdings held roughly 35-45% global share of the wafer wet-cleaning equipment market as of a January 15, 2026 report, positioning it as a global leader in that niche alongside Tokyo Electron.

Semiconductor companies · Japan

SCREEN Holdings

screen.co.jp ↗

SCREEN Holdings makes wafer wet-cleaning and coating tools for chip fabs, based in Kyoto.

Hard to displace

Assessed 24 July 2026 · Evidence as of 24 July 2026

Strong structural protection; the business model survives ai pressure.

On the recordSince 24 July 2026 · Checkable from late July 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Q1 FY2027 earnings report, testing whether order rebound guidance holds

The call

SCREEN sits on a stable slice of wet-cleaning equipment that rivals haven't dislodged, with its near-term story tied more to chip-capex cycles than to any AI substitution risk.

SCREEN Holdings makes machines that clean wafer surfaces during chip manufacturing. It is hard to replace because chip factories like TSMC and Samsung have spent years testing and approving SCREEN's equipment, and switching to a competitor would risk ruining expensive production batches and losing months of output. Rivals like Tokyo Electron are established players, and newer competitors like ACM Research are growing in China but have not yet qualified for the most advanced chip factories outside China, which is where the real money is. The thing to watch is whether ACM Research or Chinese companies can prove their equipment works at leading-edge production levels in non-Chinese factories. If they do, SCREEN's advantage shrinks.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. AI chip demand is fueling orders, not replacing SCREEN's cleaning tools; HBM and AI-chip capex is driving its FY2027 order rebound. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.

Bigger players: Tokyo Electron. Tokyo Electron competes directly in wet-clean and is bigger across the broader equipment market, but SCREEN's share there has held for years. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.

What protects it. Multi-year fab qualification lock-in with TSMC, Samsung, and Intel plus decades of proprietary wet-chemistry know-how that's costly to re-qualify away from.

What would change this call

ACM Research, Naura, or AMEC announce a qualified wet-clean tool win at TSMC, Samsung, or Intel outside China. would show SCREEN's leading-edge lock-in is breaking, not just regional dilution.
SCREEN's FY2027 results (order intake, revenue) versus its ¥725.0 billion guidance issued June 2026. confirms whether the projected order rebound and share position are materializing.
Any new subsidiary-level accounting or governance disclosure following the January 2025 investigation. would test whether the prior issue was isolated or recurring.

Key numbers

FY2025 net sales: record ¥625.3 billion (2025-03-31)
FY2026 net sales fell 3.1% to ¥605.7 billion (2026-03-31)
FY2027 guidance: ¥725.0 billion sales, up 19.7% (2026-06-16)

Named risks

Yen appreciation risk given ~70-80% of sales are overseas. Severity: medium
FY2027 guidance depends on unconfirmed H2 WFE spending recovery and China/Taiwan demand timing. Severity: medium
Chinese players (ACM Research, Naura, AMEC) gaining mature-node wet-clean share. Severity: medium
Recurrence of accounting/governance issues after 2025 subsidiary investigation. Severity: low
Elevated valuation after +170.95% 12-month stock run vulnerable to any guidance miss. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Tokyo Electron	contesting	Co-leader in wet-clean, larger across broader WFE, most direct rival as of 2026-04-01
ACM Research	gaining on	Gaining China-localization share in mature-node fabs per 2026-01-15 report; not qualified at leading-edge non-China fabs
Lam Research	contesting	Holds an estimated 20-22% cleaning-segment share, strong in memory scaling, as of 2026-03-06
Applied Materials	contesting	Broader WFE portfolio (~$27B FY2024 sales) with secondary position in wet cleaning
SEMES (Samsung affiliate)	contesting	Originally a SCREEN joint venture, now independent but still uses SCREEN-derived tech

Questions people ask

Is SCREEN Holdings profitable in 2026?: Yes. SCREEN Holdings reported FY2026 (ended March 31, 2026) net profit of ¥92.0 billion, though that was down 7.5% year over year as net sales fell 3.1% to ¥605.7 billion amid softer semiconductor equipment demand.
Who is SCREEN Holdings' biggest competitor?: Tokyo Electron is SCREEN Holdings' most direct rival, co-leading the wafer wet-cleaning equipment niche while also being a much larger player across the broader wafer fab equipment market, per a 2026-04-01 competitive analysis.
Could AI replace SCREEN Holdings?: No. SCREEN's core value is atomic-level wet-chemistry process engineering and precision hardware, not information work. As of mid-2026, AI/HBM-driven chip demand is cited by management as a revenue tailwind for equipment orders, not a substitution threat.
Is SCREEN Holdings laying off workers?: No, the opposite: consolidated headcount rose to 6,884 employees as of March 31, 2026, up 469 people (+7.3%) from 6,415 a year earlier, per company disclosure reported July 6, 2026.
Who owns SCREEN Holdings?: SCREEN Holdings is an independent public company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime market (ticker 7735) with no controlling parent, and had a market capitalization of about ¥3.15 trillion as of July 24, 2026.
What global market share does SCREEN Holdings have in wafer cleaning equipment?: Industry analysts estimated SCREEN Holdings held roughly 35-45% global share of the wafer wet-cleaning equipment market as of a January 15, 2026 report, positioning it as a global leader in that niche alongside Tokyo Electron.

Timeline

2026-07-08H1 FY2027 net sales ¥274.2bn, down 1.1% YoY, operating margin 16.9%
2026-06-16FY2027 guidance issued: ¥725.0bn sales, ¥150.0bn operating income
2026-03-31FY2026 results: net sales ¥605.7bn (down 3.1%), net profit ¥92.0bn
2025-12Announced Albany, NY R&D center and launched Lemotia coater/dryer
2025-10Acquired wafer bonding R&D business from Nikon
2025-09-24Signed agreement with IBM on next-gen EUV lithography cleaning process
2025-04-02Acquired majority stake in Kyo Diagnostics K.K.
2025-03-31FY2025 record results: net sales ¥625.3bn, net profit ¥99.5bn
2025-01Disclosed internal accounting investigation at a subsidiary
2014-08Company renamed SCREEN Holdings under holding-company restructuring

Revision history

24 July 2026

First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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