Intchains (ICG) 2026年上半期決算説明会：新型ASIC、第4四半期の投入を目指す

主なポイント

• Intchains Group Limitedの2026年上半期売上高は、周期的な需要の低迷が続いたことや、2月に発表された中国におけるマイニングマシン販売規制の影響を受け、1,110万人民元となりました。
• 営業費用合計は4,200万人民元となり、普通株1株当たりの基本的および希薄化後純損失は1.22人民元でした。
• 期末時点の現金および現金同等物、預金、国債の合計は4億6,100万人民元となり、同社は自己資金で次世代マイニング用ASICプログラムの資金をまかなうことが可能となっています。
• Intchainsは7月に次世代マイニング用ASICのテープアウトを完了しました。経営陣は2026年第4四半期の商用化を目指しており、下半期にはわずかな売上寄与にとどまるものの、2027年度にはより大幅な収益貢献を見込んでいます。
• 同社はリストラ、非コア半導体事業の売却、AIツールの活用拡大を通じて、6月30日時点で年換算約2,310万人民元の人件費削減を達成しました。
• 取締役会は手元資金を原資として、最長2年間で最大1,500万ドルのADS（アメリカ預託証券）自社株買いプログラムを承認しました。

主要財務データ

事業および業績動向

次世代マイニング用ASICは、7月のテープアウト完了を受けて設計段階から製造段階へ移行しました。社内基準に沿った性能、信頼性、熱設計に関する検証を行うため、エンジニアリングサンプルの提供と研究室での評価試験が進められています。

検証が成功すれば、IntchainsはGoldshell Minerシリーズを通じた2026年第4四半期の商用化に向け、初期生産の立ち上げとシステムレベルの統合を開始する予定です。本チップは成熟プロセスノードを採用しており、個人および大口のマイナー向けに効率性、信頼性、供給安定性のバランスを考慮して設計されています。

経営陣は、新製品が同社の獲得可能な最大市場（TAM）を拡大し、将来のシステムおよびサービス提供を支えるものと期待しています。また、暗号資産市場が回復すれば既存製品群も寄与すると見込んでおり、テープアウト作業が既に完了しているため、追加のウェハを迅速に発注できると説明しています。

Intchainsはまた、カスタムASIC設計やハードウェア統合能力をAIコンピューティング分野に拡張し得る買収を含め、AI関連の成長機会を評価しています。これらの取り組みはまだ初期段階にあります。

同社によると、2026年8月20日時点で4,556 ETHがステーキングに割り当てられています。これには、検証アクティベーション待ちとしてGoldshellステーキングプラットフォームを通じて預け入れられた3,556 ETHと、Falcon Xプラットフォームでステーキングされた1,000 ETHが含まれます。

経営陣による業績見通し（ガイダンス）

経営陣は、新しいマイニング用ASICの商用化目標を2026年第4四半期としています。同製品は2026年下半期にわずかな売上を生み出した後、量産と商用化の加速に伴い、2027年度にはより大幅な収益貢献を果たせる見込みです。

2027年について、経営陣は新製品からの売上高が2024年および2025年のサイクルでの実績を上回ると予想していると述べました。また、CFOは具体的な数値による売上予測は示さなかったものの、2027年が同社にとって5年間の中で最も堅調な業績をあげる年になる可能性があるとの見解を示しました。

Intchainsは2026年の残りの期間を通じてコスト規律の取り組みを継続する計画です。既存のETH資産を維持してステーキング報酬を得る一方で、利用可能な手元資金は追加のETH購入ではなく、研究開発、マイニングマシン運用、およびAIへの取り組みに優先的に充てる方針です。

リスクと注目点

• 上半期のマイニングマシン需要は周期的な低迷が続いたほか、中国での販売規制が更なる逆風となりました。
• 第4四半期のASIC発売は、シリコン検証、各種テスト、生産立ち上げ、およびシステム統合の成功に依存しています。
• 経営陣は現在の暗号資産環境をベア相場（弱気市場）と説明しました。市場の回復がない場合、新ASICが主要な収益ドライバーになると予想されます。
• AI関連の取り組みや潜在的な買収案件は現在も検討段階です。その実施時期、必要資金、および見込まれる売上貢献度については、現時点で予測できません。
• 同社の2027年の見通しは、新ASICの商用化の成功と、従来製品における暗号資産価格およびマイニング需要の回復に一部依存しています。

アナリストQ&Aの主なポイント

資本配分に関して、経営陣はASICのテープアウト、在庫、製品販売に対する通常の支出を維持する一方で、手元資金から1,500万ドルの自社株買いプログラムを実施すると述べました。潜在的なAIプロジェクトや買収に必要な資金については案件ごとに異なり、数値化はされていません。

ETH資産について、経営陣は現在ETHを売却する予定はないと述べました。現在の戦略は、手元現金を追加投入するのではなく、マイニングマシンの販売によって生じた利益を将来のETH購入に充てることです。

競合関係について、経営陣は新ASICが対象とする暗号資産に関する競合は激しくないと述べ、同製品が業界トップクラスの性能を発揮することに自信を示しました。なお、同社は電話会見において対象となる暗号資産の具体的な名称を明らかにしませんでした。

暗号資産市場の低迷が続いた場合、経営陣は新ASICが売上高の大部分を占めると予想しています。ドージコイン（Dogecoin）やAleoの価格が回復すれば、Intchainsはファウンドリパートナーに追加のウェハ発注を行えるため、過去の製品ラインも収益に貢献する可能性があります。

決算説明会（トランスクリプト）全文

決算説明会の完全なトランスクリプト

経営陣による説明

Operator

Thank you for standing by. My name is Priscilla, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the IC Group Limited First Half 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to Alice Zhang with Equity Group. Please go ahead.

Alice Zhang

Thank you, operator. Good evening to everyone. Welcome to Intchains' First Half 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Please be advised that the discussions on today's call will include forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and are based on the company's current expectations and projections regarding future events that may impact its financial condition, operating results and strategic direction.

Although the company believes that the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot assure you that such expectations will turn out to be correct, and the company cautions investors that actual results may differ materially from those anticipated results. Investors should review other factors that may affect its future results in the company's registration statement and other filings with the SEC. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances or changes in its expectations, except as required by law.

Please refer to the reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP measures in the earnings press release. The webcast replay of this conference call will be available on the Intchains' website at www.ir.inxen.com. It is my pleasure to introduce Ychen's CFO, Mr. Charles Yan, who will provide an overview of first half 2026 financial results and the company's business strategy and focus for the remainder of the year before opening the floor for questions. Charles, please go ahead.

Chaowei Yan

Thank you, Alice, and welcome, everyone. Let me start with a quick look at our first half 2026 results. The period reflected continued cyclical softness in outgoing demand, which was also impacted by the PRC mining machine sales restrictions announced in February. Revenue was RMB 11.1 million and total operating expenses were RMB 42 million with a basic and diluted net loss per ordinary share of RMB 1.22. We ended the period with RMB 461 million in cash and cash equivalents, deposits and government securities.

Our balance sheet that has allowed us to fund our next-generation chip program entirely from internal resources. Now turning into the remainder of 2026. Our progress on new product development and where we are taking the business from here. We entered this cycle with a deliberate choice, keep funding our next-generation mining ASIC development through a weaker demand environment so that we'll be ready with new products when the market turns, and that decision is now paying off.

In July, we successfully completed the tape-out of our new next-generation mining ASIC, a major technical milestone that keeps us on track for commercial launch in Q4 2026. This chip is architected specifically to optimize performance, balancing efficiency, reliability and supply availability using a mature process and is designed to improve unit economics and returns on invested capital for retail and professional miners.

The successful tape-out transitions the ASIC project from design completion to the start of the manufacturing process and sets the stage for silicon validation, followed by mass production and official commercial launch. With our capital and R&D intensive phase of this ASIC chip development now complete, the company has initiated engineering sample production and laboratory validation, including performance, reliability and thermal testing against internal benchmarks.

Subject to successful validation, Intchains expects to commence initial production ramp and system-level integration in advance of a planned commercial launch targeted for Q4. Once launched through the sales of our Goldshell Miner series, we believe it will broaden our addressable market across retail and professional miners, enhance the competitiveness of our hardware portfolio and unlock new revenue streams through future system and service offerings.

Looking into the second half, we believe we are moving quickly to capture the opportunities ahead. Our mining -- our new mining assets is expected to begin contributing a modest revenue in H2 2026, building a far more meaningful impact in fiscal 2027 as commercialization accelerates.

Longer term, we believe that this platform further strengthens our position as a leading active supplier of purpose-built mining ASIC systems, driving superior operational efficiency for our customers and advancing a more sustainable approach to proof-of-work infrastructure. It's a core part of our strategy to build a more resilient, diversified revenue base.

Beyond this new project, we are also in the early stages of evaluating new growth opportunities in artificial intelligence, including potential acquisitions that would extend our core competencies in custom ASIC design and hardware systems integration into AI-enabled computing applications. Our goal is to reduce reliance on cryptocurrency market cycles over time and to position Intchains in a higher-value computing market adjacent to our existing hardware expertise. This work is still in early stages, and we look forward to share more details as our plans develop.

On the cost side, we continued to make progress on our cost optimization efforts. As of June 30, 2026, we had realized approximately RMB 23.1 million in annualized labor cost savings through our organizational restructuring. The divestiture of our noncore chip-related business and expanded use of AI-enabled tools across our business operations. We expect to continue these cost disciplined initiatives throughout the remainder of the year. On our ETH treasury holdings, as of June 30, 2026, the fair value of our cryptocurrency assets, excluding stablecoins such as USDC and USDT was RMB 98.9 million, including approximately 9,176 ETH.

As of August 20, 2026, the company's total units of ETH stated were 4,556 with 3,556 ETH deposited through our Gold Shield staking platform pending validation activation and 1,000 ETH stakes on Falcon X platform. Going forward, we expect to maintain a prudent ETH treasury and staking position, preserving our existing treasury holdings and continue generating staking yields while prioritizing capital allocation towards our next-generation AI program and the new AI initiatives over additional ETH accumulation.

We also announced today that our Board of Directors had approved a share repurchase program, under which we may repurchase up to $15 million of our ADS over the next 2 years, funded from our existing cash balance. We believe that this program reflects our confidence in Intchains's long-term strategic direction and our commitment to creating value for shareholders. And it's consistent with our disciplined approach to capital allocation, balancing returns to shareholders with continued investment in our next-generation ASIC and new AI initiatives.

Looking ahead to second half of 2026, while we expect continued market headwinds, we will remain focused on disciplined execution, commercializing our new ASIC prioritizing cost optimization and advancing our evaluation of AI-related growth opportunities. We believe these initiatives will position Intchains for a more diversified and resilient business over the long term. With that, operator, let's open it up for questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Mark Palmer with The Benchmark.

質疑応答

Mark Palmer

Just you announced the new share repurchase program and also discussed ongoing R&D activities as well as the potential for M&A, especially focused on AI and AI-driven businesses. Can you talk a bit about what your capital allocation priorities are? And more broadly, what your capital allocation strategy looks like going forward?

Chaowei Yan

Firstly, for the share repurchase program, we planned $15 million for the share repurchase program. And for the R&D or R&D in current asset, we will handle this as usual. We will do the tape-out and buy the inventory and then sell them. So the capital cost of the current business, it will be -- remain the same with our prior projects. And finally, for the AI initiatives and M&A, it will depend on -- it all depends on the project we engaged. Currently, we have several projects to assess and every project has a different capital requirement. So currently, for the AI part, we cannot give accurate estimation. Thank you.

Mark Palmer

Yes. And a follow-up question, please. Charles, you made reference to the fact that you're anticipating that there will be a pickup in the impact from the newly developed ASIC product in 2027.

Can you talk a bit about how you're currently thinking about 2027, particularly with regard to the diversification of revenue that you made reference to reducing reliance on crypto cycles? And also, what should we be watching for over the next few quarters in terms of milestones or signs of your progress?

Chaowei Yan

Firstly, our next milestone of the product is the product launch, it will be happening in Q4 2026. And it will contribute some revenue for the second half, but it will not be very big. But for the 2027, the whole product will be -- the whole mass production will be on track. So in 2027, our expectation is the revenue will be better than the last cycle. And last cycle, I mean, maybe 2025 and 2024.

So -- and this is our business basic. And in addition, for other revenue or other revenue base, we will continue to state ease and will contribute meaningful revenue compared with this year and last year. And finally, the AI initiatives, if it has some meaningful process, it will also contribute additional revenue. I think the -- in current stage, I think we cannot estimate the current figure of that part. But I believe the 2027 will be a good year or the best year among 5 years of the company.

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Matthew Galinko with Maxim Group.

Matthew Galinko

Maybe firstly, can you -- just given the environment we've been in for crypto, can you discuss any changes you're seeing in competition in the ASIC design business?

Chaowei Yan

Currently, what I can say now is that our new next-generation ASIC, the foundation of this new cryptocurrency is very good and the competition of this new cryptocurrency is not intense. We may not the first one entering into that area, but we believe that our products have a leading performance among all competitors. And I think we are very confident on this new asset or new mining machine for the for this new co and for 2027.

And on the other hand, I think the crypto environment currently, it has some soft demand issues. And now I think for the second half and next year, the market will recover and together with our business and our revenue and the ETH price. This is all our company -- all our company's business, yes.

Matthew Galinko

Great. And I guess as a follow-up to drill a little bit more into the capital allocation decisions. How do you view your ETH Treasury holdings in respect to other investment opportunities, including M&A, additional ASIC development if you see opportunities? Is the are treasury holdings potentially convertible into cash for M&A or other initiatives if it suits? Or do you intend to hold that as a fixed asset and not really consider it as part of the -- any kind of spend?

Chaowei Yan

I think we will not sell ETH firstly. And -- but we're using our own fund to buy ETH. So if we did not generate operating cash, it's difficult for us to pay, pay more money on it. So our current strategy is to sell mining machine and obtain profit and use that profit to buy the ETH.

So for the capital allocation, if we will not use the -- we will not further use current cash to buy ETH, but but this is our current strategy. I cannot ensure we will -- if we will change in the future. But currently, we are using this strategy. Our current cash will used in R&D, mining machine sales, current business and AI initiatives. Thank you.

Matthew Galinko

And maybe last question for me. In addition to the new machine that you're rolling out in Q4 and you expect to contribute to 27. Do you expect any -- if we get a recovery in the crypto market, do you expect to have decent contribution from other products in your portfolio? Or do you think that 27% is going to be just predominantly driven by the new launch?

Chaowei Yan

I think if the, currently -- if the -- now currently, cryptocurrency is in the bear market. So if the market did not recover, if the market did not recover, I think we can -- our main product is this new product -- our main revenue will come from -- contributed by this new product.

But if the market recovers, the all the price, the Dogecoin price, the Aleo coin price recover, then we will have another other contributions from the prior product line because we have finished the tape-out. So it's very quick for us to order more wafer from our fab.

Operator

And I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would like to turn it back to Charles Yan for closing remarks.

Chaowei Yan

Yes. Thanks again to all of you for joining us. We are always open to a dialogue with investors. Please feel free to reach out to us or to our Investor Relations firm, -- the Equity Group for any additional questions. We look forward to speaking with you all again on our next call. Thank you.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.