Weebit lifts guidance after chip tape-outs & licence wins

Weebit Nano has expanded licensing agreements with key customers, and three customer chip designs using its ReRAM technology have reached tape-out. The company also raised its FY26 revenue guidance to at least A$13.5 million.

The broader agreements cover additional technologies, products and business units as existing customers widen their use of Weebit's resistive random-access memory intellectual property.

The tape-outs mark progress towards commercial production, with the designs released to manufacturing for products intended for eventual mass production. Applications include smart battery management systems and cybersecurity.

One of the three chip designs has already returned from the fab, and early tests show the prototype is functional and can run software. The remaining designs are moving through testing and qualification, a process that can take 12 to 18 months before mass production.

Chief Executive Officer Coby Hanoch said the quarter combined commercial gains with technical milestones across the business.

"Weebit Nano has had another productive quarter as we expanded our licensing agreements with key customers, progressed the transfer of our IP to Texas Instruments and onsemi, secured an additional $15 million from existing shareholders, and had three customers successfully tape-out chip designs embedded with our ReRAM, one already demonstrating a functional prototype running software. One of our three main targets for 2026, customer chip design tape-out, is a significant achievement on the path to the most important milestone for any new semiconductor technology - mass production of a first product," said Coby Hanoch, Chief Executive Officer, Weebit Nano.

Technology transfer work with Texas Instruments and onsemi remains on schedule. Texas Instruments is preparing to integrate the memory into advanced nodes for embedded processing semiconductors after tape-out and qualification, while onsemi is nearing the start of qualification following testing of demo chips produced at its 300mm US production fab.

Weebit's technology is being integrated into onsemi's Treo platform, a 65nm Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS process aimed at intelligent power and sensing products used in automotive, industrial and AI data centre markets.

Funding boost

Alongside the technical update, Weebit raised A$15 million through a share purchase plan offered to existing shareholders at A$4.05 per share. That followed institutional placements to Australian and Israeli investors worth A$87 million on the same terms, taking total funds raised to A$102 million.

The proceeds will support further development of its ReRAM technology, scale-up work and commercial activity, as well as AI-related product development.

The group ended the period with A$167 million in cash. Quarterly customer cash receipts were A$3.4 million, made up of licensing fees and non-recurring engineering revenue.

Industry delays

Customer evaluations and commercial discussions continue with multiple foundries and integrated device manufacturers, although pressure on semiconductor manufacturing capacity has slowed some decisions on new licensing agreements.

Hanoch said customer tape-outs have helped demonstrate that the technology is ready for production use.

"Multiple customer tape-outs further validate the maturity of our ReRAM and its readiness for volume production. As these commercial product designs continue to progress through manufacturing, testing and qualification, it increases the urgency for other foundries and integrated device manufacturers to add our IP to their offerings. It also significantly reduces the risk profile for product companies looking to integrate our ReRAM into their next-generation designs," Hanoch said.

He said existing customers had widened their work with the company after early engagements.

"We are especially proud of our progress with key customers, who have already expanded their agreements to encompass additional business units and products. This reflects their positive experience with Weebit and the significant benefits of our ReRAM IP for a broad range of industries and applications. Importantly, it is a strong vote of confidence in our technology, team and capabilities," Hanoch said.

The wider semiconductor market has become more constrained as demand rises, with foundries and integrated device manufacturers focusing fab resources on current customer wafer volumes. That has extended adoption timelines for some newer technologies, including cases where customer interest remains active.

At the same time, memory demand is increasing as AI workloads spread into more products, with interest growing from both current and prospective customers seeking more efficient memory approaches.

Patent gains

During the quarter, Weebit was granted three new patents. These cover a manufacturing method for an OxRAM-type resistive memory cell intended to improve endurance, and a memory-cell architecture designed to reduce array size and address selector variability.

The additions strengthen its intellectual property position in memory cell performance, architecture and manufacturing.

Research and development expenses for the quarter were A$4.6 million. Payments to related parties, including directors' fees and the Chief Executive Officer's payroll costs, totalled A$434,000.

"Growth across the semiconductor industry has accelerated over the past year, with revenue now expected to surpass the US$1 trillion mark in 2026 - a milestone previously set for 2030. Strong semiconductor demand has created capacity and resource constraints across the industry, with many foundries and integrated device manufacturers struggling to meet customer demand and allocating their attention and fab capacity to revenue-generating customer wafers. This is extending timelines for evaluating and adopting new technologies, resulting in some delays in securing new licensing agreements. Despite temporary delays, demand continues to grow for our ReRAM IP, and it is clear in our discussions with fabs that ReRAM is viewed as a key technology moving forward. We continue to progress engagements with top foundries and integrated device manufacturers alongside expanding relationships with existing customers," Hanoch said.