STMicroelectronics raised its 2026 data-center revenue forecast after stronger demand from artificial-intelligence infrastructure and satellite customers helped the semiconductor manufacturer beat quarterly expectations.
The Franco-Italian chipmaker reported third-quarter revenue of $3.76 billion, an increase of 17.9% from a year earlier.
Gross margin reached 37.3%, while operating income totaled $367 million. Excluding specified items, operating income reached $429 million.
STMicro now expects approximately $1.3 billion in data-center revenue during 2026, increasing its previous forecast of more than $1 billion. The company continues to expect data-center revenue to rise above $2 billion in 2027.
One important growth area is silicon photonics, which uses light rather than conventional electrical connections to move enormous amounts of data between computing systems.
The technology is becoming increasingly important as AI data centers require faster connections among processors, memory and networking equipment.
STMicro expects fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $4.15 billion, which would represent roughly 24.7% year-over-year growth. Full-year revenue is expected to reach approximately $14.5 billion, up about 22.8%.
Demand remains above available supply, prompting the company to continue expanding manufacturing capacity.
The results provide further evidence that the AI infrastructure boom is spreading beyond processors and memory into the communications, optical and networking components required to connect increasingly powerful computing clusters.
