TEMPE, Arizona, May 2, 2026, 08:03 MST
Amkor Technology priced $1 billion of 0.00% convertible senior notes due 2031, giving the chip-packaging company fresh cash as it pushes ahead with heavy factory spending. A filing showed the company plans to use proceeds for capped call transactions and general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures.
The timing matters. Amkor is trying to fund a larger role in advanced semiconductor packaging, the back-end step that connects and houses chips so they can run in phones, cars and AI servers. The company last week forecast 2026 capital expenditures of about $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion, well above its first-quarter net income of $83 million.
The notes are senior unsecured debt that pays no regular interest and can be converted under set conditions into cash and, if applicable, stock. They are scheduled to settle on May 5, and the initial conversion price is about $106.37 a share, a 52.5% premium to Amkor’s April 30 last reported sale price of $69.75, the company said.
Amkor shares last traded at $71.09, giving the company a market value of about $17.7 billion. That puts the conversion price well above the latest trade, at least for now.
Amkor said it expects net proceeds of about $981.7 million, or about $1.13 billion if buyers fully exercise an option for additional notes. It plans to spend $49 million on capped call transactions, a hedging structure meant to reduce dilution for shareholders if the notes convert.
The debt sale follows a stronger first quarter. Kevin Engel, Amkor’s president and chief executive officer, said the company had a “strong start” to 2026, with record first-quarter revenue driven by broad end-market demand and progress on advanced packaging customer programs. Revenue rose 27% from a year earlier to $1.68 billion. Amkor Technology
Chief Financial Officer Megan Faust told analysts that Amkor’s balance sheet gives it “financial flexibility and liquidity” for the next investment cycle. She said the company had $1.8 billion in cash and short-term investments at March 31, total liquidity of $2.9 billion and total debt of $1.4 billion. Amkor Technology
Much of the money pressure sits in Arizona. Amkor has said its Peoria advanced packaging and test campus could reach $7 billion across two phases, with more than 750,000 square feet of cleanroom space and as many as 3,000 jobs. The first manufacturing facility is expected to be completed in mid-2027, with production starting in early 2028; Apple and Nvidia are listed as key customers.
The U.S. Commerce Department has also awarded Amkor up to $407 million in direct funding under the CHIPS program for the Peoria project. Commerce called Amkor the largest U.S.-based outsourced semiconductor assembly and test company, or OSAT, a term for firms that package and test chips for designers and foundries rather than making the wafers themselves.
The competitive field is not waiting. In its annual report, Amkor said it faces Asian packaging and test rivals including ASE Technology, JCET Group and Powertech Technology, and listed advanced packaging technology, geographic location and investment in new capacity among key competitive factors.
But the deal does not remove the risk. Amkor said the capped calls are expected to reduce potential dilution, but not if the market price of its shares rises above the cap price, initially $139.50. The company also warned that market conditions and closing conditions could affect completion of the offering and its use of the proceeds.
For now, Amkor has bought itself more room to spend. The harder test comes later: filling new capacity with high-value programs fast enough to offset depreciation, start-up costs and the normal swings of a chip cycle.
