Overview
- Raspberry Pi raised its full-year profit outlook and said first-half core profit will be at least $38 million, sending its FTSE 250 shares up to a record 972 pence.
- The company credited strong industrial demand and favorable pricing for helping absorb earlier spikes in memory-chip costs.
- Raspberry Pi plans to tap debt facilities to finance strategic memory purchases because DRAM and non-volatile memory supply is constrained by surging AI demand.
- About one-third of the firm’s boards use no memory or older memory types held in a separate inventory buffer, which reduces exposure to current market volatility, but management says per-unit margins will moderate in the second half as lower-cost stock is used up.
- The upgrade and the decision to borrow highlight a trade-off for the company: securing parts to meet demand and protect customers in automation and medical devices while accepting higher financial leverage and narrower margins later this year.