Onsemi to sell two chipmaking plants to cut costs

Onsemi announced plans to sell two of its chipmaking facilities as part of a cost-reduction push, accelerating a restructuring effort that has been building as the company navigates a significant cyclical downturn. The move reflects management's view that owning and running fabs at this point in the cycle is a drag rather than a competitive advantage.

The financial backdrop is challenging: ON reported FY revenue of roughly $6.0B, down 15.3% year-over-year, with gross margins compressed to 33.1% and net margins at a thin 2.1% — producing diluted EPS of just $0.29. Those numbers make the case for structural cost reduction hard to argue against.

The bull case is that selling underutilized fabs frees up capital, reduces fixed-cost drag, and improves margins structurally — a playbook that worked for peers who shifted to fab-lite models. If the EV and industrial end-markets that ON targets begin to recover, the company could emerge leaner and more profitable.

The bear case is that divesting capacity into a soft market likely means low sale prices and potential charges, while the revenue decline suggests demand-side weakness that cost cuts alone won't fix. With net margins near zero, any execution stumble on the transition — customer disruption, supply gaps, or integration costs — could push earnings negative.

The key watch items are the sale price multiples achieved on the two plants, whether management provides updated margin and EPS guidance alongside the announcement, and any signal on the pace of recovery in ON's core EV power semiconductor and industrial verticals.