Wolfspeed post-bankruptcy gets $700 million through CHIPS Act for Chatham factory
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- Wolfspeed secured nearly $700M in CHIPS tax rebate for Siler City materials plant
- After Chapter 11 and mass layoffs, Wolfspeed exited with $1.5B cash reserves
- Company shifts to 200mm wafers but faces underutilization and lagging EV demand
Two months removed from bankruptcy, the Durham semiconductor supplier Wolfspeed has gotten welcome, if expected, federal dollars to help cover the cost of its new Chatham County factory.
On Monday, Wolfspeed announced it received nearly $700 million in tax refunds through a provision of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act that subsidizes investments associated with qualifying U.S. semiconductor manufacturing projects. Wolfspeed has sought this 25% tax rebate after spending billions on a materials plant near Siler City.
The company anticipates seeing around $1 billion total through this subsidy, which is administered by the IRS and is separate from the $750 million CHIPS grant the government awarded Wolfspeed last year — money the chipmaker has not yet received.
Wolfspeed started production furnaces at its Siler City factory last year but has fallen far short of the 1,800 workers it had initially projected to hire there.
The company produces a unique semiconductor made from silicon carbide that is used in electric vehicles and other applications. Facing mounting debt and a slower-than-expected EV market, Wolfspeed began mass layoffs in the summer of 2024, which affected nearly one-third of its 5,000 employees, before the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this June. It exited bankruptcy court in late September under a restructuring agreement that erased 70% of what it owed creditors.
In a statement Monday, Wolfspeed said it now has roughly $1.5 billion in cash reserves as it looks to extend its focus beyond electric vehicles to include more data centers, energy and defense applications.
“This substantial cash infusion further strengthens our liquidity position at a critical phase in Wolfspeed’s strategic evolution,” the company’s chief financial officer, Gregor Van Issum, wrote.
Founded in 1987, Wolfspeed remains one of the Triangle’s biggest and oldest tech employers.
Through the CHIPS tax rebate, it says it will continue to transition away from 150-millimeter substrates, or wafers, and toward larger 200-millimeter substrates that offer greater yields and potential cost-savings. The chipmaker plans to shut its 150-millimeter wafer factory in Durham by the end of this month.
Wolfspeed also fabricates chips at its plant in New York State’s Mohawk Valley.
Out of bankruptcy, the company still faces challenges due to the size of its factories. Demand for its silicon carbide chips continues to lag its facility space, the company reported in October, resulting in $47 million in underutilization costs at its New York State and Siler City plants.
This story was originally published December 4, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
