Wolfspeed wins conditional $1.5 billion, 30-year loan from Department of War

The financing is meant to fund upgrades to gallium nitride epitaxy and new radiation-hardening work for military-grade chips.

Wolfspeed has secured a conditional loan commitment worth $1.5 billion from the Department of War, with a 30-year term. The money is earmarked for upgrading the company's gallium nitride epitaxy lines and developing radiation-hardening capabilities for its chips.

The commitment comes about a year after Wolfspeed emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company completed its restructuring on September 29, 2025, according to its investor relations announcement reported by StreetInsider. That process cut total debt by roughly 70%, from about $6.7 billion to roughly $2.1 billion, according to an analysis by Bestowal Capital, and extended debt maturities to 2030 while lowering annual cash interest expense by about 60%, StreetInsider reported. A Securities and Exchange Commission filing showed Wolfspeed held $1.3 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as of December 28, 2025.

The loan is the Pentagon's first long-term financing tied to Wolfspeed's silicon carbide and gallium nitride production since that restructuring, marking a shift in the company's balance-sheet narrative from paying down debt to expanding with government backing. Tying the money to radiation-hardening work points to the Pentagon's interest in a domestic, military-grade wide bandgap chip supplier that does not depend on Chinese inputs, a concern that has grown as export controls on gallium and other critical materials have tightened. A 30-year term is far longer than typical commercial semiconductor financing, giving Wolfspeed room to expand epitaxy capacity without facing near-term refinancing pressure.