Semiconductor equipment provider AIXTRON published its financial results of the first half and the second quarter of 2020. The company said that it remains on track in the period despite the COVID-19 crisis.

For 1H20, AIXTRON said it has received order volumes of EUR 138.4 million (US$ 160.6 million), which achieved an on-year growth of 41%. The order intake of 2Q20 came to EUR 69.6 million (US$ 80.76 million), up by 55% comparing to the same period in 2019.

The main drivers of the growing customer demand for deposition equipment are the growing markets for GaN and SiC power electronics, lasers for ultra-fast optical data transmission and specialty LEDs for display and disinfection applications. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, AIXTRON's operations have been up and running without interruption due to early measures taken and a stable supply chain.

Due to the development of order intakes in the previous year, revenues (including service and spare parts) in the first six months of 2020 were, as expected, lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year at EUR 97.0 million (US$ 112.63 million). But the revenue of 2Q20 has increased by 37% QoQ at EUR 56.0 million (US$ 65.2 million).

Although equipment installation in different region has been affected by COVID-19 related lockdowns, AIXTRON noted that it still generated a gross margin of 39% in the first half of 2020 (H1/2019: 40%).

Based on the solid order backlog and the currently estimated low impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, AIXTRON confirms its guidance for the full year 2020, and expects to receive orders and revenues of between EUR 260 million and EUR 300 million (US$ 302 million to 348 million). The Company aims to achieve a gross margin of approximately 40% and an EBIT margin between 10% and 15%.