AIXTRON, the Germany-based semiconductor equipment provider, has announced its financial results for the nine months and the third quarter of 2018. The equipment company has reported growing profit with continuous demands for MOCVD systems for the production of power electronics and lasers such as VCSEL or EEL lasers for applications in 3D sensing or optical data transmission as well as red, orange and yellow (ROY) LEDs.

(Image: AIXTRON)

With the strong demands, the order intake for AIXTRON has improved by 16% to EUR 230.3 million (US$ 261.2 million) in the past nine months in 2018. The revenues of Q3/18 was EUR 63.4 million (US$ 72 million) with a 15% QoQ increase. The accumulated revenue in 9M/2018 has improved by 3% year-on-year to EUR 180.9 million (US$ 205.17 million).

Gross profit and gross margin improved by 43% YoY to EUR 78.2 million (US$ 88.7 million) in 9M/2018. Compared to the previous quarter, gross profit in Q3/2018 increased to EUR 27.6 million (US$ 31.31 million) which is in line with revenue development, while the gross margin remained stable at 44%. According to AIXTRON, the profit growth was due to a favorable product and regional mix and was also positively influenced by a favorable currency exchange rate as well as a higher sales volume in the third quarter.

Dr. Bernd Schulte, President of AIXTRON SE, commented: "We were very pleased with the broad distribution of our order intake into applications for red, orange and yellow (ROY) LEDs, lasers and power electronics. The continuation of the overall positive business development in Q3/2018 means that we now expect orders and revenues for the full year 2018 to be at the upper end of the initially communicated range as well as a significantly improved result - the best result since 2011 and an incentive for the future. In addition, with the recent signing of the joint venture agreement with IRUJA, we also successfully completed the strategic adaptation of the Group structure initiated in 2017, which has led to sustainable profitability."