Aixtron announces strong Q1
Growing success in SiC and GaN systems drives revenues and profits
Aixtron says it has expanded its competitive position in the first quarter of 2024 driven by SiC and GaN business. Revenues in the first quarter of 2024 increased by 53 percent year over year to €118.3 million (Q1/2023: €77.2 million).
Systems for SiC and GaN power applications accounted for the largest share of equipment revenues, totalling €57.7 million in the quarter (Q1/2023: €36.3 million). This was followed by systems for the LED segment (including Micro LED) with €19.6 million (Q1/2023: €6.9 million) and for other optoelectronic applications such as lasers (Q1/2024: €10.0 million; Q1/2023: €13.0 million).
Aixtron generated a gross profit of €43.8 million in the first quarter of 2024 – an increase of 41 percent compared to the same period last year (Q1/2023: €31.1 million). The gross margin of 37 percent was below the guidance for the full year 2024 (Q1/2023: 40 percent) which was due to the product mix and fixed cost effects.
At €33.8 million, operating expenses in the reporting period were higher than in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1/2023: €27.6 million). This was mainly due to expenses for R&D: Aixtron says it is already investing in future tool generations and is implementing further improvements to the new G10 product family at the same time.
Overall, Aixtron achieved an operating result of €9.9 million, an increase of 183 percent compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter, the EBIT margin amounted to 8 percent – an increase of 3 percentage points (Q1/2023: €3.5 million; 5 percent). The profit for the period grew by 209 percent to €10.8 million (Q1/2023: €3.5 million).
Aixtron says these strong results were driven by further technological advances to the G10-SiC system for the production of SiC based power electronics, which have already been confirmed by numerous customers and will be implemented in systems already delivered in the course of the year.
As a result of this progress, Aixtron was able to win further new customers in the SiC segment, in particular an additional customer from the "top-5" SiC manufacturers, as well as a major order from China and several customers in Japan.
In addition, power electronics based on GaN continue to expand into new application areas with the new G10-GaN system proving popular. Research and development activities in the Micro LED segment continue to be highly dynamic, which has led to an increased demand for Aixtron technology and orders from numerous customers. Demand in the optoelectronics segment remains stable: this momentum is particularly evident in systems for the production of lasers for optical data communications.
The work on the new Innovation centre at Aixtron’s headquarters in Herzogenrath (Germany) is fully on schedule and within budget. With an investment of around 100 million Euros, Aixtron is currently creating a new, technologically advanced cleanroom, where the company will work with customers on the next generation of systems.
Full year growth guidance confirmed
For the fiscal year 2024, Aixtron expects revenues in the range between €630 million and €720 million, a gross margin of around 43 percent – 45 percent and an EBIT margin of around 24 percent – 26 percent. For the second quarter of 2024, revenues are expected to range between €120 million to €140 million.
