AXT Announces Revised Q301 Outlook
FREMONT, Calif. AXT Inc., a leading manufacturer of compound semiconductor substrates and opto-electronic devices, today revised its forecast for the third quarter ending September 30, 2001. The company had previously estimated revenues for the quarter to be in the range of $26 million to $28 million. AXT now expects third quarter revenues to be in the range of $22 million to $23 million due to weaker than expected demand for gallium arsenide and indium phosphide substrates, as well as for opto-electronic products. The company expects to record a loss for the third quarter between $0.04 and $0.06 per share.
Due to the continuation of a very difficult economic environment, we are experiencing weakened demand across all of our product lines, said Morris Young, president and CEO. In response, AXT has implemented a range of measures to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of our operations. We believe that our market leading position in larger diameter gallium arsenide and indium phosphide substrates as well as significant advancements in our opto-electronics division will position us well for renewed growth when the economy begins to recover.
The company also indicated that it anticipates a substantial decline in substrate-related revenue in the fourth quarter compared with the revised estimate for the third quarter.
AXT will report its full third quarter results and provide an outlook for the fourth quarter on October 24, 2001 following the close of the market.
About AXT, Inc. AXT designs, develops, manufactures and markets high-performance compound semiconductor substrates for the fiber optics and communications industries. The Company s proprietary Vertical Gradient Freeze (VGF) crystal growth technology produces low-defect, semi-insulating and semi-conducting gallium arsenide, indium phosphide and germanium wafers. AXT is also a leading producer of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), such as blue, cyan and green LEDs, for the display and lighting industries and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for the fiber optics industry. For more information, see AXT s website at www.axt.com. The Company can also be reached at 4281 Technology Drive, Fremont, California 94538 or by calling 510-683-5900. AXT is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol AXTI.
Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding revenues and earnings that the Company expects to report for the third and fourth quarters of 2001, demand for the Company s products, the effect of cost reduction programs and programs designed to improve efficiency implemented by the Company, and ability to incur renewed growth upon economic recovery. Forward-looking statements address matters that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations. Factors that could cause such results to differ include, but are not limited to: accounting entries and adjustments made during the close of the Company s quarters; declining economic conditions including a possible recession that could continue to affect the overall demand for our products, including slowdowns in the wireless handset and fiber optics markets; reductions or delays by our customers in their purchases of our products; war or terrorist activity that disrupt our manufacturing capabilities or interrupt the sale of our products; the ability of competitors to utilize new technology to create products that replace those offered by us; failure to achieve anticipated sales of our new products; fines or delays in our manufacturing processes that may be imposed if we fail to comply with environmental and other regulations; and reduction or interruption of our production and increased costs experienced as a result of electrical power outages. Reference is made to AXT s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including AXT s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and its Form 10-Qs, and to AXT s Form S-3, for further discussion of risks and uncertainties regarding AXT s business.
Web site: http://www.axt.com
