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AXT and Riber report quarterly results

AXT has been hit by price declines for GaAs substrates and lower orders for optoelectronic devices, while Riber's backlog has improved with orders for four new MBE machines.
AXT has reported revenue of $14.9 million for the September quarter of 2002, down 22% compared with $19.2 million in the June quarter of 2002 and down 35% compared with $22.8 million in the September quarter of 2001.

"Economic conditions continue to pose challenges for our industry," said Morris Young, AXT s president and CEO. "InP substrate revenue continues to be affected by weak demand for telecommunications laser diodes. The volume of GaAs substrates we shipped was relatively stable, but our revenues were impacted by a continued decline in average selling prices."

Revenue for AXT s substrate division was $11.7 million in the September 2002 quarter, or 78% of the total. This was down 9% compared with $12.9 million in the June quarter of 2002, and down 43% compared with $20.5 million in the third quarter of 2001.

Young also noted that revenue in AXT s optoelectronics segment declined "as we worked with our largest customer to qualify our latest generation of high brightness LEDs." Sources indicate that this customer is Agilent, which is known to have placed large orders for blue LEDs with Taiwanese manufacturers.

Revenue from the optoelectronics division, which sells LEDs and VCSELs, was $3.2 million in the September 2002 quarter, down 49% compared with $6.3 million in the June 2002 quarter but up 39% compared with $2.3 million in the September 2001 quarter.

"AXT has taken definitive steps to improve our efficiency, preserve our market position, and manage our cash flow," said Young. "We are doing this by reducing our staff, particularly in the US, using our inventory more aggressively in order to reduce materials purchases, and reducing capital expenditures. We are very proud of our success in transitioning to China and we believe that it will provide us with substantial cost advantages over our competitors."

Prior to a pre-announcement last week, AXT had forecast revenue of $20.0 million to $20.5 million for the September quarter. Excluding asset impairment and valuation allowance charges, the company experienced a pro-forma net loss for the September quarter of $5.9 million, or 26 cents per diluted share.

AXT expects that its revenue of the December 2002 quarter will fall again, to between $13.5 million and $14.2 million, with consolidated net loss of between $7.7 million and $8.0 million or 34-36 cents per diluted share.

Riber s sales fall but new orders improve backlog

MBE equipment manufacturer Riber recorded sales of €15.0 million ($14.6 million) for the first nine months of 2002, a 42.4% decrease compared to the same period last year.

On a quarterly basis, the company had sales of only €1.4 million in the third quarter of 2002, compared with €4.0 million in the first quarter and €9.6 million in the second quarter.

The company s order backlog stood at €18.7 million at the end of September 2002, down 35.8% compared to the same time last year, reflecting the continued slow rollout of investment programs by Riber s production machine customers.

However, the backlog increased by €1.1 million during the September quarter, boosted by orders for four Compact 21 research machines for the growth of nitrides or antimonides.

Riber expects to record sales of €6.6 million during the last quarter of 2002.

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