Sapphire saves the day for GT
GT Advanced Technologies, which produces advanced materials and crystal growth equipment, has reported results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2014, ending June 28, 2014. During the second quarter revenue was $58.0 million including $44.1 million in sapphire equipment and materials, $11.0 million in photovoltaic (PV), and $2.9 million in polysilicon.
Revenue for the first six months of 2014 was $80.5 million including $49.7 million in sapphire equipment and materials, $24.2 million in photovoltaic (PV) and $6.6 million in polysilicon.
"Results during the second quarter were in line with our guidance," said Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer. "We have continued to see strong interest in our suite of sapphire production tools, including our ASF equipment. In fact, the sapphire segment of our business accounted for over 75 percent of the revenue in the quarter, with the majority of it related to the sale of sapphire production equipment."
In November 2013, the company signed a multi-year, $578 million contract with Apple to supply advanced sapphire material.
Gutierrez continued: "The build-out of our Arizona facility, which has involved taking a 1.4 million square foot facility from a shell to a functional structure as well as the installation of sapphire growth and fabrication equipment, is nearly complete and we are commencing the transition to volume production," Gutierrez continued. "We remain confident about the long-term potential of the sapphire materials business for GT.
"The response from partners and potential customers for Merlin and Hyperion, two of our high growth opportunities, has been very strong. We remain confident in our ability to achieve our 2016 non-GAAP earnings per share target of at or above $1.50. This is driven by the expected contributions of Merlin, Hyperion and our other new technology platforms, along with the growth of our sapphire, polysilicon and PV businesses," Gutierrez concluded.
Cash, backlog and orders
The company ended the second quarter with $333 million of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, compared to $509 million at the end of the first quarter of fiscal year 2014. The second quarter ending cash balance reflects the receipt of $103 million of prepayments for the Arizona sapphire materials project.
The fourth prepayment from Apple is contingent upon the achievement of certain operational targets by GT. GT expects to achieve these targets and receive the final $139 million prepayment by the end of October 2014.
Equipment orders booked during the quarter were $75 million, including $72 million in sapphire equipment. The company ended the quarter with $628 million of equipment backlog, consisting of $333 million of sapphire equipment, $292 million of polysilicon and $3 million of PV.
