Aixtron orders jump to €275 million, beating expectations in third quarter
Key Facts
Aixtron announced preliminary results for the third quarter of 2026 on 15 October, saying order intake, operating profit and operating margin clearly exceeded market expectations. Order intake reached around €275 million, compared with €124 million in the same period of 2025. It also exceeded the median analyst estimate of €214.6 million and the second-quarter 2026 level of €214.5 million. Chief Executive Felix Grawert said demand for laser application systems in AI data center communications continues to support orders. This driver puts the company’s business on a path linked to the expansion of data center infrastructure, while Aixtron left its guidance for fiscal 2026 unchanged.
Preliminary revenue rose to around €184 million in the third quarter, from €119.6 million a year earlier. The result was within the quarterly range set by the company of €180 million, plus or minus €20 million. This followed first-half revenue of €174.5 million, down 30% year on year, which the company had attributed to the timing of business. In the first half, Aixtron said demand remained weak in power electronics, LED and Micro LED markets. The third-quarter revenue increase from the comparable period therefore marks an improvement in quarterly performance, with annual guidance unchanged, according to the preliminary disclosure.
Profitability indicators improved compared with the third quarter of last year, with gross profit at around €87 million and a margin of approximately 48%. In the third quarter of 2025, the company posted gross profit of €46.4 million and a margin of 39%. Preliminary operating profit was around €57 million, with an EBIT margin of 31%, compared with €15.4 million and a margin of 13% a year earlier. The company said operating profitability exceeded market expectations, attributing this particularly to a favorable product mix. It did not publish a numerical market expectation for the EBIT margin in this disclosure, so the available numerical comparison is limited to the results for the two periods.
The jump in orders follows strong momentum during the first half of 2026. Total order intake in the first six months reached €386 million, up 54% from the same period of 2025, when it was €250.7 million. The equipment order backlog also reached €456.9 million on 30 June, up from €284.6 million a year earlier. Second-quarter orders alone had risen 81% year on year to €214.5 million, driven by strong demand for optoelectronics systems. The company said at the time that shipments of major laser systems were expected to begin in the third quarter, consistent with management’s current indication that data center communications continue to support orders.
Aixtron said higher order intake clearly strengthens visibility and business prospects for 2027. In its first-half results, the company also indicated that utilization rates at its power electronics customers’ facilities had begun to improve gradually, despite continued weak demand in that sector and in LED and Micro LED markets. It said its production would increase with each quarter of the year as it ramps up capacity. Aixtron manufactures deposition systems for the semiconductor industry, was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Herzogenrath near Aachen, Germany. As for guidance for the current year, the company said it remained unchanged, without the disclosure citing a figure for full-year 2026 revenue.
The preliminary announcement came on 15 October, and Aixtron shares rose by more than 5% the following day, Friday 16 October, according to Investing.com. The company is scheduled to publish its full third-quarter report on 29 October 2026, including results for the first nine months of the year. The report will provide detailed figures for the period through the end of September, following the preliminary disclosure covering orders, revenue and profitability indicators. The company had said elevated orders strengthen its business prospects for 2027, while fiscal 2026 guidance was unchanged. Investors’ next focus is the full report, due on the specified date.