AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) announced it is raising its guidance for fiscal year 2026 after reporting preliminary first-quarter figures that showed stronger-than-expected demand for its Optoelectronics equipment. The company, a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, reported preliminary order intake in the first quarter of 2026 grew by about 30% year-over-year to approximately EUR 171 million, compared to EUR 132.2 million in Q1 2025. More than 65% of the equipment order intake was related to the Optoelectronics segment.
Preliminary revenues came in at approximately EUR 59 million, within the guided range of EUR 65 million plus/minus EUR 10 million, but down from EUR 112.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Gross profit and operating result were negatively affected by a mid-single-digit EUR million one-off amount related to a personnel measure. As a result, preliminary gross profit for the quarter was approximately EUR 11 million (Q1 2025: EUR 34.1 million), with a gross margin of about 18% (Q1 2025: 30%). The preliminary operating result (EBIT) totaled approximately EUR –22 million (Q1 2025: EUR 3.3 million), translating into an EBIT margin of about -38% (Q1 2025: 3%). Besides the one-off expenses, the low margins were attributed to negative operating leverage due to low volume.
Despite the weak profitability, cash flow remained positive. Preliminary cash and cash equivalents including other current financial assets increased to approximately EUR 273 million at the end of the quarter, up from EUR 224.6 million on December 31, 2025.
Based on current market developments and an exchange rate of 1.20 USD/EUR, AIXTRON increased its guidance for fiscal year 2026. The company now expects to generate revenues of around EUR 560 million in a range of plus/minus EUR 30 million, up from the previous guidance of EUR 520 million in a range of plus/minus EUR 30 million. In addition, AIXTRON expects an increased EBIT margin of around 17% to 20%, compared to the previous range of 16% to 19%. The gross margin is expected to come out at around 42%, versus the earlier forecast of 41% to 42%.
Dr. Felix Grawert, CEO of AIXTRON SE, commented: "The significantly stronger-than-expected demand from the Optoelectronics sector in the first quarter is a very encouraging development. We expect this trend to continue and have therefore raised our guidance for the year. With our G10-AsP system, we have the tool of record for the next generation of photonic components, which are the basis for chip-to-chip, rack-to-rack and datacenter-to-datacenter communications in the AI era."
The full report for the first quarter of 2026 will be published as planned on April 30, 2026. For further information on AIXTRON, please visit www.aixtron.com.
