31 July 2013

AXT’s revenue grows 4.5% in Q2

For second-quarter 2013, AXT Inc of Fremont, CA, USA has reported revenue of $23.8m, down 5.5% on $25.2m a year ago but up 4.5% on $22.4m last quarter. “Our results for the second quarter came in within our guidance range, with revenue improving modestly from the prior quarter,” says CEO Morris Young.

“We continued to see an evolution of our business as our revenues further diversified across our substrate product portfolio,” notes Young. Although gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrate revenue was $10.6m (down 9.4% on $11.7m last quarter and 29% on $14.9m a year ago), indium phosphide (InP) substrate revenue was $2m (up 11% on $1.8m last quarter and up 54% on $1.3m a year ago) and germanium (Ge) substrate revenue was $5.3m (more than doubling from $2.6m last quarter and $2.4m a year ago). Raw materials sales were $5.8m, down about 9% on $6.3m last quarter and $6.5m a year ago.

“While the wireless market remains soft, germanium substrates showed strong growth,” says Young. “Germanium substrates are gaining momentum with increasing demand from CPV [concentrating photovoltaic] terrestrial solar applications,” he adds. “As we continue to work through challenges in the gallium arsenide substrate side of our business, it is encouraging to see growth in other areas in which we have invested over the past two years.”

Nevertheless, gross margin has fallen further, from 29.8% a year ago and 15.6% last quarter to 12.9%. Operating expenses were $5.2m, up from $4.7m last quarter. Net loss has been cut from $2.4m last quarter to $2m, although this compares with net income of $1.3m a year ago. During the quarter, cash and cash equivalents fell further, from $25.8m to $22m.

“We continue to manage our expenses carefully and plan our business conservatively in order to weather the near-term environment and position ourselves for success as the market improves,” says Young.

See related items:

AXT reports revenue up 18% in Q1 to $22.4m, driven by Ge substrates and raw materials

AXT enters loss as revenue falls a further 9% in Q4

AXT revenue falls 17.5% to $20.8m in Q3

GaAs growth of 22% drives AXT’s revenue up 7% in Q2 despite drops in InP, Ge and raw materials

Tags: AXT GaAs GaAs substrate InP Germanium

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