3 May 2013

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

For first-quarter 2013, AXT Inc of Fremont, CA, USA has reported revenue of $22.4m, down 5% on $23.5m a year ago but up 18% on $18.9m last quarter.

“Revenue trends in the first quarter came in largely as expected in each of our product categories, although our performance in germanium substrates and raw materials outperformed our plan,” says CEO Morris Young. Germanium (Ge) substrate revenue was $2.6m, level on a year ago but up 53% on $1.7m last quarter. Raw materials sales were $6.3m, down 12.5% on $7.2m a year ago but up 47% on $4.3m last quarter.

Indium phosphide (InP) substrate revenue was $1.8m, up slightly from $1.6m last quarter and $1.5m a year ago. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrate revenue was $11.7m, up just 3.5% on $11.3m last quarter but down 4% on $12.2m a year ago.

“With our industry continuing to evolve, both in terms of the customer landscape and technology trends, we experienced a continuation of the softness in semi-insulating substrates that we began to see in the second half of 2012,” Young says. “The wireless industry, while growing in terms of devices, is transitioning to new technologies for certain devices in order to maximize cost efficiency, reduce size requirements and increase performance capabilities,” he adds. “These transitions are likely to occur throughout 2013, and continue to constrain our semi-insulating substrate results as customers evaluate their ongoing requirements.” 

In Q1/2013, gross margin fell from 19.5% last quarter to 15.6%, as was expected. Operating expenses were $4.7m, roughly level with $4.6m both last quarter and a year ago. Net loss has risen from $0.8m last quarter to $2.4m, compared with a profit of $1.6m a year ago. During the quarter, cash and cash equivalents fell further, from $30.6m to $25.8m.

“However, we are seeing renewed growth in our semi-conducting gallium substrate business as well as improving demand for our indium phosphide substrates, germanium substrates and raw materials,” notes Young. “While the changes to the wireless side of our business have been challenging, we remain optimistic that new opportunities, coupled with improving market conditions in other product lines, will allow us to drive improved shareholder value in 2013.”

See related items:

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

AXT’s revenue rebounds by 10.7% in Q1

Tags: AXT GaAs GaAs substrate InP Germanium

Visit: www.axt.com