AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) raised its fiscal year 2026 guidance on the back of stronger-than-expected demand for Optoelectronics equipment, reporting preliminary first-quarter figures that showed a significant uptick in order intake despite lower revenues and profitability due to low volume and one-off expenses.
The company reported preliminary order intake of approximately EUR 171 million in the first quarter of 2026, a 30% increase year-over-year compared to EUR 132.2 million in Q1 2025. More than 65% of equipment order intake was related to the Optoelectronics segment. Preliminary revenues came in at about 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 impacted by a mid-single-digit EUR million one-off charge related to a personnel measure. 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), representing an EBIT margin of about -38% (Q1 2025: 3%). Besides the one-off expenses, the main reason for the low margins was negative operating leverage due to low volume.
Despite the lower earnings, 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, driven by continued positive cash flow development.
Based on current market developments and an exchange rate assumption 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. The EBIT margin is expected to be around 17% to 20%, compared to the earlier range of 16% to 19%. The gross margin is expected to come out at around 42%, versus the previous expectation of 41% to 42%.
“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,” said Dr. Felix Grawert, CEO of AIXTRON SE.
The full report for the first quarter of 2026 will be published as planned on April 30, 2026. For further information, visit AIXTRON's website at www.aixtron.com.
