AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) announced on April 14, 2026, that it is raising its guidance for fiscal year 2026 following stronger-than-expected demand for its optoelectronics equipment in the first quarter. The company reported preliminary order intake of approximately EUR 171 million, up about 30% year-over-year from EUR 132.2 million in Q1 2025, with more than 65% of equipment orders coming from the Optoelectronics segment.
Preliminary revenues for the quarter were approximately EUR 59 million, within the guided range of EUR 65 million plus or minus EUR 10 million, but down from EUR 112.5 million in the prior-year period. Gross profit was negatively impacted by a mid-single-digit million euro one-off charge related to a personnel measure, resulting in preliminary gross profit of about EUR 11 million (Q1 2025: EUR 34.1 million) and a gross margin of approximately 18% (Q1 2025: 30%). The preliminary operating result (EBIT) totaled roughly EUR –22 million (Q1 2025: EUR 3.3 million), translating into an EBIT margin of about -38% (Q1 2025: 3%). The company attributed the low margins primarily to negative operating leverage due to low volume, in addition to the one-off expenses.
Despite the weak quarterly earnings, AIXTRON maintained positive cash flow, with preliminary cash and cash equivalents including other current financial assets rising to approximately EUR 273 million at the end of the quarter (December 31, 2025: EUR 224.6 million).
Based on current market developments and an exchange rate assumption of 1.20 USD/EUR, AIXTRON raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to around EUR 560 million in a range of plus or minus EUR 30 million, up from the previous guidance of EUR 520 million plus or minus EUR 30 million. The company also now expects an EBIT margin of around 17% to 20% (previously 16% to 19%) and a gross margin of approximately 42% (previously 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 on April 30, 2026. For further information, visit www.aixtron.com.
