AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) has increased its guidance for fiscal year 2026, citing stronger-than-expected demand for optoelectronics equipment in the first quarter. The company reported preliminary Q1 2026 order intake of approximately EUR 171 million, up about 30% year-over-year from EUR 132.2 million in Q1 2025, with over 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/minus EUR 10 million, but down from EUR 112.5 million in the prior-year period.
Gross profit and operating result were negatively impacted by a mid-single-digit million euro one-off charge related to personnel measures. As a result, preliminary gross profit was about EUR 11 million (Q1 2025: EUR 34.1 million), with 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 to an EBIT margin of about -38% (Q1 2025: 3%). The company attributed the low margins primarily to negative operating leverage from low volumes, in addition to the one-off expenses. Despite these headwinds, cash and cash equivalents including other current financial assets increased to approximately EUR 273 million at quarter-end (December 31, 2025: EUR 224.6 million), reflecting continued positive cash flow development.
Based on current market trends and an exchange rate assumption of 1.20 USD/EUR, AIXTRON has raised its full-year 2026 guidance. The company now expects revenues of around EUR 560 million in a range of plus/minus EUR 30 million, up from the previous guidance of EUR 520 million. The EBIT margin is forecast to be approximately 17% to 20%, compared to the earlier range of 16% to 19%. The gross margin is expected to be around 42%, versus the prior estimate 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 more information, visit www.aixtron.com.
