AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) announced on April 14, 2026, that it is raising its fiscal year 2026 guidance following stronger-than-expected demand in the optoelectronics sector. The company reported preliminary first-quarter results, including a 30% year-over-year increase in order intake to approximately EUR 171 million, with over 65% of equipment orders coming from the optoelectronics segment.
Preliminary revenues for Q1 2026 were about EUR 59 million, within the guided range of EUR 65 million plus/minus EUR 10 million but significantly lower than the EUR 112.5 million reported in Q1 2025. The decline in revenue reflects a low-volume quarter, which, combined with a mid-single-digit million euro one-off charge related to a personnel measure, led to a preliminary gross profit of around EUR 11 million (margin of 18%) and an operating loss (EBIT) of approximately EUR -22 million (margin of -38%). In the same period last year, gross profit was EUR 34.1 million (margin 30%) and EBIT was EUR 3.3 million (margin 3%).
Despite the weak bottom line, cash flow remained positive, with cash and cash equivalents plus other current financial assets rising to roughly EUR 273 million from EUR 224.6 million at year-end 2025. The company attributed the low margins primarily to negative operating leverage from low volumes, not to any structural issues.
Based on current market trends and an assumed exchange rate of 1.20 USD/EUR, AIXTRON now expects full-year 2026 revenues of around EUR 560 million (plus/minus EUR 30 million), up from the previous guidance of EUR 520 million. The EBIT margin forecast has been raised to 17%-20% (previously 16%-19%), and the gross margin is now expected at about 42% (previously 41%-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,” said Dr. Felix Grawert, CEO of AIXTRON SE. “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.”
AIXTRON's technology solutions are used to build advanced components for electronic and optoelectronic applications, including laser and LED applications, display technologies, data transmission, and power management. The company's registered trademarks include AIXACT®, AIX-Multi-Ject®, AIXTRON®, and others. For more information, visit www.aixtron.com.
The full Q1 2026 report will be published on April 30, 2026.
