Intevac’s revenue and profits pushed up by thin-film equipment sales

U.S. based equipment supplier Intevac Inc., which produces manufacturing and inspection equipment for the PV industry, was able to swing to a profit in the second quarter of 2017, as revenue was pushed up by sales of its thin film equipment.

Revenue for the quarter was $31.0 million, a considerable improvement from $14.9 million in the same period a year earlier. Of this turnover, $22.4 million came from the thin film equipment division, while another $8.5 million was from the photonics business.

The company’s operating result swung from a loss of $3.8 million in the second quarter of 2016 to a profit of $1.3 million in the latest quarter. Net results also swung from a loss of $3.5 million to profit of $1.1 million. Turnover for the thin-film business came from, among other things, the sale of one Matrix solar ion implant system and two Energi solar implant systems.

“The improvement from the second quarter of 2016,” said the company in its statement, “was primarily due to higher revenues and higher factory absorption. The decline from the first quarter of 2017 was primarily due to the lower-margin pilot Matrix solar ion implant system included in revenues.”

Order backlog totaled $68.9 million on July 1, 2017, and included 12 Energi solar implant systems. These 12 ENERGi systems are scheduled to ship in the second half of 2017, and in March Intevac said that revenue recognition will be dependent upon the timing of customer sign-off.

Intevac ended Q2 with $42.8 million on total cash, restricted cash and investments, and $73.1 million in tangible book value.