Amtech sees turnover and profits climb in Q2 of fiscal 2017

U.S. based supplier of automation systems for the PV, semiconductor and sapphire industries Amtech Systems Inc. has reported solid financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2017, which ended on June 30.

The company was able to increase its revenue from $33.3 million in the 3-month period ended on Jun. 30, 2016 to $47.6 million in the latest quarter. Amtech explained that this result represents its best performance since solar business unit peaked in the third and fourth fiscal quarters of 2011, and that it is seeing the “greatest improvement in the solar growth segment.”

“Our n-type bi-facial solar cell technologies,” said the company’s CEO Fokko Pentinga, “are driving our participation in what appears to be a technology focused buying cycle in the solar industry.  With our ongoing investment in both n-type and PERC we have continuously improved cell efficiency and production throughput with our products and technology solutions.”

The company’s net result improved year-on-year from a loss of $1.3 million to a profit of $2.8 million. Order backlog raised from $87.4 million as of the end of March 2017 to $125.7 million at the end of June.

Amtech ended the third quarter of current year with cash of $39.2 million. This compares to $38.9 million at end of the previous quarter. In its outlook for full fiscal 2017, the company said it expects revenue to be in the range of $45 million to $48 million. Amtech added its operating result may be be impacted by the “timing of system shipments, particularly the first shipment of equipment for the turnkey order, the net impact of revenue deferral on those shipments, and recognition of revenue based on customer acceptances, all of which can have a significant effect on operating results.”