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FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - Preliminary financial results and a guidance upgrade sent Aixtron shares soaring on Wednesday. After gaining as much as 15 percent to reach their highest level since 2001, the shares were last trading up 13.6 percent at 39.95 euros. This performance comfortably secured the top spot in the MDax.
The rally more than offset the profit-taking seen over the past two days. With a year-to-date surge of over 130 percent, the chip equipment manufacturer also leads the mid-cap index for the year so far.
The market reacted positively to Aixtron raising its full-year targets due to surprisingly strong demand for optoelectronics equipment in the first quarter. Citigroup expert Andrew Gardiner had already anticipated that robust order intake in optoelectronics and the upgraded revenue outlook would be sufficient to overshadow the slightly disappointing start to the year. Craig McDowell of JPMorgan had also expected a positive reaction from the stock.
More skeptical expectations failed to materialize for the time being. UBS expert Madeleine Jenkins had cautioned that gains might be limited following the recent strong run, while Veysel Taze of Bankhaus Metzler believes the potential of the optoelectronics segment is largely priced in. Furthermore, one trader had warned that the high order momentum and new outlook might not prove sufficient during the trading session to compensate for the weak margin profile at the start of the year, which could have triggered further profit-taking.
Such selling pressure had occurred on Monday and Tuesday, partly because investment bank Oddo BHF had downgraded its positive investment rating. Analyst Martin Marandon-Carlhian justified the re-rating by stating that the shares already priced in a very strong business performance through 2027.
The fact that the market initially greeted industry leader ASML's strong figures and raised outlook with only modest gains did not deter Aixtron investors on Wednesday. In tandem with Aixtron, shares of semiconductor supplier Suss Microtec, tech firm PVA Tepla, and chipmaker Infineon rose by up to 4.4 percent./gl/lew/nas
