Amtech Systems revenue jumps due to solar-cell equipment sales
by Max Jarman – Dec. 13, 2008
Source; The Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/
articles/2008/12/13/20081213biz-amtech1213.html
Substantial growth in sales of its solar-cell production equipment led to a much improved revenue and profit picture reported Wednesday by Amtech Systems Inc. The Tempe-based producer of equipment used to make semiconductors and solar power cells said its revenue more than doubled to $26.8 million in its fourth quarter that ended Sept. 30.
Net income jumped 21 percent to $1.43 million, or 16 cents a share, from $1.13 million, or 17 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Per-share earnings for the recent quarter were based on 9.2 million shares vs. 6.7 million a year earlier. The earnings, reported after major markets closed, caused Amtech shares to soar 50 cents, or 13 percent, to $4.27 in after-hours trading Wednesday. Shares closed the week at $3.70, up 9.8 percent from Thursday’s close.
President and CEO J.S. Whang attributed the revenue growth to the company’s strategic focus on its solar products. Amtech’s solar revenue grew to $17 million in the quarter from $4.4 million a year earlier. “We made tremendous progress with the execution of our solar growth strategy and ended the year with a solid fourth quarter.” .
The company’s order backlog was $46.7 million at the end of the quarter, compared with $22.9 million a year earlier. Of that, $36.7 million is in solar orders, up 112 percent from a year earlier. For the first quarter of fiscal 2009, Amtech anticipates revenue to range from $15 million to $17 million, up 28 percent to 45 percent from the first quarter of fiscal 2008.