EQS-News: AIXTRON Q3/2025 with strong FCF, volume shifts and FX headwinds

AIXTRON Q3/2025 with strong FCF, volume shifts and FX headwinds

Strong FCF generation continues / Strong demand for G10-AsP in AI-driven datacom laser applications / 100th G10-SiC system shipped / FY 2025 guidance adjusted

Herzogenrath, Germany, October 30, 2025 – AIXTRON SE (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) publishes financials in line with the communication on October 17, 2025 and reports revenues of EUR 119.6 million for the third quarter. This places the company in the lower half of its Q3 guidance range of EUR 110 million to EUR 140 million, reflecting the continued soft market environment. Revenues for the first nine months of the year were EUR 369.5 million (9M/2024: EUR 406.4 million).

The continued AI data center build out remains the driver for tool demand in the Optoelectronics segment. The demand pick up for datacom lasers observed in Q2 has been confirmed in Q3 and it is expected to continue into 2026. AIXTRON’s G10-AsP platform continued to gain market share, successfully replacing legacy systems at leading customer accounts.

While automotive demand remains soft for SiC Power devices, AIXTRON reached a significant milestone in Q3 with the shipment of its 100th G10-SiC CVD system since the product’s launch. At the same time, GaN Power customers are seeing increased utilization from data center demand - both for mid and low voltage applications.

Furthermore, initial indications of re-investment in Solar, ROY LED, and AR Micro LED applications are emerging. These developments have potential to positively contribute to AIXTRON’s business in the coming year.

Based on the current soft market environment and assuming an exchange rate of 1.15 USD/EUR for the rest of FY 2025 due to currency headwinds (previously 1.10 USD/EUR) AIXTRON has adjusted the guidance for the full year 2025 on October 17, 2025 to revenues between EUR 530 million to EUR 565 million (before: EUR 530 million to EUR 600 million), a gross margin of around 40% to 41% (before: 41% to 42%), and an EBIT margin of around 17% to 19% (before: 18% to 22%).

"The demand upturn has not yet materialized in Q3/2025, such that we expect to come out at the lower half of the initial revenue guidance for the full year," said Dr. Felix Grawert, CEO of AIXTRON SE. "But as AI continues to reshape the semiconductor landscape, our platforms are ideally positioned to support this upcoming transformation. The G10-AsP has become the tool of record in the laser segment, and the shipment of our 100th G10-SiC system marks a major milestone in power electronics. While broader market recovery is still pending, our strong execution and focus on diversified end markets keep us firmly on track."

Order intake and order backlog

Order intake in the first nine months of 2025 amounted to EUR 374.7 million (9M/2024: EUR 439.5 million). In the third quarter of 2025 order intake came in at EUR 124.0 million (Q3/2024: EUR 143.5 million) leading to a book-to-bill of 1.04 for the quarter. As of September 30, 2025, equipment order backlog stood at EUR 286.5 million (September 30, 2024: EUR 384.5 million), virtually unchanged to the EUR 289.3 million at the end of 2024.

Gross profit and gross margin

AIXTRON recorded gross profit for the quarter of EUR 46.4 million (Q3/2024: EUR 67.1 million) with a 39% gross margin (Q3/2024: 43%). Negative effects from volume shifts from Q3 into Q4 (approx. EUR 8 million) and FX-effects (approx. EUR 2 million) impacted the quarterly amount. In the first nine months of 2025 gross profit amounted to EUR 136.2 million (9M/2024: EUR 160.0 million), with a gross margin of 37% (9M/2024: 39%). Included in the amount are one-off expenses in the mid-single-digit million EUR range related to the implemented personnel reduction measure in the operations area in H1. Adjusted for this effect, the gross margin in the first nine months of 2025 was slightly below the previous year's level at around 38%.

Operating expenses and operating result

Operating expenses increased by 4% in the third quarter of 2025, totaling EUR 30.9 million (Q3/2024: EUR 29.6 million), driven by research and development expenses, which account for the largest share and were up by 12% to EUR 23.7 million (Q3/2024: EUR 21.2 million). In the first nine months operating expenses decreased by 6% to EUR 93.9 million (9M/2024: EUR 99.7 million). This was driven by the reduction of research and development expenses by 13% to EUR 59.7 million (9M/2024: EUR 68.7 million) due to reduced external contract work and consumables costs.

The operating result (EBIT) in the third quarter of 2025 came in at EUR 15.4 million (Q3/2024: EUR 37.5 million) which corresponds to an EBIT margin of 13%. For the first nine months of 2025 EBIT was EUR 42.3 million, corresponding to an EBIT margin of 11%, which was below the previous year (9M/2024: EUR 60.3 million; 15%). Included in the amount are one-off expenses in the mid-single-digit million EUR range related to the implemented personnel reduction measure in the operations area in H1. Adjusted for this effect, the EBIT margin was at 12%. The decline versus the previous years level is mainly due to negative operating leverage resulting from lower volumes and negative FX effects. The profit for the period in the first nine months of 2025 came in at EUR 37.3 million (9M/2024: EUR 52.9 million).

Strong improvement in free cash flow

Cash flow from operating activities in the third quarter of 2025 was EUR 43.4 million, significantly above the previous year's level (Q3/2024: EUR 15.4 million), driven primarily by the continued working capital optimization. Free cash flow benefited from improved operating cash flow and significantly lower capital expenditures compared to the previous year, amounting to EUR 110.3 million in the first nine months of 2025 (9M/2024: EUR -58.0 million). This corresponds to an improvement of EUR 168.3 million year-over-year.

As of September 30, 2025, AIXTRON reported cash and cash equivalents, including other current financial assets, of EUR 153.4 million (December 31, 2024: EUR 64.6 million). The equity ratio increased to 85%, underscoring AIXTRON's strong financial position (December 31, 2024: 83%).

"We are progressing as planned with our working capital optimization measures. We are well on track to rebuild a strong cash position after the construction of our new 300mm facility, the InnoCenter at our headquarters in Herzogenrath. This brings us again in a good position to master the next wave of growth, once market demand picks up again," said Dr. Christian Danninger, CFO of AIXTRON SE.

2025 full year guidance

Based on the soft current market environment and an adjusted exchange rate of 1.15 USD/EUR for the rest of FY 2025 (previously 1.10 USD/EUR), AIXTRON adjusted the guidance for fiscal year 2025 on October 17, 2025: The Executive Board now expects to generate revenues in the range between EUR 530 million and EUR 565 million, which corresponds to the lower half of the initial guidance (previously between EUR 530 million and EUR 600 million). FX-effects lead to an approx. 1 p.p. reduction of gross margin and EBIT margin. As a result, gross margin is expected around 40% to 41% (previously 41% to 42%) and the EBIT margin around 17% to 19% (previously 18% to 22%).

These amounts include one-off expenses in a mid-single-digit million EUR range related to the personnel reduction measures that have been implemented in the operations area in the first half of 2025. This measure is expected to result in annualized savings in the mid-single-digit million EUR range, corresponding to an improvement in the gross margin and EBIT margin of around 1 percentage point.

The Executive Board will continue to monitor the impact of US tariff policies on the global economy and any resulting countermeasures, in order to continuously assess the potential effects on its supply chain and production, as well as on customer demand and thus on AIXTRON's business development, and to take corrective actions if necessary.

Key financials at a glance

* not meaningful due to too high period fluctuations

Financial information

The presentation on the results for the first nine months of 2025 is available at:

www.aixtron.com/en/investors/publications/ir-presentations.

The complete financial tables of the Group (income statement, other comprehensive income, balance sheet, cash flow statement and statement of changes in equity) related to this press release are available as part of the Quarterly Group Statement 9M/2025 at:

www.aixtron.com/en/investors/publications.

Investor conference call

In conjunction with the release of the 9M/2025 results, AIXTRON will host a conference call (in English) for analysts and investors on Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. CET (07:00 a.m. PDT, 10:00 a.m. EDT).

Please register for the event online at "Analyst Conference Call – Q3/2025". You will then receive an email with your personal access details.

An audio recording or transcript can be found after the conference at:

www.aixtron.com/en/investors/events/conference-calls.

Contact

Media & Investors:

Christian Ludwig

Vice President Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

fon +49 (2407) 9030-444

e-mail c.ludwig@aixtron.com

About AIXTRON

AIXTRON SE is a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry. The Company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Herzogenrath (near Aachen), Germany, with subsidiaries and sales offices in Asia, United States and in Europe. AIXTRON´s technology solutions are used by a diverse range of customers worldwide to build advanced components for electronic and optoelectronic applications based on compound semiconductor materials. Such components are used in a broad range of innovative applications, technologies, and industries. These include Laser and LED applications, display technologies, data transmission, SiC and GaN power management and conversion, communication, signaling and lighting as well as a range of other leading-edge applications.

Our registered trademarks: AIXACT®, AIX-Multi-Ject®, AIXTRON®, Close Coupled Showerhead®, EXP®, EPISON®, Gas Foil Rotation®, Multi-Ject®, OVPD®, Planetary Reactor®, PVPD®, STExS®, TriJet®.

For further information on AIXTRON (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6) please visit our website at: www.aixtron.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements regarding the business, results of operations, financial condition and earnings outlook of AIXTRON. These statements may be identified by words such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “contemplate”, “intend”, “plan”, “believe”, “continue” and “estimate” and variations of such words or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on our current assessments, expectations and assumptions, of which many are beyond control of AIXTRON, and are subject to risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Should these risks or uncertainties materialize or should underlying expectations not occur or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements of AIXTRON may materially vary from those described explicitly or implicitly in the relevant forward-looking statement. This could result from a variety of factors, such as actual customer orders received by AIXTRON, the level of demand for deposition technology in the market, the timing of final acceptance of products by customers, the condition of financial markets and access to financing for AIXTRON, general conditions in the market for deposition plants and macroeconomic conditions, cancellations, rescheduling or delays in product shipments, production capacity constraints, extended sales and qualification cycles, difficulties in the production process, the general development in the semi-conductor industry, increased competition, fluctuations in exchange rates, availability of public funding, fluctuations and/or changes in interest rates, delays in developing and marketing new products, a deterioration of the general economic situation and any other factors discussed in any reports or other announcements , in particular in the chapter Risks in the Annual Report, filed by AIXTRON. Any forward-looking statements contained in this document are based on current expectations and projections of the executive board based on information available the date hereof. AIXTRON undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless expressly required to do so by law.

This document is an English language translation of a document in German language. In case of discrepancies, the German language document shall prevail and shall be the valid version.