Cymer proves analysts wrong
US-based UV laser manufacturer, Cymer, reports an "active and productive" quarter, beating analyst net income predictions
US laser supplier, Cymer, has posted a net income of $9.6 million, or 30 cents a share, on revenue of $149.3 million, beating analysts' expectations for net income in the second quarter.
Revenue totalled $149.3 million compared to revenue of $158.2 million in the second quarter of 2011, and revenue of $150.5 million in the first quarter of 2012.
Cymer is the largest supplier of deep ultraviolet light sources used by chipmakers to pattern advanced semiconductor chips or integrated circuits.
Cymer supplies light sources to all three DUV lithography scanner manufacturers; ASML, Nikon and Canon. The businesses integrate the Cymer light source into their scanners and supply their tools to more than 85 chipmakers around the world.
"Higher gross pulses, a greater mix of ArF pulses, and continued light source installed base growth contributed to a rise in our OnPulse product revenue," said Bob Akins, Cymer's chief executive officer. "Our deep ultraviolet (DUV) light source shipments grew from the prior quarter... and progress in our extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source continued as we demonstrated improved expose power performance and realised significant improvement in extending collector lifetimes and the viability of collector refurbishment."
As Akins adds, the business also started to integrate and test its first EUV 3300 source, and completed qualification of its first TCZ Gen 5 crystallisation system.
In the second quarter of 2012, the company shipped 36 DUV light sources, of which 20 were ArF immersion, 2 were ArF dry and 14 were KrF, and the company installed 31 DUV light sources at chipmaker locations.
Gross profit was $78.8 million for the second quarter of 2012, yielding a 52.8 percent gross margin. Total operating expenses, which include research and development and selling and administrative expenses, were $67.6 million. Total operating income was $11.2 million or eight percent of revenue.
Commenting on the outlook for the third quarter of 2012, Akins stated: "We expect IBP revenue to continue to rise led by OnPulse and OnPulse enhancements. We anticipate shipping a slightly lower number of DUV light sources than the previous quarter and also expect to recognise revenue on a TCZ crystallisation tool."
"We continue to make progress on EUV source prepulse development and expect to ship the first 3300 source to ASML this quarter," he added.
