Veeco Instruments has returned a small profit (US$1.3 million) for the first time in over a year, boosted by record quarterly bookings of US$226 million, which was dominated by LED and solar sectors, making up approximately 80% (US$179 million) of the bookings. Veeco noted that its equipment backlog now stood at US$287 million, with US$239M in LED & Solar.
“Momentum continued in our CIGS solar business in the third quarter, with a second key customer win for our ‘FastFlex’ Web Coating Systems and a repeat multi-million dollar order for thermal deposition components from a leading CIGS manufacturer,” commented John R. Peeler, Veeco’s Chief Executive Officer. “We experienced a 27% sequential improvement in Metrology orders, driven by new product success and a modest pick-up in activity from both research and industrial customers.”
Veeco also said that it was seeing strong interest in its thermal deposition systems for CIGS thin film production and was well positioned to capture market share.
Third quarter revenue reached US$99 million, well above its guidance of US$80-88 million.
