Shares in IQE PLC (LON:IQE) opened higher after the UK chipmaker revealed it is on track to deliver a record set of full-year results, driven by strong performances across all of its businesses.
The AIM-quoted group, which supplies its chips to the likes of Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), said revenues for the 12 months to 31 December would be at least £150mln.
VCSELs key revenue driver
That’s ahead of current consensus forecasts for around £147mln and significantly better than the £132.7mln it generated last year.
Analysts had expected IQE to turn a profit before tax of £23.7mln this year but IQE added it would also beat that figure as well.
Sales of IQE’s semiconductor wafers are on track to deliver “strong double-digit growth” this year, while the photonics business – specifically VSCELs – also saw sales accelerate over the past 12 months.
“I'm very pleased to confirm that IQE is on track to achieve record financial results in 2017. The adoption of VCSELs in the mass market has been a key revenue driver in the year,” said chief executive Drew Nelson in the company's pre-close full year trading update on Wednesday.
“IQE has built a strong and sustainable lead in this complex materials technology. We see VCSEL being a long term growth driver for the Group across a diverse range of applications including sensing, LIDAR, optical communications, industrial heating, machine vision and heat assisted magnetic recording.”
As Nelson touched on, IQE raised £95mln from investors in November. The company sold shares at 140p apiece which was the same as the closing price on the day prior to the fundraise.
After opening 3% higher at the bell, IQE shares dipped 4.2% to 148.3p later on in the session.