Semiconductor equipment vendor Camtek on Tuesday handily beat expectations for the third quarter and guided higher than views for the current period. But CAMT stock wavered on the news.
The Israel-based company earned an adjusted 52 cents a share on sales of $80.5 million in the September quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 48 cents a share on sales of $78 million. On a year-over-year basis, Camtek earnings rose 8% while sales declined 2%.
For the current quarter, Camtek forecast sales of $87 million to $89 million. The midpoint of $88 million was above Wall Street's target of $83.3 million for the fourth quarter. In the year-earlier period, Camtek generated $82.2 million in sales.
Camtek makes metrology and inspection equipment for semiconductor manufacturers.
CAMT Stock Is A Recent Breakout
On the stock market today, CAMT stock alternated between gains and losses. Camtek shares ended the regular session up 0.8% to 65.73.
On Monday, CAMT stock broke out of a six-week consolidation pattern at a buy point of 65.13. In intraday trades, CAMT stock notched a record high of 67.08. Camtek shares ended the regular session Monday up 1.4% to 65.20.
"Since the beginning of the third quarter we have received orders for 240 systems including an order announced yesterday for 28 systems from a tier-one customer for the inspection and metrology of high-bandwidth memory and heterogeneous integration applications," Chief Executive Rafi Amit said in a news release.
"Most of the orders are for installation during 2024," Amit said. "This healthy backlog, with additional expected orders in the pipeline, points to a year of growth for Camtek and we expect record revenue in 2024."
Camtek is one of several semiconductor equipment stocks to break out during the recent stock market rally. Others include Applied Materials and KLA.
Camtek ranks first out of 10 stocks in IBD's Electronics-Scientific and Measuring industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. CAMT stock has an IBD Composite Rating of 89 out of 99.
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