By Sam Nussey
TOKYO (Reuters) -Shares of Japan’s Lasertec fell 16% on Friday, a day after the maker of inspection equipment used in chipmaking reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings.
Lasertec booked net income of 8.9 billion yen ($58.43 million) for the July to September period, up 16% from a year earlier, but below analysts’ expectation.
The stock closed at 19,615 yen, falling below 20,000 yen for the first time since August. The benchmark Topix index closed down 1.9%.
The company, which makes machines for inspecting masks used to produce patterns for chips, pointed to some revision in plans by device makers for expanding cutting-edge chip capacity.
Lasertec kept its full-year guidance, including net sales of 240 billion yen, and said it would no longer disclose quarterly orders, citing short-term fluctuations and investors’ requests to reduce share price volatility.
“Investors’ confidence is getting lower without other positive leading indicators, due to no more quarterly order disclosure,” Bernstein analyst David Dai said in a client note.
Lasertec is targeting net sales of 400 billion to 500 billion yen and an operating margin of more than 35% in the financial year ending June 2030.
“In the near term, customer investment momentum is likely to change, but we still expect earnings to sustain (medium-term) growth amid expanding demand for advance processes and masks,” Jefferies analysts said in a note.
Lasertec’s shares have fallen almost half year-to-date, compared with a rise of 12% in the Topix.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Clarence Fernandez)
