Axcelis' (ACLS) Logistics Center to Boost Warehouse Operations
Axcelis Technologies, Inc ACLS recently set up a new logistics center in Beverly, MA, to boost logistics and warehouse operations. The state-of-the-art facility is designed to provide flexibility for the company's manufacturing operations, expand customer base and drive growth in the long haul.
The 101,800 square feet facility boasts innovative technologies including AI-powered autonomous mobile robots and enterprise-level warehouse automation to improve efficiency and handling of material. The logistics center also has EV charging stations.
The new center is designed keeping in mind energy efficiency. It utilizes US EPA Energy Star rated heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment along with advanced motion sensors and LED lighting.
ACLS is also planning to avail a 25% tax credit under the U.S. Chips and Science Act pertaining to its capital investment in this new logistics center. The Act is aimed at boosting domestic chip manufacturing and make semiconductor supply chains across the country more robust and support national security along with easier access to vital technologies.
Axcelis Technologies, Inc. Price and Consensus
Axcelis Technologies, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Axcelis Technologies, Inc. Quote
The company added that it will continue to invest in employees and infrastructure to achieve its $1.3 billion revenue target in 2025.
Axcelis is a leading producer of ion implantation equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductors.
The top-line performance is being driven by robust customer demand for Purion suite of products, especially in the silicon-carbide power market. In the third quarter of 2023, ACLS reported revenues of $292.3 million, up 6.7% year over year.
The transition to electric vehicles is driving the silicon-carbide power device market. This, in turn, is boosting demand for Purion products, especially PurionH200 silicon carbide, Purion XE silicon carbide systems and Purion M silicon carbide tool.
ACLS expects more than 60% of its shipped system revenues from power markets in 2023. It expects nearly 35% of total system revenues to be generated from silicon carbide applications in 2023. The power device market segment represented 39% of the company’s shipped systems revenues in 2022.
Driven by solid growth of Purion Power Series product line, management continues to anticipate revenues for 2023 to be greater than $1.1 billion, suggesting nearly 20% uptick year over year. For the fourth quarter, Axcelis expects revenues of $295 million.
It is working on lowering cost of goods sold and tightly manages overall spending to boost margin performance. The company expects fourth-quarter gross margin to be roughly 45%. It forecasts 2023 gross margin to be nearly 43.6%.
However, ACLS’ performance is likely to be affected due to volatile supply-chain dynamics and global macroeconomic weakness. Increasing expenses toward research and development, and infrastructure are likely to be headwinds for this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.
Axcelis is witnessing strong momentum, with shares having soared 60.3% year to date compared with 27.9% and 16.8% growth of the sub-industry and S&P Composite, respectively.
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Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks worth consideration in the broader technology space are Cadence Design Systems CDNS, Synopsys SNPS and Watts Water Technologies WTS, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cadence’s 2023 EPS has remained unchanged in the past seven days at $5.11. CDNS’ long-term earnings growth rate is 19.5%.
Cadence’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average surprise being 4.1%. Shares of CDNS have surged 61% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Synopsys’ fiscal 2024 EPS has increased 1.2% in the past 30 days to $12.67. SNPS’ long-term earnings growth rate is 17.1%. Shares of SNPS have gained 61.9% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Watts Water Technologies 2023 EPS has improved 2.8% in the past 60 days to $8.00.
WTS’ earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, the average earnings surprise being 11.8%. Shares of WTS have jumped 31.3% in the past year.
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