Industrial laser maker IPG Photonics (Oxford, MA) has reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016.
According to Dr. Valentin Gapontsev, the company's CEO, "IPG achieved another quarter of record sales for the third quarter of 2016. Sales of $266 million were above the high end of our guidance range, reflecting a rebound in our core materials processing applications driven by increased demand in Asia, North America, and certain parts of Europe. In addition to our record sales, we are also encouraged by robust bookings that remained strong throughout the quarter and were not impacted by the typical seasonality. As a result, our book-to-bill was above one for the third quarter."
Materials processing sales increased 10% year-over-year, primarily driven by demand for the company's core cutting and welding applications, as well as strength in marking and engraving, laser sintering, hole drilling, and cladding applications.
High-power fiber laser sales had a record quarter with 17% growth year-over-year, while sales of medium-power, pulsed, quasi-continuous-wave (QCW), and laser systems decreased by single digits compared with the prior year.
Sales to other markets were flat from the same quarter last year. Strong growth in telecom sales was offset by lower sales for medical and advanced applications. On a geographic basis, the company reported strong growth in China, Japan, and Korea despite foreign exchange headwinds, while sales in Europe and North America were up slightly from the third quarter of last year.
For more details of the 3Q16 financial results, please see http://bit.ly/2dTo56t.