The share price of Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (Nasdaq:NVMI; TASE:NVMI) leaped 11% today, following publication of good results by the company. Nova, which provides control systems for industrial production processes in the semiconductor industry, now has a $526 million market cap.
Nova outperformed both the analysts' forecasts and its own previous forecasts, posting $54.4 million in revenue and a net profit of $0.50 per share ($0.09 per share more than the analysts' consensus). The company's revenue was 59.8% more than in the corresponding quarter last year. Its accounting (GAAP) profit totaled $13.4 million, compared with $2.9 million in the first quarter of 2016. Excluding various accounting items, Nova's non-GAAP net profit reached $14.1 million, compared with $4.5 million in the corresponding quarter in 2016.
Nova's forward guidance higher than analysts'
Nova generated $22.7 million from current activities in the first quarter, and had $116 million in cash as of the end of the first quarter.
Nova's second quarter forecasts are also higher than the analysts' forecasts. Nova expects $52-56 million in revenue in the second quarter and a non-GAAP net profit of $0.38-0.46 per share, i.e. $10.7-12.9 million.
"Nova continued to demonstrate good performance in this quarter, too, with new business and financial records, reflect its growing competitive ability in a variety of the market segments that it serves," Nova president and CEO Eitan Oppenhaim says. "The company's strong start in 2017, combined with its second quarter forecasts, supports our expectations for another strong year, in which we will continue to successfully carry out the company's growth plans, while extending our competitive positioning among leading chip manufacturers."
Nova CFO Dror David adds that the company's sales in the past four quarters had totaled $200 million, compared with $164 million in revenue in 2016. Referring to the company's cash, he says, "The current level of cash enables us to consider the acquisition of other companies, and we are planning to make such an acquisition in Israel or overseas during the coming year. We are looking for synergetic companies for our fields of business that will expand the range of technological solutions and our entry into additional growing segments. We are considering mainly companies developing and selling measuring devices for advanced packaging and companies selling measuring devices for advanced memory chips, a rapidly growing market."
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on May 9, 2017
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