By Adria Calatayud
BE Semiconductor Industries shares jumped after the Dutch manufacturer of chip-making equipment raised its long-term targets, citing expectations of higher demand partly driven by the deployment of artificial intelligence.
Shares in the company, also known as Besi, climbed 6.6% to 126.45 euros in European morning trading Thursday, but remained down 4.4% since the start of the year.
Besi said its updated target model calls for revenue ranging from 1.5 billion to 1.9 billion euros ($1.72 billion-$2.18 billion), up from more than 1 billion euros previously.
The company also said it now targets a gross margin of 64%-68%, compared with 62%-66% previously, and raised its operating margin target to 40%-55% from 35%-50%.
Besi--in which larger U.S. peer Applied Materials owns a 9% stake-- didn't provide a timeline for when it expects to hit the targets.
For last year, the company reported revenue of 607.5 million euros with a gross margin of 65.2% and an operating margin of 32.2%.
The update followed a review of Besi's strategic plan conducted earlier this year, it said. The company supplies assembly equipment for the semiconductor industry and it expects higher demand for both logic and memory chip applications as data volumes increase significantly.
"The review highlighted the expanded deployment of AI technologies in data center, edge computing and consumer applications through 2030," Besi President and Chief Executive Richard W. Blickman said in a statement ahead of the company's investor day.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 12, 2025 04:06 ET (08:06 GMT)
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