16 August 2018

POET’s revenue grows 11.7% in Q2

© Semiconductor Today Magazine / Juno PublishiPicture: Disco’s DAL7440 KABRA laser saw.

For second-quarter 2018, POET Technologies Inc of Toronto, Canada and San Jose, CA, USA — a designer and manufacturer of optoelectronic devices, including light sources, passive waveguides and photonic integrated circuits (PIC) for the sensing and datacom markets — has reported revenue of US$752,198, up 11.7% on US$673,229 last quarter and up 16% on US$648,382 a year ago. Revenue primarily comprises sales of DenseLight photonic sensors for test & measurement applications.

Gross margin was 57.5%, down from 60.2% last quarter but up from 50.5% a year ago.

Net loss before taxes has grown further, from US$2,901,259 ($0.01 per share) a year ago and US$3,249,292 ($0.01 per share) last quarter to US$4,687,492 ($0.02 per share). However, Q2’s net loss included non-cash stock-based compensation of US$1,063,773 and depreciation and amortization of US$659,820, compared with $792,122 and $596,015, respectively, last quarter and US$159,783 and US$558,919, respectively, a year ago.

Capital investment in plant, equipment and patents has risen further, from US$195,281 a year ago and $1,036,193 last quarter to US$1,139,259.

Overall, during the quarter, POET’s cash and short-term investments have fallen from US$13.2m to US$10m.

During Q2, POET announced a master collaboration with SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd (a wafer foundry offering fabrication and design support services in CMOS logic, high-voltage, mixed-signal, RF, BCD, power and MEMS technologies) for the co-development of fabrication processes and the manufacturing of its Optical Interposer Platform.

The firm also executed an agreement to co-develop transmit device solutions for POET’s Optical Interposer Platform with photonic product maker Almae Technologies SAS of Marcoussis, France, a spin-off from III-V Lab (the joint Nokia, Thales and CEA-Leti industrial research laboratory). Almae is majority-owned by an affiliate of Accelink Technologies Co Ltd of Wuhan, China (a manufacturer of optical components and subsystems for the datacom, telecom and network access markets), which in March entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with POET for the co-development of transceivers for 100/400G markets as well as low-cost single-channel (10/25G) products for telecom applications.

“Co-packaging of optics and electronics and chip-scale packaging for photonics components have emerged as the most actively discussed topics in the industry, with major data-center operators demanding integrated solutions from module manufacturers. The POET Optical Interposer promises to fulfill this need by providing a more versatile and less costly solution than currently available,” believes CEO Dr Suresh Venkatesan. “We continue to focus on the development and commercialization of multiple highly differentiated products leveraging our Optical Interposer platform. We anticipate demonstrating the superiority of our solutions with the shipment of prototypes to customers later this year,” he adds. “Moreover, the development of our interposer-compatible lasers, detectors and packaging processes are all on track, and we remain on target for initial revenues from these products in early 2019.”

Venkatesan will deliver a presentation ‘Integrated Photonics Using the POET Optical Interposer Platform’ at the China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE 2018) in Shenzhen, China on 5 September.

Also on 5 September, the firm will be participating at the H.C. Wainwright 20th Annual Global Investment Conference at the St. Regis Hotel in New York, where executive VP & chief financial officer Thomas R. Mika is scheduled to present.

See related items:

POET reports Q1/2018 results

Almae to co-develop laser modules based on POET’s optical interposer platform for high-speed datacoms

POET partner with 8” silicon foundry SilTerra Malaysia to develop and manufacture Optical Interposer Platform

POET and Accelink to co-develop transceivers for 100/400G markets

POET introduces Optical Interposer Platform for co-packaging of electronic and optical components

POET’s Q2 product revenue up 39% year-on-year

POET completes acquisition of BB Photonics

POET completes acquisition of DenseLight

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