Bernhard Schweizer: Good morning and welcome everyone. My name is Bernhard Schweizer, Investor Relations Contact at INFICON. I have the pleasure of hosting this online Microsoft Teams webcast. Thank you for attending INFICON's conference on its Q3 2026 results. With us today are Oliver Wyrsch, CEO of INFICON, and Dimitrij Lisak, CFO of INFICON. The management team will first present the results and then take your questions. During management's prepared remarks, you are kindly asked to turn your microphones and cameras off. You should have received by now the press release on the Q3 2026 results, together with the link to the accompanying presentation for this conference.
Bernhard Schweizer: All documents are available for download in the investor section of the INFICON website at www.inficon.com. During the Q&A session, you can ask questions either in writing using the chat function in MS Teams, or you can add yourself to the queue of people wanting to ask questions orally by clicking on the Raise My Hand icon. I would also like to inform you that we are recording this web conference to archive the audio file later on the INFICON website. The oral statements made by INFICON during this MS Teams session may contain forward-looking statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plants and expectations of our management and are subject to several uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect our current plants and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition.
Bernhard Schweizer: We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Having said all that, I would now like to hand over to Oliver Wyrsch. Oliver, please.
Oliver Wyrsch: Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Q3 2026 earnings release conference. We have the usual agenda. First I will tell you a couple of key messages, figures of the quarter, the target markets, and then the full year expectation. After me, our CFO, Dimitrij Lisak, will tell you more details on the financials. Let us jump right in. Bernhard is right. It is a wonderful morning, but it is also really an honor to show you our outstanding reported results for Q3 2026. We have delivered a record third quarter regarding sales and orders with book-to-bill ratio far above one. Strong profitability increase reflecting the completed efficiency measures and the positive volume impact. If you look at the Q3 numbers specifically, the sales reached $233 million, which is up an outstanding 42% year-on-year and 8%.
Bernhard Schweizer: Please, everyone, turn your microphones off. Thank you. Oliver, you are on mute.
Oliver Wyrsch: There, did it. Okay, hopefully it works again. Can you hear me? Cannot?
Bernhard Schweizer: Yes, we do. Go ahead.
Oliver Wyrsch: Very good. All right. I repeat, sales record Q3 sales of $233 million, up 42% year on year and 18% versus Q2, with strong growth across all regions, all target markets. What this also shows is that we are successfully ramping our capacity across our operations, moving every quarter up in our capacity to deliver products. If you look at order intake, they remain strong, further exceeding the record level of Q2 by a significant step up with a book-to-bill ratio far above one. Semiconductors surged by 75% year on year and grew 26% compared with Q2 2026 with a market demand at very high levels and the ramp in full swing and ongoing for this year and the years to come. Advanced industrial markets, general vacuum continues the momentum, growing 13% year on year, 9% quarter on quarter.
Oliver Wyrsch: RAC Auto sales grew 11% year on year, 2% quarter on quarter. Security & Energy increased 29% year on year, improving 50% versus Q2. If you look at operating results, gross margin is at 50%. That is 3.5 percentage points up versus previous quarter and 7.1 percentage points versus Q3 2025. That is more than offsetting the increasing costs and inflation impact. If you look at operating income, up significantly to nearly $60 million, +160% year on year, a margin of 25.5%. In comparison to Q3 last year of 14%, remember, that was in the middle of our reconfiguration, the trade war impact that affected us for a couple of quarters. Q2 comparison, we were at 21.3%. The step up for Q3 is partially affected by favorable one-off effects of around two percentage points. We report also a robust operating cash flow of $78 million.
Oliver Wyrsch: INFICON continues to expand its global operations rapidly. The global supply chain remains under pressure. There is, in some areas, even increasing pressure, but the implemented measures have proven resilient through recent disruptions. We continue to invest in leading-edge R&D. In many ways, innovation is further speeding up together with the semiconductor ramp and also the other advanced industrial markets that see a speed up. At the other side, as mentioned before, we are expanding our production capacity across our operations very successfully and will expect approximately $35 million and a bit above of CapEx for the full year. If you look at the worldwide markets and sales, we report a strong quarter and growth in all regions year-on-year. Particularly noteworthy, Asia Pacific, +50%, then exceptional, especially also China, +72%, and Americas also up 34%, Europe 11%. We then look at the end markets.
Oliver Wyrsch: Semiconductors, we are in a leading position. We showed strong multi-year performance over the past years, as you can see, with nearly 12% CAGR, but also now accelerate fast in a broad-based ramp and with the increasing use of our sensors and software. The performance. Record sales. We have a strong growth of +75% compared to Q3 2025 and a sequential growth of 26%. Again, you see here we are able to ramp. We are prepared for that. We continue to ramp. As orders even more increased, they have increased significantly and shown the steepest year-on-year increase of all times. Number one position across our product lines. For market expectation this year is clear, strong growth, and that will go into next year as well. With this industry ramp in full swing.
Oliver Wyrsch: It is driven by leading-edge logic, by high-bandwidth memory and much more technologies, also down to IoT and power chips around the data center build-out. The investments in leading-edge nodes and advanced chip design continues, though, with intensity, and that is also by increased use of sensor and software is shown in these numbers and also is a continuing dynamic from the past going into the future. We have a strong R&D pipeline at INFICON, working very closely with our top leading-edge customers on the next generation, the one after the next generation, with a number of product lines that continuously are upgraded, Apex, CDG, UL product lines, many more. With that, I jump over to advanced industrial end markets. It is a number of attractive tech markets with strong momentum and synergies with semiconductors. Many are positively affected also by the data center build-out, energy, big science, space, HVAC.
Oliver Wyrsch: If we jump into these three target markets here. RAC Auto grew CAGR the last years over 11%. Q3 year-on-year, again, 11%. Remains very strong also in a market with some headwinds. Some growth is driven by batteries for storage and for EVs. Definitely the new refrigerants is an ongoing driver. Service handheld expansion is a good driver. The new HVAC, that is a coming segment that obviously has a lot of momentum, the HVAC for data centers. Also, interesting new product development in all these end markets as well. An example here is the new leak detection system, Arnova, that works with air and argon, something that has not existed before. If you look at general vacuum, strong growth also over the past years of over 10%. Q3 year-on-year, +13% growth. We see growth also for the rest of the year as well here.
Oliver Wyrsch: Sales plus 13% year-on-year, plus 9% quarter-on-quarter. And a strong order intake across all regions. Also here, as well as with RAC Auto and semiconductor, we are number one player in the market regarding technology and market share. If you then jump into Security & Energy, smallest end markets, this is a bit more slower, but very positive dynamics as well. Specifically, if you look mid-term, sales grew 29% year-on-year, plus 50% quarter-on-quarter. It shows its chunkiness of this business, which relies on a lot of larger government programs. Also here, we remain number one position in the market regarding market share and technology. With that, I jump to the expectations 2026. INFICON raises full year 2026 guidance. Sales and orders are at a very high level across key markets. Most notably, semiconductor ramp is in full swing and ongoing. We are confident therefore and move the guidance up.
Oliver Wyrsch: We see some risks. We see also some potential for disruptions increasing in the supply chain. I think we were able to ramp up our capacity, also manage the supply chain very well while it is under pressure. We see at the same time a higher risk for disruptions, and we see also a higher risk for cost, in particular for logistics and certain materials. With that, we take it into account, we raise our guidance to sales of $820 to $850 million from previously $757 or $780 million, and operating income margin from 19% to 20% to 21% to 22%. To conclude, if you want to stay current on everything that happens at INFICON, check out the various channels where we share news, be it new products, be it our science collaboration for space or volcano science, or also on data centers.
Oliver Wyrsch: And with that, I would like to hand over to Dimitrij Lisak, our CFO, who can give you a bit more details on the finances.
Dimitrij Lisak: Thank you, Oliver. Good morning, everyone online. I will give you more color on the quarterly financials, the guidance and the outlook on the corporate company. Q3 was another record quarter on sales, orders, and strong profitability, while we continue to invest into expanding our production capacities and our innovation capabilities. Order intake remains strong and further exceeded the record level of Q2 with the book-to-bill well above one. Sales ended at $233.3 million, up 17.7% versus previous quarter and 42.4% versus Q3 prior year. Gross margin ended at 50.1%, which is a sequential improvement of 3.5 percentage points and an increase of 7.1 versus prior year. We generated an operating income of $59.5 million, corresponding margin of 25.5%, compared with 21.3% in Q2 and 14% in Q3 2025. As mentioned before, this quarter last year was heavily affected by the trade war with the 14%.
Dimitrij Lisak: This result reflects the strong efficiency gains we could generate in the last quarters, as well as the positive volume impact, more than offsetting the increasing impact from cost inflation we are feeling. This result also includes some favorable one-off effects in the range of 2 percentage points from operating income versus net sales. The equity ratio remains strong at 64.6%, underlining the resilience of our business, and both operating cash flow improving to $77.6 million and net cash increasing to $138.9 million remains strong. CapEx ended at $12.8 million, which is an increase by $6.7 million versus prior year. This reflects the ongoing ramp-up in capacity across operations, and we expect the full-year CapEx to exceed $35 million. On the sales side, we actually see broad-based growth across all regions and all markets. Specifically to highlight is the growth in China with 71.7% and Asia-Pacific with 49.8%.
Dimitrij Lisak: America showing a strong increase with 34.3%, followed by Europe with 10.8%. Semiconductors delivered the strongest growth, with 74.7% year-over-year, while all our three advanced industrial markets grew double digits year-over-year, specifically general vacuum increasing by 13.3%, RAC also growing by 11%, and Security & Energy growing again with 29.4% year-over-year. As a side note related to streamlining our reporting, following the continuous improvement of the way we report, as you recall, earlier this year, we provide more transparency on Asia by separating China and Asia-Pacific into two regions. We will further simplify our end market reporting from 2027 onwards to two end markets, a step to further and better reflect the dynamics of our business. More details to follow then with the upcoming earnings. The gross profit showed a strong improvement by 66%, and gross margin of 50.1%, up by 7.1% and 3.5% sequentially.
Dimitrij Lisak: This is primarily driven by efficiency gains, higher volumes, and certain one-offs of roughly 2%, as mentioned before, which is a combination of multiple factors. At the same time, the effects of cost inflation are rising, especially among freight charges. Freight charges specifically have become more pronounced. R&D costs increased by 30.1%, reflecting continuous investment in innovation capabilities and future technologies, and now representing 7.2% net sales year to date. SG&A costs rose 23.5% year-over-year, mainly reflecting further investments into our organization as we ramp, including the buildup of application engineering and our service organization, also personal related costs and upgrades to our systems. With this, the operating income increased significantly by 160.3%, with the margin up by 11.6%, including the mentioned positive one-off effects. The income tax increased to $13.7 million, with a slightly lower tax rate of 22.5%, compared with 24.6% in Q3 last year.
Dimitrij Lisak: The net income increased by 173.5% year-over-year, with margin improving to 20.3%, mainly driven by the higher operating income. The balance sheet and the financial position further strengthened. Working capital ended at $251.6 million, which represents 27% of net sales, compared with 34.2% in Q3 last year. The key driver behind this are improved inventory turns, 2.7 this year versus 2.4 last year, as well as disciplined accounts receivable management with a DSO of around 50 days. Operating cash flow rose to $77.6 million, mainly driven by the higher net income. We are raising a full-year 2026 guidance for both sales and operating income. This is based on strong order intake in a pronounced semiconductor ramp, but also strong growth in our three advanced industry markets.
Dimitrij Lisak: At the same time, the risk of global supply chain disruption and cost inflation remains elevated, which we continue to manage closely and proactively. The new guidance is therefore $820 to $850 million, and an operating income margin of 21% to 22%. These were the details on the numbers. Briefly on the next events on the corporate calendar, today is the Q3 analyst media conference. We will have an analyst visit on 19 November 2026, and we will present the Q4 and full year 2026 result on 18 March. With this, I would like to invite you for the Q&A session and ask questions.
Bernhard Schweizer: Thank you, gentlemen. Laura Purrier has the first question for you.
Oliver Wyrsch: Hey, Laura.
[Analyst 1]: Hi. How are you guys doing?
Oliver Wyrsch: I'm fine.
[Analyst 1]: Well, anyway, good results. Congratulations. A couple of questions from my side. First, as always on your guidance, looking at Q4, my issue is really more on the bottom range of the guidance. That would imply Q4 top line $208 million, and also on the EBIT, 19.7% on the EBIT margin. On the top line, fine, you mentioned the supply chain risk, so maybe you can't deliver on time, and we also have the holiday season. But on the margin, unless you're budgeting for really an outsize increase in raw material and/or freight rates, can you comment what kind of scenario for you to land on a 19% margin in Q3 versus your adjusted 23% in Q3 and already Q2 above 21%? So what are you seeing there? Then I'll take the second one after the answer.
Oliver Wyrsch: All right. Sure. I will start and maybe Dimitrij, you want to chime in with some specifics after. Just the big picture, obviously the sales cannot be totally disconnected from
Oliver Wyrsch: The operating income. Maybe a few notes on that. I might be anyway question after. So Q3 is very strong. It is a little bit higher than maybe we have expected. That is, of course, timing of when capacity comes online, when supply chain ramps up. We have to say also that a little bit of revenue came from Q2 into Q3, and maybe a little bit revenue that belongs into Q4 was also delivered in Q3 because of the Golden Week in China. That's why we have a little bit larger range of $30 million, which, of course, then affects the point that you were asking about regarding the operating income. On that end, next to the sales variance, which this is not part of the ramp.
Oliver Wyrsch: The ramp is working, but it is about timing of certain pieces of it, projects and capacity coming online. We have also seen a number of disruptions, and the number of disruptions have increased in the supply chain. That is outside of our control in parts. That is where we have built up second suppliers, where we have strengthened our supply chain. Nonetheless, due to geopolitical factors, there are disruptions that really need quite some intensive countermeasures. So far, as you can see, our system has proved to be resilient, but we also have seen cost inflation there in freight, particular logistics, but also in some materials. This uncertainty just influences a bit of what we see can happen in Q4. I do not think this is necessarily too relevant if you look longer term. I think we have proven our ability to really go beyond the 20% EBIT.
Oliver Wyrsch: If you remember, we had this couple quarters because of the trade war that affected us. We have, through reconfiguration, through efficiency measures, really shown that we navigated through that successfully. Now, as we go in the next growth phase, we can also scale up operations, and with that lift the EBIT. One more thing is important. A special effect is in Q3. I mentioned it before, but just to be clear that everybody hears it. We have a favorable one-off effect in Q3 on the bottom line of 2 percentage points. That is the various different effects that we will not expect to see again. So that all put together is what led us to this guidance. Maybe if you want to add some-
Dimitrij Lisak: And maybe to complement on the last point you mentioned, basically, if you take the Q3 operating income number and discount this roughly 2% that you mentioned, then you work through the midpoint, that is roughly the level we would also expect to continue. So there is no reason for us to significantly decrease. But you need to consider if you extrapolate to the first part of the question is A, that the sales were particularly strong in Q3, and B, we have this one-time effect that you need to discount if you extrapolate.
Oliver Wyrsch: And, of course, you know that probably, but just to make sure for everybody, we had a weak Q1, so this was affected by the trade war effects. So that drags the whole year down when you look at the full year guidance. I do not think this is relevant for the future anymore, but of course, it stays part of this 2026. I hope that helps, Laura.
[Analyst 1]: That does help. Just one more on the capacity utilizations. You also mentioned in the previous calls that you had some plants where you could increase your nameplate capacity. We heard from some competitors and also some of your clients that they will accelerate capacity increase. Just wondering where you see INFICON and what could that mean for your CapEx in 2027, 2028.
Oliver Wyrsch: Yeah, I think CapEx, Dimitrij can comment a little bit on our general CapEx strategy. I think it is in the usual range when we ramp 5%, 6% of sales. It will be the same as probably next year. Obviously, we spend it before and then deliver the sale, so there is a time lag in it. If you look at the numbers, we are 40% up year on year, and that is a sustainable level. That already entails a lot of capacity expansion. What I can tell you is we are basically all the time working on capacity expansion projects all around the globe wherever it is needed, specifically in some of the semiconductor end market, heavy product lines up 70%. That needs a bit more work. I think also when we look how the order entry exploded and is further increasing extremely fast for next year.
Oliver Wyrsch: Visibility we have for next year, we are thinking it is going beyond that, but we need to look at next year also for expansion projects. We will just have to go and continue do expansion projects at the pace we are already doing for 12, 18 months. Obviously, we couldn't deliver some of it last year. The whole ramp was delayed into this year. But we have been actually in this mode for a while, meaning continuous expansion.
[Analyst 1]: Right. Let's put it this way. With the existing space that you have, you cannot indefinitely keep increasing 40% capacity before you need to do an outsized. When I say capacity expansion, I mean a real capacity expansion. Additional plants and additional buildings and space. This is really what I mean.
Oliver Wyrsch: Yeah. Okay, maybe for clarity. Most of you that visited us just know about this location, but I want to stress that we are not a centralized organization like that. We have 11 centers of competence. The centers of competence is R&D and manufacturing. So there is Finland, there is Syracuse, there is Colorado. Syracuse, New York. There is Malaysia, there is Shanghai, there is Guangzhou. We ramp in all places, and it is a cascade. Some is just filling up the space, some is adding space. So we actually have in numerous location more space. We still have space next year to ramp even in Balzers. We do again, the same thing as we did in the last ramp. We remove the office people, rent some more space for that, and then have more production space.
Oliver Wyrsch: But at the same time, as you know, also here and in other places, we acquired extra land or extra space. We have also in Malaysia, just recently added a significant chunk of building, and we do this continuously. The same happens in China just now. That is what I mean with the constant projects. Again, some are just tools, some are just starting tools, and some is really additional space. So I do not see there is a kind of the ceiling. That is not how we look at things. We are in a continuous ramp discussion for all these locations. Wherever it is relevant, obviously. Not all product lines are the same, at the same pace, or need to ramp the same speed, depending also on the geography.
[Analyst 1]: Okay, thank you.
Dimitrij Lisak: We had some numbers in the end. By end September, we actually crossed the full-year CapEx level of 25. So we actually above that already, and we gave the outlook that we will probably cross 35 million. So, it is also materializing in the numbers, what Oliver just mentioned, across both clean room expansion, tooling, and other CapEx investments.
Oliver Wyrsch: It is actually a significant step up if you do it year-on-year comparison.
[Analyst 1]: Okay. Thank you.
Oliver Wyrsch: Sure.
Bernhard Schweizer: Thank you, Laura. The next question comes from Martin Comtesse.
Oliver Wyrsch: Hi, Martin.
Dimitrij Lisak: Hi, Martin.
Bernhard Schweizer: Welcome.
[Analyst 2]: Hey, guys. Congrats on the numbers. Very encouraging here. Just three questions, if I may. Take them one by one. The first one, I am still a bit in the dark here when it comes to these 2 percentage point one-offs. You did mention there is various elements in it. Has it anything to do with tariff reimbursements at this point? Whilst we are at this, could you maybe elaborate a little bit, because I think at the last chat we had, you did mention tariff reimbursements are being negotiated or applied for. How we should think about additional one-offs coming from tariffs in the coming quarters?
Dimitrij Lisak: Yeah. So maybe, first on the composition of these 2%. Basically, as I mentioned, there is a combination of multiple factors. One of them are actually tariff reimbursements. We mentioned it in the last earnings release call that as most companies would file for reimbursements for certain periods, and a certain part of it was credited. Now, this is one part of the 2 percentage points. The other part is actually an effect from streamlining our leak detection portfolio in the food packaging area. There are certain other minor effects. So that is a combination of factors. Going forward, on the tariffs, probably there will be something here and there, but we do not expect anything major to come in the next quarters from this. We filed our claims, and there are certain claims that have been approved, and that is now included in this one-off effect.
Oliver Wyrsch: Yeah, we should not forget that there is other customer claims. This is kind of this, it is a bit non-value add transactions back and forth. The point important from Dimitrij here is that it is really a Q3 effect that you can really see. I would not see that for future. I would red circle this part, these 2 percentage points.
[Analyst 2]: No, very clear. It is helpful. Can you quantify the tariff impact? Was it 50 basis points, 100, or do you not want to touch on that?
Dimitrij Lisak: Yeah, we would like to keep it with this level of details, with the 2 percentage points.
[Analyst 2]: Okay. Cool. Understood. Then maybe the second question is on Q4 sales. I think you already mentioned that there has been some pull forward, but also some delays from Q2. Do I understand that correctly? Let us just assume supply chains remain resilient and you keep getting your supply as you need, that sales could be sequentially lower in the fourth quarter versus Q3?
Oliver Wyrsch: I think if everything works out fine, there is upside risk for sure, quite a bit. But we have to say that the disruptions have intensified. There is more and more Tiger teams running around, chasing the oldest parts. It is not the simplest one or the most logic one, that you maybe have managed the closest. I think that is probably the main reason why we are a little bit cautious there on the risk. But sure, it is relevant for the full year and the Q4, but if you look a little bit longer term, this is really just maybe a bump or not a bump at all, and a very positive thing. I think the guidance entails both, right? At the lower end, we really expect a lot of the disruptions become larger, and then it delays into next year. No order will be lost.
Oliver Wyrsch: Nothing will be missed. This is about what falls into the bucket of Q4 really.
[Analyst 2]: Yeah. Maybe adjacent to that. Can you also help us get a better feeling, because semiconductor has been growing so fast, about the book-to-bill ratio just in semiconductors specifically? Is that closer to 2? Is it closer to 1.5? And what type of visibility does it give you into next year?
Oliver Wyrsch: Yeah, we do not want to disclose further specifics on the book-to-bill ratio, but if you say far above 1, that should be a clear indication, and it has also accelerated more than the sales. So, there are plenty orders to go around to have a spectacular year next year. That I can say. Obviously, we do not guide yet. We will guide as soon as we give you full year numbers the next time we meet. And then I am pretty confident this will be a very exciting year next year.
[Analyst 2]: So-
Oliver Wyrsch: It is also accelerating, which is a bit hard to say how much more is coming. We have been in this state now for six months, where every ceiling that we thought there is a little bit maybe slow down or that is not the. We went right through it. So for now, I would not expect any slowdown at all. And also, when we talk about projections with customers, the only slowdown there could be is the supply chain cannot keep up in certain places, in certain bottlenecks, and it will slow down the whole industry a little bit, but that will not take away from the entire volume or what the whole data center build-out in particular tries to achieve. It will just a little bit stretch it out over the quarters.
Oliver Wyrsch: Our strategy, though, is to not be those that slow down the industry, and so far we have been in the front part of the curve, let's say, in terms of delivery times and so on. I think that is where you want to stay. But I would expect next year, going to get a little bit more bumpy as some reserves are used up and so on in the industry and all the supply chain that supports the industry. So, we will grow fast, but there is also going to be some things that might not come as fast as they should.
[Analyst 2]: And do you think there has been any premature orders, like put forward orders because people are worried about that supply situation next year?
Oliver Wyrsch: Yeah, I think there is some ordering a little bit earlier, but the ramp of orders is still extraordinary. So I would say yes, but not so material that it would take away from the actual acceleration of the ramp.
[Analyst 2]: Excellent. Thank you. I am going to go back in the queue.
Oliver Wyrsch: Thank you, Martin.
Bernhard Schweizer: Thank you, Martin. Next questions come from Michael Foeth.
Oliver Wyrsch: Hi, Michael.
[Analyst 3]: Yeah. Hi. Thank you. Good morning, Oliver. Good morning, Dimitrij. Just to start with just one clarification on the last point there in terms of your order patterns. Are you seeing any extension of your lead times in any significant way? Normally, I think your orders are rather short term. Any changes to the order patterns would be the first question. The second one is on China. Can you give some more color on why you saw such strong growth in China versus other regions? Is it just mix or any other specific factors that you can highlight? Then, I would have one on your market position, if that has changed in vacuum gauges at all already at this stage with OEMs. Thank you.
Oliver Wyrsch: Yeah. Okay. Order patterns, they are pretty consistent and very strong also through the seasonal slower periods, which is really exceptional. I think Q3 in particular, H1 of Q3 is always slow, right? We start slow with orders, we start slow with sales, and then it is really a little bit of a big bang in the H2. It has been impressive how this just powers through. I think also as we have versus the last cycle, maybe the one before, really strengthened our strategic partnership with customers. We also talk much more on eye level than we have before, also through our innovation collaborations. So we have really more of a long-term planning together. So there is not so much surprise, as I want to say. It is 12, 18 months, you look out. Sure.
Oliver Wyrsch: I would say from China, there is maybe a little bit more surprises sometimes in terms of how fast ramps happen and when they are communicated. But also there, I think as everybody professionalizes, it is getting easier to do that. I hope that answers your question, Michael. And in terms of, and it is broad-based, I want to mention, maybe that was also a question from Martin before. Clearly, it is not only semiconductor, right? We have these other tech markets that actually have a good foundational anyway, because that is why we chose them, synergies and the right growth rate, the right profitability.
Oliver Wyrsch: But they also have, a number of them have real good tailwinds from the data center build-out, most notably HVAC or energy or there is communication. There is a number of those as well. So we see there, too, probably not as pronounced, obviously, as in semiconductors, naturally.
Oliver Wyrsch: It is a bit in line, probably how the sales develop. Then you asked about China. Yeah, China is a very particular situation. Last time in Q2, we talked about that China sales was a bit slow. We explained you that is just a temporary thing. That is about timing than anything else. And you also see now with this strong increase, 70% year-on-year, that China remains for us a very important market. We have very strong relationships, really outstanding relationships on innovation, on driving the industry forward. And we are also very well positioned with our long-standing footprint there, to also scale up in a way together and push forward. I think we certainly profit from the advantages of being a European company in the perception. So there is replacement, obviously, of US OEMs and also US component suppliers.
Oliver Wyrsch: Then they have their own AI data center build-out, which you could say there is a triple factor boosting us, and we are certainly taking market share. So that was also your last question on the market position. I think we are close to number one market position. I think it depends a little bit how you measure and where you look. So it is a bit hard to say, everything being so dynamic and the market itself scaling up so much. But our position is extremely strong regarding technology and the market share. I would say, 15 out of 20 product lines, we are clear number one. We want to remain there, and we plow on like never before. It is the time of our lives, really, okay? It is so much fun these days. Thank you. I hope I answered.
[Analyst 3]: Very good. Yep. Thanks. Congrats.
Oliver Wyrsch: Thank you so much.
Bernhard Schweizer: Thank you, Michael. Next question comes from Craig McDowell.
Oliver Wyrsch: Hi, Craig.
Dimitrij Lisak: Hello, Craig.
[Analyst 4]: Hey, morning. Hopefully you can hear me okay.
Oliver Wyrsch: Yep.
[Analyst 4]: Awesome. Two things for Dimitrij. The first one on gross margins, please. Underlying basis, sounds like they are around 48%. I think that is at the high end of your historic range. Is there a risk we have seen peak gross margins, obviously, with pricing uplift already in revenue, but the higher costs not yet in P&L, just given the timing and inventory shifts, et cetera. You mentioned shipping costs coming through. Maybe if you give us a few thoughts on how we should think about gross margin evolution from here. Then I have got a follow-up as well.
Dimitrij Lisak: Sure. Look, our statement on the expected inflation effects is more reflecting what we see around us. If you look at the critical components like electronics, there is a lot of data available indicating 6% to 8% inflation on those components specifically. It is all public data. Obviously the entire industry will feel it. The same is relating to freight and specifically air freight, that since March, April, actually kept constantly increasing. We also have a certain effect actually of these two areas that I mentioned reflected already in Q3. In the end, this is something that we just, along with the publicly available data, just expect to intensify. To answer your question, we have it reflected. We also mentioned that we have it more than compensated because, of course, also volume helps.
Dimitrij Lisak: But for your projection, I think it is important that you account for increased inflation, specifically electronics and air freight.
Oliver Wyrsch: It may be important for everybody to remember, we really used last year. I said back then, we do bold moves as a whole team. So we really reconfigured ourselves and placed ourselves for such a ramp. It was about to come. It was a bit miserable last year, obviously, a couple of quarters and the whole geopolitics. But it also ended, and we implemented, we delivered it, and now with the uplifts and the boom and the better cost structure and the better footprint, this is a lasting effect, obviously. Next to the operating leverage that continues as the growth continues. But this is not a rubber band going up and down. This is the new way of how INFICON operates, and you have seen that since Q2.
Oliver Wyrsch: When we announced in Q1, we have done, and we were done, and since then, we are above this 20%, and we always said we want to push beyond that, and that is what we continue to do. There is going to be quarters over quarters fluctuations.
[Analyst 4]: Super. Very clear. My next one was on operating expenses. Just there was quite a sequential step up Q2 to Q3. Maybe if you can explain the underlying activity there. Should we think about the Q3 base as the right base to model going forward, or is there some seasonal accrual effects potentially going on that we should be aware of? Thank you.
Dimitrij Lisak: Yeah. There is a certain element of seasonality. If you look at year to date, we are actually around 15% overall in the OpEx increase. If you look at net sales increase versus OpEx increase, around 10% productivity, 10 percentage points. But specifically for this quarter, as I mentioned, we have certain functions we are ramping up, specifically in the technical area, application engineering service. But also there is a certain effect from the variable compensation. We always talk about it. Every INFICON employee has a certain component of variable compensation. If results go up, obviously this needs to be accounted for. There is a certain effect of this and obviously investments into future growth and organization, also revamping systems, having the best-in-class technology available for our employees.
Dimitrij Lisak: All these factors, a combination of these three, you actually see in the Q3 SG&A results as well as R&D.
[Analyst 4]: Should those largely reverse, I guess, in Q4? Should we think about-
Dimitrij Lisak: No, I would not say-
[Analyst 4]: business on the way?
Dimitrij Lisak: We continue investing, we continue growing. I cannot tell you whether you can use this now as a run rate, but there is nothing completely off the books here. You have certain one-off effects that I mentioned before. They are both in gross profit and in the OPEX. That is not something that you need now to significantly take out of this number.
[Analyst 4]: Understood. Thank you very.
Dimitrij Lisak: It also implies a seasonality effect from prior year, so you need to consider this.
[Analyst 4]: Super. Very clear. Thank you.
Bernhard Schweizer: Okay, good. Thank you, Craig. And next Craig is in the line. This time it is Craig Abbott.
Dimitrij Lisak: Hello, Craig.
Oliver Wyrsch: Hey, Craig.
[Analyst 5]: Yeah. Hi, good morning, gentlemen. Just a couple of remaining questions, please. I am just trying to get a better understanding on your supply chain management. A twofold question here, please. On the one hand, we have heard from some of your peers that they basically have requested the OEMs to give them an even longer lead time than historically, and quite materially longer in some cases, in part so that they themselves can also help their suppliers provide them more visibility as they are then ramping up their own production capacity. The second part of that is I am trying to understand what parts of the supply channel you are particularly concerned about, because it sounded like in Q4, you were expecting that there might be a hiccup, there might not.
[Analyst 5]: I do not expect you necessarily to be company specific, of course, but if you could maybe give us some indication what parts, what elements of the supply chain you are most concerned about. That would be the first one. Then I have got my second question. Thank you.
Oliver Wyrsch: Okay. Yeah. On the supply chain, so much, just a second. We learned obviously a lot from this COVID supply chain crisis. We really went inside and analyzed what do we need to do better next time we are ramping? We had a little time as we were going more flat in growth the last couple of years. So what we did is with large suppliers, we really strengthened the collaboration, the planning process, how we manage materials, and we also reconfigured our footprint, obviously, to be closer to places where it makes more sense for customers and suppliers. So there has been a lot of work on that. So it is not typically the large parts or the significant parts that have been painful this year, which is kind of interesting. So it is the unexpected smaller parts.
Oliver Wyrsch: One I can mention that hit us a few times was magnets because of rare earth.
[Analyst 5]: Okay.
Oliver Wyrsch: That is really pure geopolitics. Then you need to reconfigure and source different.
[Analyst 5]: Okay.
Oliver Wyrsch: But also there, I have to say, the team did an outstanding job with having these different locations and then pivots. There was a blockage here, and then there was three alternatives popping up very quickly, and we could work around it. When I look at it from the group management, this is still a concern. Yes, they adapted, they were agile, that was great. But at the same time, such unexpected incidences, they can stop a product line for a while, right?
[Analyst 5]: Yeah.
Oliver Wyrsch: You need the one little magnet, the machine does not run, right? Since you need a bunch of these special pieces to it to run, so you cannot just ship them after or something. So that is the concern that how it looks at it today. We had a number of other such ones. Again, we could navigate each one of them.
Oliver Wyrsch: There was a little expediting cost, a little bit extra cost in qualifying another team, or we had to redirect some extra forces. So that is the data at the moment, but it has increased. Right? We also see the strain a little bit, let us say, some sweat on the forehead of some other players in the industry. So that is why we expect next year to be harder than this year. That does not mean that it will stop entirely or it will slow down the growth dramatically.
Oliver Wyrsch: There is some risk of that, but I don't think that is the likely scenario. But we must look for upside risk and downside risk as we look ahead. Naturally, a geopolitical escalation like last year or something else of that nature is the bigger fear. But that is not what we would see as a major likelihood, but who knows these days, right? I hope this helps you a little bit, Craig, on understanding how it presents itself today and looking forward.
[Analyst 5]: It does indeed. Thank you. Thank you, Oliver. Yeah, the second question, I think in reference to the previous question, you provided some insight onto where are you seeing the price, the cost pressures. You mentioned freight costs and critical electronics. I just wondered if you could provide us with any color on how material, in terms of your total COGS, these two buckets are.
Dimitrij Lisak: Yeah. I would not quantify it at this stage, because it's a bit similar as the supply chain statement. We see what's happening around us. We see also the effect in the books. It's reflected also in the Q3 results. So it's not a theoretic topic that we are indicating, but it's something we see already with both increasing freight costs, but also electronics and other areas. Partially balanced through pricing measures, but partially also we need to account for it in the result. So at this stage, I would not quantify it, but I would rather leave it there that it's quite a significant factor for the next years, I would say, and specifically in the next months it will intensify based on what we've seen in Q3, actually.
[Analyst 5]: Okay. Thank you. Just if I can follow up and then I'm really done. It's just, when you're negotiating with your client, you said there's been some balancing by pricing measures. How's the environment there in terms of open book discussions with your customers and potentially passing that on?
Oliver Wyrsch: I mean, with our customers, open book discussions are never a good idea if you're a solution provider with a lot of IP. It's not what we typically do or ever try to do. But of course, we can talk about the general factors, much like Dimitrij described it. That's what we look at, and that's how we sit down with our customers, material prices, shipping prices. I also explained earlier that we have a very active innovation pipeline that does upgrades in couple of months intervals, because it is for every step of a new process, you need to go and do a tweak on your variant and move forward. Then you bring value and nobody else can solve that problem.
Oliver Wyrsch: Obviously, you can price based on the problem you're solving, which typically a sensor is not a big thing in the grand scheme of things of how CapEx is spent in a fab. So there is an opportunity for us, which we're also working on, and I think we have been more regimented of how we organize this. I want to stress nonetheless, and you see that effect actually this year. Last year in Q2, we had this discussion, I believe Q3 earnings calls. How much can you push the prices of the trade war or the cost of the trade war onto your customers? I said then, this is always a conversation. This is long-term, 10, 20 years relationships that have much more entailing than just the immediate price range and margin. It's mostly about innovating together and solving problems and pushing forward in that technology area.
Oliver Wyrsch: I think the way we behaved last year has shown already positive effects again this year. We have done that in the past. You can look at the COVID crisis or so, and we did a similar thing. Also when it now again comes to price pressure or inflation, it's a conversation where we on eye level find solutions with our customers. But we never go and just push prices over on people, right? That is not how you can operate, obviously. Maybe to explain it, I know you probably know, Craig, but maybe for the benefit of everybody else a little bit how our thinking is also in that term. We'll make right by it, right? If there is inflation, we'll find solutions to compensate for it.
Oliver Wyrsch: If you need an example, we had a lot of price pressures of different reasons last year, and we fixed it, clearly, right? Starting Q2 this year.
[Analyst 5]: Okay. Yeah. That is indeed all very helpful. Thank you very much.
Oliver Wyrsch: You are welcome.
Bernhard Schweizer: Thank you, Craig. I do not see any further questions for the time being, so this may be the time for your closing remarks.
Oliver Wyrsch: All right. Thank you very much, everybody, for your continued interest, for the great discussion here. We are really excited about these times. Some of the best times ever. So much innovation, so much dynamic, and of course, a ton of growth. We look forward into the future and go the path together with you. Obviously, we are ready and really excited with the whole team. We meet again for Q4 full year earnings release next year. Thank you very much. Have a wonderful day.
Dimitrij Lisak: Thank you, everyone.
