Axcelis Technologies (NASDAQ:$ACLS) shares climbed 20.3% in October. The big gains appear to correspond with news of the semiconductor equipment company’s addition to the S&P SmallCap 600.
On October 11th, the company announced that it would become a part of the S&P SmallCap 600. The move was made official before market open on October 19th. Axecelis’ big gains are a reflection of those exact dates, and in the absence of other significant news last month, it looks like the stock’s October movement was a direct result of the S&P small-cap index.
On November 2nd, Axcelis announced its 3Q17 report. Sales for the quarter increased 49% year over year to $104.5 million, and gross profit for the quarter climbed 65% year over year to $29.8 million. Shares jumped an additional 6% following the earnings release and have appreciated more than 130% year to date.
Management is speculating demand for its semiconductor hardware, driven by growth in data storage, Internet, and mobile markets. Axcelis also expects significant growth from the Chinese and Japanese markets, seeing indications of a substantial increase in demand for its memory solutions in 2019.
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