IPG Photonics Q3 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
November 1, 2022

There are 9 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good morning, and welcome to IPG Photonics Third Quarter 2022 Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded and webcast. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to your host, Eugene Fedidov, IPG's Director of Investor Relations for introductions. Please go ahead, sir.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Rob, and good morning, everyone. With me today is IPG Photonics' CEO, Doctor. Eugene Cherbakov And Senior Vice President and CFO, Tim Monnen. Let me remind you that statements made during the course of this call That discuss management's or the company's intentions, expectations or predictions of the future are forward looking statements. These forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward looking statements.

Speaker 1

These risks and uncertainties are detailed in IPG Photonics Form 10 ks for the period ended December 31, 2021, And our reports are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of these filings may be obtained by visiting the Investors section of IPG's website or by contacting the company directly. You may also find copies on the SEC's website. Any forward looking statements made on this call are the company's expectations or predictions as of today, November 1, 2022 only. The company assumes no obligation to publicly release any update or revisions to any such statements.

Speaker 1

For additional details on our reported results, Please refer to the earnings press release, earnings call presentation and the Excel based financial data workbook posted on the Investor Relations website. We will post these prepared remarks on our Investor Relations website following the completion of this call. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Eugene Sherbakov.

Speaker 2

Good morning, everyone. We continue to see our momentum in our emerging growth We saw the strong results in welding, cleaning, solar cell manufacturing, medical and 3 d These were offset by several headwinds, including unfavorable currency translations, Weaker economic conditions in Europe and the COVID related lockdowns in China. Softness in general industrial demand in Europe and China negatively impacted sales in high power cutting applications. At the same time, we saw modest growth in North America, And we are pleased with this continued increase in e mobility sales driven by new investment in electric vehicle battery capacity across all geographies. Emerging Growth product sales were 43% of our total revenue in the Q3.

Speaker 2

Many of these products are benefiting from global macro trends such as e mobility And automation as well as increased focus on sustainability, renewable energy and energy efficiency. More specifically, we saw record sales in A and B lasers, driven by growth in EV battery welding. We also saw strong demand in our green laser for solar cell manufacturing applications. This market is rebounding driven by an increasing investment in renewable energy solutions globally. Additionally, The revenue for lasers used in cleaning applications, which provides us sustainability benefits By reducing use of abrasives and chemicals grew significantly this quarter.

Speaker 2

In August, we announced the sales of our silicon transmission business to Lumentum. As the business required additional investment and was non core to IPG. This divestiture had only a minor impact on sales, but will meaningfully reduce our operating expenses Going forward, I believe that the sales of telecom business and decision to exist our Cinema business will allow IPG to focus R and D and other resources on core growth opportunity such as immobility, welding and medical. I will go over each of these core opportunities in more details. We had another great quarter in EV applications as revenue and orders increased across all geographies.

Speaker 2

There are additional investments into EV battery plant in Europe and North America, And we are seeing increased activity in the U. S. Due to the recently announced government incentives. 3rd party estimates suggest that the global lithium ion battery capacity will triple by 2025 and may reach 6 terawatts by 2,030, a 7 fold increase Compared to the 2021 level, this growth in battery capacity presents a significant Addressable market for our lasers. To focus on global EV opportunities, we implemented some organizational changes And increase our sales and marketing capabilities.

Speaker 2

IPG has a leading position in welding and foil cutting applications for EV batteries. We offer a broad range of solutions to customers from laser sources to complete production lines for existing and emerging battery technologies. We sold several complete system and production lines to R and D And some experimental battery production in the quarter. We continue to introduce and are seeing the strong initial demand for our peak 2nd ultra and ultra high power pulsed lasers. IPG recently increased its production offering in e mobility application with new UCW AMB lasers, which offer excellent performance and displays green and blue laser solutions that cost more and more complicated to integrate.

Speaker 2

We continue to explore additional opportunities in foil cutting The adoption of IPG, Beam Delivery and Real Time Building Monitoring Software We have been very successful in e mobility applications. The related revenue accounting for approximately 20% Our total sales in quarter, up from 10% in 2021 sales. We expect that EV investment cycle to continue and reemability sales to remain strong in the next 3 to 5 years This was another record quarter for welding revenue that benefited from growth in electric wheel batteries, but also growth in light weld sales. Lightwell is still on early part of growth trajectory, rapidly increasing the sales and orders globally We have received CE Marked and started selling the light well in most The larger European countries in the Q3. We have established distribution partners and continue to see the high interest from the welding Live Web 100 Welder is a superior tool for small and mid sized applicators that brings easier to use for our welding process.

Speaker 2

Additionally, NFTJ is also working with automation companies To introduce the combat light to weld combination that helps customer to implement automation of welding processes at relatively low cost. Our Medical business also had another record quarter With revenue increasing more than 70% year over year, ensuring the continued growth in booking. Our ruturium lasers and consumable fiber for urology applications, which are considered as a new global standard, Continue to replace Holmium laser, rapidly gaining adoption in the OLED market. As we grow the number Of installed units, recurring revenue from consumer fiber is also growing. I am pleased to see that we are Well, except of our target to double the business in 2, 3 years as our medical revenue should approach $70,000,000 this year, up from $43,000,000 last year.

Speaker 2

Before I turn the call to Tim, let me provide the update on our operations in Russia. During the 1st 9 months in 2022, we managed to navigate the complex and evolving regulations, including sanctions without material disruption to our ability to meet customer demand. We are continuing to increase manufacturing capacity and build safe stock of critical components in the United States and Europe. In addition, we have started to purchase in many less critical components from That were qualified earlier this year. Recently, the EUE has Announce the new package of sanctions and new license requirements, which placed even more limitations on trade with Russia, Essentially, curtailing our ability to import components to our European facility and export items to our Russian facility, effective early January of next year.

Speaker 2

We believe that the contingency plans we are executing We will enable us to eliminate our dependence on Russian production before the new European sanctions take full effect. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and with our Board of Directors are assessing the strategical options to our Russian facilities. I will turn the call to the team to discuss financial highlights in the quarter.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Eugene, and good morning, everyone. My comments generally will follow the earnings call presentation, which is available on our Investor Relations website. I will start with the financial review on Slide 4. Revenue in the Q3 was $349,000,000 a decline of 8% year over year, primarily due to foreign currency headwinds which accounted for approximately 7% of the decline. We also saw lower sales in China, Europe and Japan, primarily in general industrial applications.

Speaker 3

Our sales in North America were slightly higher year over year. Revenue from materials processing applications decreased 10% year over year And revenue from other applications increased 10%. GAAP gross margin was 43.1%, A decrease of 5.90 basis points year over year due to increased cost of products sold, higher inventory reserves, as well as higher shipping costs and tariffs. We did see slightly better absorption of manufacturing costs in the quarter as we continue to increase our inventories of safety stock. In the long term, we remain committed to our gross margin target of 45% to 50%.

Speaker 3

If exchange rates relative to the U. S. Dollar had been the same as 1 year ago, We would have expected revenue to be $26,000,000 higher and gross profit to be $14,000,000 higher. GAAP operating income was $93,000,000 and operating margin was 26.7 percent. Net income was $76,000,000 or $1.47 per diluted share.

Speaker 3

The effective tax rate in the quarter was 21%. Foreign currency transaction gains related to remeasuring foreign Currency assets and liabilities to period end exchange rates only had a minor positive impact on the operating expenses of less than $1,000,000

Speaker 2

At the

Speaker 3

same time, we had several unusual items in the quarter. There was a $22,000,000 or 0.32 dollars per diluted share gain on the sale of the Telecom Transmission Business and $1,000,000 or $0.01 per diluted share Restructuring charge related to shutting down the remaining telecom business. Excluding the currency transaction gain, Gain on sale of assets and restructuring charge, operating expenses declined year over year primarily in research and development as we reduce spending on telecom product development following the sale and restructuring of the business. We are also looking at ways to further reduce our expenses including sale of the corporate aircraft and 2 underutilized buildings. Freed up resources will be available for activities that are core to our strategy.

Speaker 3

Moving to Slide 5, sales of high power CW lasers decreased 14% And represented approximately 44% of total revenue. Sales of ultra high power lasers above 6 kilowatt Represented 45% of total high power CW laser sales. The decline was primarily due to lower demand in cutting applications In China and Europe as a result of lower economic activity that negatively impacted demand in general industrial applications. Pulse laser sales decreased 6% year over year due to lower demand in cutting and marking applications, partially offset by strong sales into solar cell manufacturing and cleaning applications. Systems sales increased 10% year over year, driven by growth in laser systems and higher sales of Lightwell.

Speaker 3

Medium power laser sales decreased 16%, While QCW laser sales were down 30% year over year, negatively impacted by lower sales to consumer electronics applications. Other product sales increased driven by record sales in medical applications. Looking at our performance by region on Slide 6, revenue in North America increased 1% driven by growth in cutting, Welding and medical applications was offset by lower sales in non laser systems as well as the telecom divestiture. In Europe, sales decreased 13% as a result of lower demand across all major materials processing applications And the weaker euro. Customers are delaying projects as a result of high energy costs and economic uncertainty in Europe.

Speaker 3

However, eMobility orders remain strong despite overall softness in the economy. Revenue in China decreased 14% year over year as growth in welding for EV battery applications and 3 d printing applications was offset by COVID related lockdowns, continued softness in the cutting market and currency headwinds. Moving to a summary of our balance sheet on Slide 7, we ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and short term investments of $1,200,000,000 and total debt of $16,000,000 Cash provided by operations was 76,000,000 dollars during the quarter and capital expenditures were $25,000,000 in

Speaker 2

the quarter. While

Speaker 3

continuing to maintain a strong balance sheet, We have returned a significant amount of capital to shareholders with our ongoing stock repurchases this year. During the quarter, we repurchased shares for a total of $71,000,000 Most of the repurchasing in the third quarter happened in the second half of As we had a cooling off period between our 10b5 programs, we continue to repurchase shares in October. Since the beginning of the year, IPG has repurchased shares for a total of $383,000,000 as of the end of the third quarter And approximately $440,000,000 year to date. Our CapEx has been trending below our initial expectations And we will likely finish the year at approximately $110,000,000 well below our previous guidance of $130,000,000 to $140,000,000 As Eugene mentioned earlier, we are assessing strategic options for our Russian operations. In addition, we are evaluating the effect of the new sanctions on our ability to recover the value of our working capital And long lived assets located in Russia.

Speaker 3

As of the end of the Q3, we had approximately $44,000,000 in cash and short term investments and approximately $150,000,000 in working capital, including $116,000,000 in inventory in Russia. The net value of long lived assets in Russia is approximately $95,000,000 Moving to outlook on Slide 9. 3rd quarter book to bill was slightly above 1. We saw further moderation in orders in Europe as well as reduced bookings in China primarily due to softening macroeconomic conditions which impacted demand in general industrial markets. However, we are seeing continued strong orders in e mobility And medical applications as well as more stable operating conditions in North America.

Speaker 3

We continue to benefit from growth opportunities created by major macro trends such as electric vehicle battery manufacturing and renewable energy. In addition, Light World and Medical sales further diversify our revenue. We believe these trends and diversity Will enable us to weather downturns in the economy with greater resiliency. For the Q4 of 2022, IPG expects revenue of $300,000,000 to $330,000,000 Company expects the 4th quarter tax rate to be approximately 25%. IPG anticipates delivering earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.70 to $1 with approximately 51,000,000 diluted common shares outstanding.

Speaker 3

Continue to expect currency headwinds and estimate that the 4th quarter revenue guidance range is reduced by about $20,000,000 due to the strength of the U. S. Dollar in the current quarter as compared to the Q4 2021. As discussed in the Safe Harbor passage of today's earnings press release, our guidance is based upon current market conditions and expectations, Assumes exchange rates referenced in our earnings press release and is subject to risks outlined in the Safe Harbor and the company's reports with the SEC. With that, we'll be happy to take your questions.

Operator

Thank you. At this time, we'll be conducting a question and answer session. One moment please while we poll for questions. Our first question comes from Jim Ricchiuti with Needham and Company. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 4

Hi, thank you. Good morning. Two questions. The first question just relates to gross margins. And Tim, I'm wondering if you could talk to some of the factors that might have contributed to the Gross margin coming in a little below the expectations for Q3.

Speaker 4

I assume some of that's volume driven And also how we might think about gross margins in the current quarter? And I have a follow-up. Thank you.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Jim. Good morning. Yes, gross margins were a little bit light in the quarter. We did come in at the bottom end of The guidance range and even so is slightly below the I think we guided 44% at the bottom end of the range. You still got A lot of different challenges out there in terms of shipping costs, some higher import duties.

Speaker 3

Certainly the foreign currency headwinds are impacting us. If you look to say average selling prices in Europe, Japan, Korea, other areas where we're selling in local currency, they were down slightly Due to mix, they were relatively stable in China. But when you couple that with 50% of our manufacturing costs actually being in the U. S, There's a headwind related to that. The relative strength of the ruble also is playing through the business model a little bit at the moment.

Speaker 3

So there's challenges there. And then again relatively speaking and compared to a year ago inventory reserves In the quarter, we're still at elevated levels given the relatively high level of inventory that we're carrying at the moment.

Speaker 4

And just given all that, any color you could provide on how we might think about Gross margins given these moving parts for the in the current quarter?

Speaker 3

Yes. So there's something that is in the Financial presentation deck, we got 42% to 44% as assumed in our guidance range.

Speaker 4

Thanks. I thought

Speaker 2

I was not giving it to you.

Speaker 3

No, no, it's my fault. I should

Speaker 4

have spotted it. Just a follow-up question is just and I don't know if you could answer this. Obviously, the COVID Lockdowns had an impact on sales in China. And I guess what I'm trying to find out is and maybe better understand is, would the non cutting business In China have been up excluding those lockdowns. I don't know if there's any way for you To talk to that, just the overall health of the business in China, excluding cutting and if there's a way to talk about the impact of lockdowns?

Speaker 3

Yes. Certainly on a year over year basis, the non cutting business was significantly up in China and cutting was Quite a bit weaker than it was in Q3. Our view is that the COVID lockdowns are more impacting the industrial End market demand that would drive some of that cutting, whereas some of the other macro trends around EV or the Share gains that we have around additive are generally pretty positive trends. Foil cutting was just because the timing of projects was a little bit weaker in Q3 compared to Q2. I can't quite remember where it was a year ago.

Speaker 3

But that's really just the timing of orders rather than any Competitive dynamics on the Foil Cutting Projects.

Speaker 2

By the way, when we are talking about cutting, first of all, we are talking about the metal cutting, Not Foil Cutting. Foil Cutting business is growing. It's stable from one side because of different kind of applications, not a standard of oils, But we have to separate. Standard cutting with metal cutting and foil cutting, which we are using for battery production.

Speaker 4

Thank you. Appreciate the clarification. I'll jump back in the queue.

Operator

Our next question comes from Reuben Roy with Stifel. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 5

Hi. Thank you for the question. First For Tim, can you maybe just talk a little bit about how you're thinking about OpEx in this environment as we look out over the next couple of quarters? Got the telco asset divested and just thinking about the macro and the currency headwinds, any color you can give us on how to think about spending that would be helpful. Thanks.

Speaker 3

Yes. I think we've got some guidance on OpEx for the quarter, which is in the range of I think it was $78,000,000 to $79,000,000 So relative to the run rate that we had at the beginning of the year, it's down by $5,000,000 to $6,000,000 some of that benefit is really On the telco side of things, but we also referenced some of the other actions, not necessarily OpEx, but the major The thing we're looking at is disposal of our corporate aircraft and that would bring then Some additional benefit to G and A into 2023. Overall, we're also looking at some of our relatively underutilized facilities. That's not just going to be an OpEx side of things, the depreciation on that is both in cost of sales and some of it would be on the sales and marketing side. So we're being very disciplined about what we're doing, but we're freeing up resources that can be invested In core R and D projects that we think have a better chance of driving returns and are closer to what we're doing and Also freeing up resources for investing in sales and marketing.

Speaker 3

So, it's not we're trying to manage expense as well, but we're Cognizant of the fact that you need to continue to invest in these areas in order to achieve the growth targets that we have for the medium and long term.

Speaker 5

Right. I appreciate that detail, Tim. And I guess that's a good segue for my follow-up, which is around medical. It's great to see the progress there and Almost doubling revenue this year, it looks like, versus last year. How are you sizing that market sort of longer term?

Speaker 5

How should we think about The opportunity there and is it mostly urology or are there other areas of potential opportunity from a competitive Displacement perspective and any other markets that you could talk about around medical and how to think about the TAM longer term, that'd be helpful. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Of course, we are thinking about the different other applications or lasers because In principle now, the main our revenue from business is from special trullium lasers, but there exists all of course different other Final lasers which can be used for many potential medical applications. Of course, we are thinking about this. We are also discussing some interesting projects to penetrate our fiber lasers to existing Application, medical applications. There is a big opportunity to penetrate this fiber laser technology To the medical applications, definitely.

Speaker 3

In terms of the market, I can just give you some detail on that, Ruben. The total medical market is about $5,000,000,000 but it includes a significant proportion of aesthetic applications. The market for surgical is about 20% of that or $1,000,000,000 and that's the area we're primarily focused on. The interesting thing about this I think like most The growth rates are expected to be fairly robust, so in excess of 10% per year. And then the other aspect we like to the business is that there is a consumable fiber that Generates the recurring revenue as we deploy more systems into different applications.

Speaker 5

Great. Very helpful. Thanks, Tim.

Operator

Our next question is from Michael Feniger with Bank of America. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 6

Hey, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions. I apologize, Tim, that you addressed this earlier, just trying To understand the puts and takes, so there's always there's a transition of the footprint of reducing dependency in Russia to U. S. And Germany.

Speaker 6

It's always been part of the plan that you guys have kind of outlined earlier this year. You then mentioned this increasing sanctions, I believe, in January 1st And assessing strategic options, so what are the strategic options to explore that we need to kind of consider By January 1, is this a new development relative to the last call? And is there any shift in the Time line on the contingency plans that you guys outlined earlier this year? Just trying to flesh out some of these moving pieces.

Speaker 3

Yes. I know this is a change given the change in the EU sanctions. So we're evaluating various strategic options. We're not ready To talk about those at this point in time related to the Russian operations, but the level of business the Russian operations is going to be able to Harry On coming into the New Year will be significantly reduced. So we need to look at The cost structure and what to really do with that business and how to, as best as possible realize value from it.

Speaker 3

In terms of the contingency planning, We stated quite clearly through a combination of either increasing capacity, building inventory of critical components qualifying third party sources of supply for less critical components that we believe that we will be able to we're confident we can manage through That situation. We're looking at these strategic alternatives over the coming weeks and probably couple of months and we We'll be able to provide a more detailed update, the latest during Q1 and Depending upon what we evaluate as the outcomes, all of the strategic alternatives that we choose to pursue.

Speaker 6

Understood. And the Q4 margin guide, the gross margin guide, is that still with you guys producing in your Russia facility or is that starting to take into a part some of this transition of ramping more the production in Germany and the U. S?

Speaker 2

Definitely, yes, because we start already the mass production in United States, also in Europe, such kind of components. Of course, it's a little bit decrease our gross margin. But taking in mind that we not only Making some expansion of our production. Every time I also think about how we can optimize this Production manufacturing, some of components. This is why by installing this production in Europe, we demonstrated the much more Optimal conditions and much more optimal results, I mean, from the effectivities of this production.

Speaker 2

And the next step will be to introduce automation for production some components. And I think it will be our goal to next year R and D and we would like to expand our R and D activity in this area. And in principle, our main goal will be to install as much as possible automated production Of mass components which we are using for our fiber liter production.

Speaker 6

Understood. Thank you for that. And just if I could squeeze one more in, Just when we think of the seasonality of the business, do you does the business seasonally build in Q1 off of Q4? Or do we kind of start the year softer and build through the year? I understand it's way too early to talk about 2023.

Speaker 6

Just Conceptually, when we think of how the business typically moves seasonally from Q4 to Q1, if there's anything you kind of want us to think about, Tim, as we kind of try to get a starting point for next year. Thanks everybody.

Speaker 3

Yes. The problem with seasonality at the moment over the last 2 or It's been really, really difficult to pick it. In general, when you do have a weak Q4, You generally expect to see Q1, it can be flat to slightly up on that relative to a weaker Q4, you can have Stronger start to the year. It was interesting because our Q3 book to bill as I mentioned was slightly above 1, right. And relative to that, The guidance is a bit weaker.

Speaker 3

So we actually have, for example, in China bookings were actually they were down year over year, but they were actually reasonably strong relative So they actually have, for example, some EV projects, which they've got orders for that are expected to be delivered In the first half of next year, some of them would be in Q1. We took a lot of orders for medical as well. That would sort of help the beginning of the year. Yes, right now it's a bit difficult to give you a definitive answer on that. I think if you go back and look at the trends on the quarters, you'll be able to see Where they stand out?

Speaker 3

I mean the other big thing that's impacting Q4 is the exchange rates, right? So I think at the moment the view is that the dollar is going to remain relatively strong versus the euro and the Chinese yuan. The Japanese yen is very weak at the moment. So there's I don't see the currency headwinds Abating right now in the Q1, but it's going to depend upon obviously where Monetary policy goes in the different regions around the world.

Speaker 7

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question comes from Mark Miller with The Benchmark Company. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 8

Thank you for the question. Could you tell us what kind of your sales were from recently introduced products?

Speaker 3

They were 43%

Speaker 2

of total sales. Yes.

Speaker 8

That's a pretty good jump from last couple of quarters. Interest expense jumped up. I'm just wondering what's going on there and what we should how we should think about that going forward Interest income, sorry.

Speaker 3

Yes. I mean that's basically because of the yield that you're getting on Cash and cash equivalents and short term investments going up. So probably on a weighted average basis in Q3 because interest rates carried on going up, you'd expect to see some small increase in that coming into Q4

Operator

Our next question comes from Hans Chung with D. A. Davidson. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 7

Hi, thank you for taking my questions. So first, can you elaborate on the weakness in a pulsed laser in the 3rd quarter? What drove the sequential and year over year decline?

Speaker 3

So, Parcels, as we said, slightly down on In the Q3 on oil cutting, it was strong on Cleaning applications which will be in the high power level. So and then marking and engraving which will be consumer electronics related It was also weaker compared to Q3 last year actually marking Engraving in I think the 2nd and third quarters last year was actually very strong even though We compete with local suppliers in China for consumer electronics because of the reliability of our lasers. Demand in consumer electronics this year has been pretty weak.

Speaker 2

By the way, we're not talking about the pump lasers, but please take in consideration. Power, which you are talking about, it's from 10 watts, I mean, average power up to several kilowatts. Of course, we saw small power power power lasers, our revenue a little bit less in comparison to the Previous quarter, but for high power, I mean for power laser with average power more than 1 kilowatt, it's growing very fast. First of all, we demonstrated the very brilliant results concerning the cleaning applications, but also for foil cutting, Special for a cut and also start to use our 5 power laser. It's very important for the future Growing our business in this area.

Speaker 7

Great. That's helpful. So in terms of 4Q guidance, Can you provide some colors around the trends of the sequential change by applications? Which segment will be down the most? Which will be more resilient?

Speaker 3

No. I mean, we don't get into guidance By applications and trends at all, we do give some color around Regions, I mentioned that relative to China order flow that Q3 revenue is a little bit lighter Then Q3 Europe still got currency headwinds and sort of weakness I think the North American Business looks relatively resilient. She got a reasonable guide from revenue on Japan on the back of good order flow From Japan and relatively stable situation in Korea, but we just don't get into it on a granular level of guidance by application.

Speaker 7

Got it. That's fair. So one last, if I may. Just wondering why the gross margin In 4Q, Solu holds steady from sequential basis, while we see 10% decline in revenue. So I just wonder if anything help to on the gross margin side?

Speaker 3

No, I mean I factored in there even some quite high inventory provisions didn't change assumptions fundamentally around Things like product cost of sales or import duties and tariffs. So we'd be expecting sort of relatively speaking good absorption of costs and relative to the revenue level, And relative to the revenue level, good cost management Relative to total output and production. So I think it's a reasonably conservative guide even where I think your point the revenue is down. It's a reasonably conservative guide on gross margin still.

Speaker 7

Got it. Thank you.

Operator

Our next question comes from Jim Ricchiuti with Needham and Company. Please proceed with your question.

Speaker 4

Thank you. The follow-up question I had is just with respect to the orders in Europe and in North America, as you went through the quarter, just given concerns people have about the slowing macro environment, Is there any did you notice any change in customer behavior as you went through Q3 in those regions?

Speaker 1

Yes. I think in Europe,

Speaker 3

I mean, Jim, it's reflective of where the guidance Number is that we got from Europe, it is certainly weaker there. It's interesting, we actually saw a big pickup in orders coming into the end of the quarter. The other issue is in Europe like August is never a good bellwether for what's going on because it's the middle of summer. Yes, if anything overall, the quarter started weak globally and then saw some Improvement into September and actually total orders booked in the last few weeks of September were exceptionally strong. I have pointed out that some of that is like medical and EV that's going to benefit us at the beginning of next year and is not driving the guide on Q4.

Speaker 4

Got it. And also wanted to ask a quick question just because it seems like you're seeing Really nice traction with LightWeld. And I wonder if you would talk to what the contribution in broad terms Through the 1st 9 months has been for that product line and maybe how you see the growth over the next year. It sounds like you're getting some very nice traction in the market with this.

Speaker 2

Yes. As we mentioned in our presentation, We already received this year certification from for Europe and we start to sell this Our system in Europe countries, in different Europe countries. But also we have very strong Sales not only in United States, but also in Japan. In Japan and we demonstrate very good sales with these systems. And taking in mind that it's also possible to integrate this LightMail with CopEx, it's open for us new opportunity to Our estimate is that we expect to minimum double our business next year in comparison to this year.

Speaker 2

And then in 3, 5 years, we may recognize that our business will grow And for this application, definitely. What kind of percentage of growth? It's difficult to know to make this forecast, But next year definitely our business will be available.

Speaker 3

Quantitatively, Jim, I mean we're approaching a 10,000,000 Dollar a quarter run rates

Speaker 2

and revenues growing at sort of 80% year over year and sequentially very robustly as well. So The product continues to get very, very high marks and acceptance from the end market. And also very important because we are not using only one model. Every time practically every quarter we introduce a new and newer models. I mean, there are some special options like cleaning Our single mode laser insight that also demonstrates a much better welding results or cleaning results to our customers It's also important.

Speaker 2

We are not staying only with one product.

Speaker 4

That's it for me. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Operator

We've reached the end of the question and answer session. I would now like to Turn the call back over to Eugene Fedorov for closing comments.

Speaker 1

Thank you for joining us this morning and for your continued interest in IPG. As always, we'll be participating in a number of investor events this quarter and are looking forward to speaking with you over the coming weeks. Have Have a great day everyone. Bye.

Operator

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time and we thank you for your participation.

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IPG Photonics Q3 2022
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