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22 Dec 2025
German optics giant posts 9% increase in revenues but warns it may need to cut jobs in some areas of the business.
Zeiss, the German company synonymous with high-specification optics, has posted record-breaking sales revenues of €11.9 billion in its latest financial year - but warned that current market worries may lead to job cuts.
In the 12 months ending September 30, the Oberkochen-headquartered company’s semiconductor technology division was once again largely responsible for the 9 per cent uptick in overall sales on last year's total.
The division, which produces the state-of-the-art mirrors used in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools built by key semiconductor equipment firm ASML, registered annual revenues of just over €5 billion - up 23 per cent year-on-year.
In contrast, Zeiss’s medical technology business posted a 4 per cent increase to €2.70 billion, and its consumer division was up 2 per cent to €1.57 billion.
Sales attributed to the firm’s industrial quality and research business unit fell 1 per cent to €2.33 billion, with Zeiss citing “increasing geoeconomic and geopolitical challenges” as the reason for the mixed results.
Overall, the company was able to deliver earnings before interest and taxes of €1.55 billion, up from €1.44 billion a year ago.
Jobs warning
“Zeiss is still operating in a dynamic and challenging business environment," remarked company CEO Andreas Pecher, noting the geopolitical tensions, trade barriers, and conflicts between major economic regions that further intensified over the past 12 months, directly impacting both the willingness of industry to invest and consumer confidence.
“There was increased uncertainty in the markets in the past fiscal year,” he added. “This required us to adapt strategic activities and strengthen targeted resilience measures.”
Despite those challenges Zeiss maintained its historically high level of spending on research and development activities - something that the company has long hailed as central to its long-term success - and now employs close to 47,000 people worldwide.
But Pecher warned that the current macroeconomic outlook may result in job cuts at the company over the next year - although he would prefer to maintain employment levels through overtime reductions and government-backed short-time work schemes where possible.
“Zeiss assumes that the overall conditions, especially the uncertain market environment, will not improve in the current fiscal year,” he stated, echoing comments that the CEO had made earlier this year. “This will impact our segments differently and could result in a decline in revenue. For this reason, the current outlook is significantly more challenging.
“We have full confidence in our strategic alignment and innovative strength. At the same time, we do not underestimate the risks and will continue to act cautiously.”
• Zeiss has also launched its first “labs@location” initiative in Australia. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) of Medical Research Centre for Dynamic Imaging becomes the first such partner in the country, with WEHI division head Professor Kelly Rogers saying:
“Joining the Zeiss labs@location will strengthen our ability to foster innovation in microscopy, a core technology that underpins world-class biomedical research. By combining Zeiss’s cutting-edge technology with WEHI’s imaging expertise, we can push the boundaries of discovery and uncover the mechanisms driving disease.”
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