Battery welding pushes IPG sales momentum

Nasdaq-listed fiber laser company IPG Photonics has posted sales of $279 million for the three months ending June 30, up 11 per cent on the same period last year and largely thanks to customers buying lasers to weld batteries for electric vehicles in Asia.

That uptick in revenues saw the Massachusetts-based firm deliver a net income of only $5.2 million - down from $6.6 million a year ago - partly the result of an $18 million write-down of costs associated with exiting its operations in Belarus.

EVs and semi equipment

CEO Mark Gitin told investors that the sales increase was driven by the firm’s “industrial solutions” business unit, and primarily from welding applications.

“We continued to benefit from increased demand and business wins for our solutions in battery manufacturing,” he told an investor conference call discussing the results. “Cleaning and additive manufacturing also contributed to the year-over-year growth.”

Split by geography, the sales figures showed a 19 per cent year-on-year rise in Asia, something attributed largely to battery welding applications.

“Demand in battery manufacturing remains strong across both electric vehicles and stationary storage, which supports data center energy requirements,” added Gitin, noting that IPG’s combination of adjustable mode beam lasers, advanced beam delivery, and real-time process monitoring with machine vision and AI had helped achieve recent wins with two major global automotive firms.

Gitin also pointed to progress in other application areas, including with large semiconductor equipment manufacturers. “Our solutions for lithography, metrology, and inspection are gaining traction, increasing our exposure to this high-growth market, driven by an acceleration of AI-related demand for GPUs and high-bandwidth memory chips,” the CEO said.

The latest quarter also saw IPG begin shipping its “Crossbow” directed energy laser weapon system to key customer Lockheed Martin, which agreed a $10 million follow-up supply deal earlier this year.

“We will be shipping more units in the third quarter and continuing to engage with potential customers, working to convert their interest into orders,” added Gitin. “We recently participated in a defense event at White Sands Missile Range, demonstrating Crossbow capabilities to multiple agencies in demanding real-world environments.”

The system is intended for counter-UAV applications, specifically by disabling smaller threats known as Group I and II drones.

Medical move

Those kinds of military applications are grouped under IPG’s “advanced solutions” business unit, along with semiconductor equipment, micromachining, and medical deployments.

One key plank of the firm’s strategy to target what is seen as a collective global market thought to be worth $5 billion annually is the recent decision to acquire the medical laser business owned by French rival Lumibird for upwards of €300 million.

Gitin outlined the reasoning behind that deal, highlighting the higher-margin nature of medical applications, where Lumibird’s technology is well established - particularly in ophthalmology.

Combining that business with IPG’s existing urology laser expertise should also prove synergistic, with complementary technologies and knowledge of US and European medical markets.

“We are very excited about this opportunity, which we expect to close in the fourth quarter of 2026,” Gitin told investors.

Looking ahead to the September quarter, IPG’s CFO Tim Mammen said he was expecting sales revenues of between $265 million and $295 million. That would put the firm well on track to post full-year sales in excess of last year’s total of just over $1 billion, before any contributions resulting from the Lumibird acquisition.

• Following the latest update IPG’s stock price rose by close to 6 per cent on the Nasdaq, to trade at around $93. While still well below the all-time high of more than $260 reached in 2018, that figure represents a solid increase since the start of 2026, and is equivalent to a market capitalization in the region of $4 billion.