At a glance
Axcelis Technologies Inc is worth $3.51B, about 30 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue fell 17.6% to $839.0M in fiscal 2025, with 14.3% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 12.1% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $341.6M buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +38.2% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +16.1% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 52.0% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 41.9% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 3 months and 5 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Axcelis Technologies, based in Beverly, Massachusetts, makes ion implanters. These are large machines that chip factories use to build transistors. An implanter fires a tightly controlled beam of charged atoms, such as boron or phosphorus, into a wafer (the thin silicon or silicon carbide disk that chips are built on) to change how it conducts electricity. A typical chipmaking process needs twenty implant steps. Its main machines are sold under the Purion name.
Its customers are chipmakers around the world. Some build chips for their own products, and some are foundries that make chips for other companies. Ion implantation produced 98.2% of 2025 revenue. Axcelis earns money first by selling machines. It then earns more through its aftermarket arm, Customer Solutions & Innovation, which sells spare parts, upgrades, used tools, maintenance and training for machines already installed. Revenue fell to $839.0 million in 2025 from $1,017.9 million in 2024, and implanter systems made up $571.0 million of it.
Its biggest market is power chips for electric vehicles and industrial equipment, which made up 55% of the value of 2025 system shipments. Sales outside the United States were 83.7% of 2025 revenue, and customers in Asia took 76.0% of system revenue. The company expects Chinese customers to stay a significant part of sales. Its annual report, filed February 26, 2026, also describes a planned merger with Veeco.
Price history
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ACLS +38.2% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By geography
| US | $482.6M | 57.5% |
| Asia Pacific | $306.5M | 36.5% |
| Europe | $50.0M | 6% |
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $215.2M, up 10.6% from a year earlier, and net income was $23.3M (-25.8%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $839.0M (-17.6% year over year; +12.1% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 14.3% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +12.1% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 14.2% watch |
| Free cash flow margin | 12.8% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 11.6% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 8.8% good |
| Cash and investments | $577.0M (debt isn’t tagged in a standard way in the filings, so net cash can’t be shown) |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $474.6M | $50.0M | $62.3M |
| FY2021 | $662.4M | $98.7M | $141.5M |
| FY2022 | $920.0M | $183.1M | $204.9M |
| FY2023 | $1.13B | $246.3M | $136.2M |
| FY2024 | $1.02B | $201.0M | $128.6M |
| FY2025 | $839.0M | $120.2M | $107.0M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $3.51B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 29.9 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Axcelis Technologies’s market value went from $427.3M at the end of 2016 to $3.51B on Oct 28, 2026, about 8.2 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is up 41%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $3.51B | +41.0% |
| 2025 | $2.49B | +9.7% |
| 2024 | $2.27B | -46.5% |
| 2023 | $4.25B | +62.9% |
| 2022 | $2.61B | +5.0% |
| 2021 | $2.48B | +154.6% |
| 2020 | $975.4M | +24.9% |
| 2019 | $781.2M | +35.4% |
| 2018 | $576.9M | -36.0% |
| 2017 | $901.6M | +111.0% |
| 2016 | $427.3M |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACLS price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +41.6% | +38.2% | -6.3% | +16.1% | +23.9% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +41.6% |
| 2025 | +15.0% |
| 2024 | -46.1% |
| 2023 | +63.4% |
| 2022 | +6.4% |
| 2021 | +156.0% |
| 2020 | +20.9% |
| 2019 | +35.4% |
| 2018 | -38.0% |
| 2017 | +97.3% |
| 2016 | +40.4% |
| 2015 | +1.2% |
| 2014 | +4.9% |
| 2013 | +76.8% |
| 2012 | +3.8% |
| 2011 | -61.6% |
| 2010 | +145.4% |
| 2009 | +176.5% |
| 2008 | -88.9% |
| 2007 | -21.1% |
| 2006 | +22.2% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 96.4% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 97.1%, back to its old high 99.3 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 46.5% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 52%, back to its old high 3 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 29.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 41.9%, back to its old high 5.4 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-11-03 to 2026-11-03 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 11 sales ($2.6M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2026 | John T Kurtzweil Director | sell | $486K |
| May 19, 2026 | Gregory B Graves Director | sell | $371K |
| May 27, 2026 | Todd Sutton VP Corporate Controller | sell | $320K |
| May 19, 2026 | Jeanne Quirk Director | sell | $251K |
| Jun 3, 2026 | Necip Sayiner Director | sell | $250K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 15.3% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| FMR LLC | 13.4% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 8.14% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.26% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| American Century Investment Management, Inc. | 4.3% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| REINHART PARTNERS, LLC. | 3% | Jun 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in ACLS
| TINY ProShares Nanotechnology ETF | 3.12% |
| DEEP Acquirers Small and Micro Deep Value ETF | 0.89% |
| XITK SPDR FactSet Innovative Technology ETF | 0.78% |
| FSGS First Trust SMID Growth Strength ETF | 0.78% |
| FYT First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund | 0.54% |
| QQQS Invesco NASDAQ Future Gen 200 ETF | 0.53% |
| DSMC Distillate Small/Mid Cash Flow ETF | 0.52% |
| FSCC Federated Hermes MDT Small Cap Core ETF | 0.44% |
What could go wrong
- Pending Veeco merger may not close smoothly. A planned merger with Veeco could be delayed, held up by regulators or called off. The share exchange ratio is fixed, and Axcelis holders would own a smaller slice of the combined company.
- Heavy reliance on China and Asia. Sales outside the US were 83.7% of 2025 revenue, mostly in Asia. Tighter US export rules on China could block shipments or push Chinese customers toward non-US rivals or Chinese implanter makers.
- One-product focus against strong rivals. Ion implantation produced 98.2% of 2025 revenue. If rivals such as Nissin, Sumitomo or Advanced Ion Beam Technology build better machines, or new Purion products disappoint, the company has little else to rely on.
- A few large customers matter most. Axcelis sells to a limited number of large chipmakers. Losing one of them, or a cut or delay in its orders, could sharply reduce sales.
- Chipmakers' spending cycles swing sales. Orders depend on chipmakers' factory spending, which rises and falls with chip demand. Revenue fell 17.6% in 2025 and net income fell 40.2%. Fixed research and service costs make profits swing more than sales.
- Tariffs and supplier problems. Axcelis relies on outside suppliers for many components and sub-assemblies, so shortfalls can raise costs or delay shipments. Tariffs add uncertainty because they can change substantially and without notice.
Recent events
- Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results; Investor presentation or announcement
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
Axcelis pays no dividend and paid none from 2021 through 2025, so it offers no regular income. Any return comes from the share price, and an investor who needs cash from it would have to cash in shares. Instead, the company returns cash through buybacks, which means repurchasing its own stock. It spent $341.6 million on buybacks over those five years, including $121.1 million in 2025, up from $60.5 million in 2024. Shares outstanding fell 7.3%, from 33.3 million on November 2, 2021, to 30.9 million on August 3, 2026.
The stock has fallen hard in past downturns. It dropped 97.1% in the 2008 financial crisis and took about 99 months to get back to its earlier high. It fell 52% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered in about three months. It fell 41.9% in the 2022 bear market and recovered in about five months. Single stocks like this carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does Axcelis Technologies make money?
Axcelis makes money by selling ion implanters to chipmakers and then supporting those machines. An implanter fires charged atoms into silicon or silicon carbide wafers to help form transistors, a step repeated twenty times in a typical chipmaking process. Ion implantation produced 98.2% of 2025 revenue of $839.0 million. System sales brought in $571.0 million, and most of the rest came from spare parts, upgrades, maintenance and training. Power chips for electric vehicles and industry made up 55% of the value of 2025 system shipments.
Does Axcelis pay a dividend?
No. Axcelis paid no dividends from 2021 through 2025, so the stock provides no regular income. Instead, the company returns cash by repurchasing its own shares. It spent $341.6 million on buybacks over those five years, including $121.1 million in 2025. Shares outstanding fell 7.3% between November 2021 and August 2026. Investors who rely on portfolio income would need to cash in shares to get money from this holding.
Is Axcelis merging with Veeco?
Axcelis signed a merger agreement with Veeco, as described in its annual report filed February 26, 2026, when the deal was still pending. Shares would be exchanged at a fixed ratio that does not change if either stock price moves. Axcelis holders would own a smaller share of the combined company. The filing warns that the deal could be delayed, face conditions from regulators or be called off, and that both companies face significant merger costs.
How much does Axcelis depend on China and Asia?
Heavily. Sales outside the United States made up 83.7% of 2025 revenue, and customers in Asia accounted for 76.0% of ion implanter system revenue. The company expects Chinese chipmakers to stay a significant part of sales. That brings risk. US export controls have tightened since 2020, and Axcelis needs licenses to ship to some Chinese customers, such as SMIC's factories that make older-generation chips. It had obtained those licenses as of its February 2026 annual report. Two Chinese firms, Kingstone Semiconductor and CETC, are also developing their own implanters.
How has Axcelis stock performed over the long run?
Axcelis has delivered big long-run gains with very large swings. As of October 28, 2026, the share price was up 755% over 10 years (about 23.9% a year) and up 16.1% a year over five years. Over three years it was down 6.3% a year. Its worst peak-to-trough drop over those three years was 72.6%. Its beta, a measure of how much a stock moves with the overall market, was 2.64 for the year to that date. That means it tended to swing far more than the market.