Veeco Instruments Inc., which makes precision manufacturing equipment for the LED and data storage markets, said Tuesday it started the year with a "record backlog" and is boosting manufacturing capacity to meet customer demand.
"Business patterns in LED (light-emitting diodes) remain very strong in the first quarter, similar to what we experienced in the latter half of 2009, with multi-tool system orders being quoted to a large number of customers," said CEO John R. Peeler.
LED makers use the company's products to produce laptops and flat-screen televisions.
The company is forecasting adjusted first-quarter profit between 41 cents and 50 cents per share on sales of $150 million to $165 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, whose results are typically adjusted to exclude one-time items, expect 38 cents per share in profit on $143.3 million in sales, on average.
The better-than-expected guidance sent shares of Veeco Instruments jumping $2.88, or 9.3 percent, to close at $33.94.
