LPKF Laser Taps Elmos CFO for Board as Short Sellers Circle a 300% Rally
Published on 05/28/2026 at 15:24 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The stock has surged more than 300% since the start of the year, yet LPKF Laser is facing an unusual combination of operational headwinds and rising short interest. Trading at around 24.50 euros, the shares have slipped 16.1% from their May 25 peak of 29.20 euros — a five-year high. The tension between a breathtaking rally and a lackluster first-quarter performance is drawing in hedge funds on both sides of the trade.
Qube Research & Technologies has built a net short position of 0.65% of LPKF’s share capital, disclosed in Germany’s Bundesanzeiger with a position date of May 26. That places the London-based quantitative fund alongside Voleon Capital Management, which already holds 2.13% as a short bet, and Marshall Wace, also active on the bearish side. The 0.5% disclosure threshold means all three are now publicly visible, and none of them are betting on an immediate breakout. Their core thesis: the commercialization of LIDE, LPKF’s laser-based glass processing technology for semiconductors and displays, is taking longer than the market expects.
To counter that skepticism — and to bolster its credibility in the chip industry — LPKF has nominated Dr. Arne Schneider for election to the supervisory board at the June 4 annual general meeting in Hanover. Schneider is currently CFO of Elmos Semiconductor, a Dortmund-based automotive chip maker. He would replace Dr. Dirk Michael Rothweiler, whose term ends. The message from management is unambiguous: bringing a seasoned semiconductor finance executive into the control body is meant to signal that LPKF is serious about establishing LIDE in advanced packaging, where it competes with other wafer-level processing methods.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying LPKF Laser?
The technology itself has been in testing and R&D environments at multiple semiconductor customers, and LPKF says it is in concrete discussions for first production tools. But the company has explicitly excluded any potential volume orders from advanced packaging in its 2026 revenue forecast, citing the need for qualification of downstream process steps. That caution is reflected in the numbers. First-quarter revenue fell to 17.1 million euros from 25.3 million a year earlier, a drop of around 32%. Adjusted EBIT swung to minus 6.9 million euros from minus 3.9 million in the prior-year period. The solar segment, a legacy business, was the main drag.
Still, order intake offers a more hopeful picture. New orders climbed to 24.1 million euros from 20.5 million, pushing the book-to-bill ratio to 1.4 — meaning the company booked more than it shipped. The question at the AGM on June 4 will be whether that momentum can close the gap between market expectations and operational reality. Management is sticking with its full-year guidance of 105 million to 120 million euros in revenue, alongside an adjusted EBIT margin between minus 3% and plus 4.5%. Restructuring costs tied to the North Star transformation program, estimated at 3% to 4% of sales, will keep near-term profitability under pressure.
The stock’s relative strength index has dropped to 25.5, deep in oversold territory, and its annualized volatility is nearly 150%. That statistical picture captures exactly what the short sellers are betting on: a pullback that brings the share price closer to the underlying earnings picture. For its part, LPKF is betting that a veteran semiconductor executive on the board, combined with a rising order book, can convince investors the LIDE story is worth waiting for. The AGM will be the first test of whether that argument holds.
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