MINNEAPOLIS- -- CyberOptics today reported second quarter sales fell 11.8% year-over-year but rose 38% sequentially.

Revenue for the period ended June 30 was $16.4 million, down from $18.6 million last year. Earnings fell to $1.1 million from $2 million a year ago.

Dr. Subodh Kulkarni, president and chief executive commented: “We are encouraged by the substantial progress of our sales and earnings on a quarterly sequential basis. Solidly higher sales of 3D MRS-enabled inspection systems and sensors generated a significant portion of our robust sequential growth, reinforcing our conviction that CyberOptics is making strong headway in the rapidly growing 3D inspection marketplace. Reflecting this belief, we have developed a robust pipeline of opportunities for large projects involving multiple 3D MRS-enabled SQ3000 systems. We also are optimistic about the outlook for our 3D MRS-enabled sensors, family of WaferSense/ ReticleSense products and gradually growing sales of the CyberGage360 3D Scanning System.”

The company ended the quarter with backlogs of $7.3 million, the majority of which is scheduled to ship in the third quarter. It guided for sales of $13 million to $15 million for the third quarter, not including pending orders of approximately $3 million for SQ3000 systems expected to be received in the quarter.

3D MRS-enabled SQ3000 inspection systems accounted for the majority of CyberOptics’ second quarter systems sales growth, both year-over-year and sequentially. SQ3000 sales also drove a growing volume of solder paste inspection system sales. The steadily growing acceptance of the SQ3000 is being generated by the competitive advantages of CyberOptics’ disruptive 3D MRS technology platform, which is enabling the company to capitalize upon strong worldwide demand for high-precision inspection.

Sales of 3D MRS-enabled sensors reached a record high in this year’s second quarter. The third quarter and full-year outlook for these sensors is also promising. Sales generated by CyberOptics’ long-term supply agreement with KLA-Tencor are expected to continue growing as the company’s 3D sensors are now standard on KLA-Tencor’s back-end semiconductor inspection systems utilizing 3D optical inspection.

CyberOptics made further progress during the second quarter with its initiative to apply MRS-enabled sensor technology to mid-end and front-end semiconductor inspection. MRS technology is now able to inspect cracks and other defects down to 30 microns in wafer dies. This mid-end inspection capability is currently being demonstrated to semiconductor manufacturers, making the company believe significant orders are possible in 2018. It is anticipated that MRS sensor technology will be applicable to front-end semiconductor inspection within the next several years.

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