Aspocomp - Service company specialized in printed circuit board technologies

Stocks
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Juha and Kaisa have prepared a new company report on Aspocomp. :slight_smile:

Aspocomp’s Q3 result fell short of our expectations, but the underlying reasons are mostly temporary. In the big picture, the company appears to be on its previous development curve, and our forecasts for the coming years are largely unchanged. However, a new factor is the strengthened financial situation due to a directed share issue, which likely means investments in the Oulu factory in the coming years. Based on the 2025 results, the stock is still expensive, and although we trust in next year’s earnings improvement, we do not believe that carrying uncertainty currently provides adequate compensation. Therefore, we reiterate our reduce recommendation for Aspocomp and our target price of 5.0 euros.

Quoted from the report:

Cash flow was still reasonable and the balance sheet has recovered

Operating cash flow in Q3 was a good EUR 0.5 million relative to the result, and the company’s net working capital has remained well under control. Overall, operating cash flow in Q1–Q3’25 was a strong EUR 3.0 million, and investments were small, which allowed the company to significantly reduce its debt burden (credit limit). The covenant terms were also met. Against this background, the directed share issue and a larger financing arrangement came as a slight surprise to us, but on the other hand, the positive development likely enabled them on reasonable terms for the company as well.

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Could someone shed some light on who/what the biggest customers might be? Nokia apparently belongs among them. How much could the cooperation between Nokia and Nvidia bring in terms of a more permanent order backlog? Aspocomp manufactures very demanding circuit boards and has probably positioned itself highly in this regard across Europe. Does this manufacturing of demanding circuit boards relate more to the defense and aerospace industry or to other technology?

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Here are Kaisa’s and Juha’s comments as Aspocomp published its updated strategy’s financial targets before the CMD. :slight_smile:

Aspocomp published yesterday its updated strategy for 2026–2030 and new financial targets. The strategy update focuses on significantly expanding the Oulu factory’s capacity and strengthening its market position in high-tech segments. In our opinion, the updated growth targets are ambitious relative to the company’s current size, but the profitability targets were, however, in line with our expectations. The company will elaborate on its strategy and targets today at its Capital Markets Day.

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I got the impression from the capital markets day that there’s a good buzz in the company right now and the future also looks positive.

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Kaisa and Juha have prepared a new company report after the CMD. :slight_smile:

Aspocomp’s Capital Markets Day yesterday unveiled the company’s updated strategy, which aims to grow from its current size to become one of Europe’s major players. We believe the updated strategy is a natural continuation of the development direction, but the boldness of the growth ambitions exceeded our expectations. The cornerstone of the strategy is the capacity expansion of the Oulu factory, which, if successful, will form a significant value creation driver. The updated strategic direction gives Aspocomp better opportunities than before to grow out of its current size and strengthens our confidence in the company’s long-term development. In the short term, however, the stock is still expensive, and we do not believe that bearing the uncertainty provides sufficient compensation. Therefore, we reiterate our reduce recommendation for Aspocomp and our target price of 5.0 euros.

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@Kaisa_Vanha-Perttula interviewed CEO Manu Skyttä while visiting the Oulu factory :slight_smile:

Topics:

00:00 Introduction
00:17 Focus areas of the updated strategy
02:08 Oulu factory expansion
03:59 Expansion timeline
04:55 Impacts of investments
05:26 Financing arrangements for the investment
06:26 Potential subsidies for the investment
07:08 Risk management
08:11 Expansion in the brokerage business
10:00 Potential acquisition targets
12:19 Financial targets
13:32 Impact of front-loaded investment costs on profitability
15:27 Growing into a new size class

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Are these recent share acquisitions by Aspocomp’s management related to directed share issues, or purely to their belief and confidence in the company’s future?

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PCB technology company Aspocomp Group Plc receives approximately 1.75 million euros in business development aid from the European Union’s Just Transition Fund for increasing printed circuit board manufacturing capacity at its Oulu factory.

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Here are Kaisa’s and Juha’s comments regarding this recent announcement. :slight_smile:

Aspocomp announced yesterday a EUR 1.75 million development grant for the capacity expansion of its Oulu factory, which is significant for a company of its size. However, the news did not come as a surprise to us, as we had expected the company to receive significant support for its investment program after the recently updated strategy. Therefore, we are not making any changes to our forecasts or our view on Aspocomp at this stage.

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Aspocomp Group Plc, Inside Information, January 20, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.

Aspocomp Group Plc provides preliminary information on its financial performance for the 2025 financial year. Based on preliminary and unaudited data, Aspocomp Group Plc’s net sales for 2025 increased by 41% and amounted to EUR 38.8 (27.6) million. The operating result improved by EUR 5.0 million from the previous year and was EUR 1.1 (-4.0) million, or 2.8% (-14.4%) of net sales. Net sales and operating result were in line with the financial guidance.

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191

What a poor performance from the company in Q4, especially in terms of profitability. Was it actually loss-making in Q4?

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The year was also marked by challenges, as issues with the availability of machinery and equipment weakened both the company’s revenue and profitability. In particular, an equipment failure at the Oulu plant pushed the fourth-quarter result slightly into a loss.

“Demand remained strong throughout the year, and the Oulu plant achieved record revenue in 2025. The availability of machinery and equipment had a negative impact on both the company’s revenue and profitability. The final quarter turned slightly loss-making due to an equipment failure at the Oulu plant. The investment project of over 10 million euros, announced at the beginning of November, is progressing on schedule, and in addition to significantly increasing capacity, its implementation will reduce the risk of equipment failures and improve production quality. The investment project is scheduled for completion during 2027,” says Skyttä.

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It would be nice if the company explained how it will manage its strong order backlog, given that the additional factory and production capacity won’t be completed until 2027.

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Here is the company pre-report from Kaisa and Juha on Aspocomp, which will release its 2025 financial statement report on Wednesday, February 25. :slight_smile:

Aspocomp will publish its 2025 financial statement report on Wednesday, February 25. In light of the preliminary information provided by the company yesterday, the Q4 result fell short of our expectations, but the majority of this is explained by temporary factors. In terms of earnings, 2025 remained somewhat lackluster for the company, but we expect a clear earnings improvement for the current year. In the short term, however, the share remains expensive (2026e: P/E ~14x), and the earnings growth we forecast for the coming years is partly overshadowed by the digestion of valuation multiples. Consequently, we reiterate our Reduce recommendation and EUR 5.0 target price for Aspocomp.

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CEO Manu Skyttä discussed Q4 and the company’s future with Kaisa Vanha-Perttula. :slight_smile:

Topics:

00:00 Introduction
00:11 Summary of Q4 results
01:27 Impact of timing factors
02:08 Impact of equipment breakdowns
04:33 Delays in deliveries
05:27 Margin structure of the order book
06:19 Guidance and timing of earnings improvement
09:58 US tariffs
11:07 Responding to strong demand

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Here is a company report on Aspocomp from Kaisa and Juha :slight_smile:

Aspocomp’s Q4 results remained subdued, even though most of the weakness was explained by transitory factors. We forecast a clear earnings improvement for the current year, which will, however, be weighted toward the end of the year as low-margin deliveries continue longer than expected. In addition, there are still risks related to production fluency before the equipment investments are completed. In the short term, the stock remains expensive, and in our view, investors are not sufficiently compensated for bearing the uncertainty. Consequently, we reiterate our Reduce recommendation for Aspocomp but lower our target price to EUR 4.7 (previously EUR 5.0), reflecting the changes in our forecasts.

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Here are Kaisa’s pre-comments as Aspocomp reports its Q1 results on Wednesday, April 29. :slight_smile:

We expect revenue to have remained at the level of the comparison period, but the result to decrease clearly from a strong comparison period. In our estimation, earnings performance is still being held back by low-margin orders taken earlier in a tight spot, deliveries of which continue into the early part of the year due to previous equipment failures. In the report, our attention will be focused on the development of order intake as well as management’s comments regarding the smoothness of production.

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EU wants to lift Europe out of microchip dependency – seeking a multi-billion factory

The EU wants microchip production in Europe. Europe is already strong in chip design. Rare expertise exists particularly in Oulu because of Nokia.

The European Union is planning a microchip factory in Europe.

According to Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the EU Commission and Commissioner for Digital Affairs, the project will move forward in May, when member states can apply to participate.

According to Virkkunen, the factory will cost tens of billions of euros.

– “An individual company or even a member state is too small to move such a project forward. That is why it is important to bring together interested companies and member states,” Virkkunen says.

Microchips are in high demand because everything digital contains a microchip. Semiconductors are used in the manufacturing of microchips. According to Virkkunen, semiconductors are the world’s third most-sold commodity after oil and cars.

”All of Europe has high expectations for Oulu”

Europe’s investments in microchips also offer opportunities for Finland, which has strong research and development expertise in microchips.

Oulu, in particular, is Finland’s leading center for semiconductor design. Virkkunen visited Oulu this week for a seminar in the field.

– “Oulu has been, in many ways, the engine of technological development for both Finland and Europe throughout the decades. There is a strong foundation and expertise in these technologies here. All of Europe has high expectations for Oulu,” Virkkunen says.

According to Professor Aarno Pärssinen from the University of Oulu, the city possesses expertise that is not found in many places in Europe.

– “Oulu is one of the most significant places where such complex microchips can be made using the latest technologies.”

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How would you assess the impact of this news on Aspocomp?

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If this joint project/factory planned by the European Union were to actually come to Oulu (or really anywhere), I would assume Aspocomp would be involved to some extent, as they have semiconductor expertise.

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