Applied Materials, a semiconductor equipment maker out of Santa Clara CA is a company to watch. Over the last couple months, they have been quietly picking up small, unknown, but solid performing niche companies in the Photovoltaic (PV) field.
In June, APMAT (nyse) put in $475 million to aquire HCT Shaping Systems SA, a by Chesaux, Switzerland-based maker of silicon substrates. Last year the company spent another $464 million to buy Applied Films Corp., a supplier of equipment for manufacturing flat-panel displays and solar cells. Today, they just announced the purchase of a small but extremely strong Italian company called Baccini for $330 million. Baccini is a company that holds 120 patents on a proprietary system that screen prints thin solar cells.
APMAT is also a major supplier of solar modules to the solar industry giants. So in the last year or so, APMAT has purchased their own silicon substrate maker, what solar cells are made out of, their own line of solar cells and flat panel displays, and a company that has a proprietary patented system that produces flexible solar cells that are the thinnest on the market, making them the cheapest as well. The thinnest solar cell was 150microns thick, Baccini can make them 120 microns
APMAT reported a lost of $30 mil in Q4 of this year and attributed that to setting up manufacturing deals with some of the bigboys of the PV industry, but at the same time also reported a 56% increase in orders.
Applied Materials will be a green company, and green stock to watch
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