London, July 3, 2026, 20:01 BST
- IQE shares closed at 44.85p in London, up 6.79%. The FTSE AIM 100 slipped 0.28%.
- The stock is trading 38.5% under its 52-week high but is now at 9.6 times the 52-week low.
- The market cap stands at £596.97 million, which is around 6.1x next year’s revenue and 7.4x the £81 million raised in May.
- After the July 1 voting-rights update, voting shares stand at 1.331 billion. The 332.2 million fundraising shares issued in May are roughly a quarter of that total.
Shares in IQE plc (LON:IQE) jumped 6.79% to 44.85p on Friday, bucking a weaker FTSE AIM 100. The Cardiff semiconductor wafer group is trading more on its AI data-centre story than its 2025 earnings. Hargreaves Lansdown put the market cap at £596.97 million. Volume hit 10.5 million shares, well below the Google Finance average volume of 34.1 million.
The stock recovered some ground after Thursday’s drop. Still, daily numbers show shares are off 4.6% for the first three days of July despite Friday’s move higher.
| Date | Price | Daily move | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 3 | 44.85p | up 6.79% | 10.50 mln |
| July 2 | 42.00p | down 10.64% | 22.08 mln |
| July 1 | 47.00p | down 0.95% | 18.03 mln |
Valuation is in focus here. On Friday, IQE shares went for about 6.1 times the £97.3 million in revenue the company reported for 2025. Adjusted EBITDA, though, dropped 60.1% last year and landed at £3.2 million. That leaves a hefty gap between the equity price and the latest profit figure.
| Measure | Latest figure | Read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | £596.97 mln | 6.1 times 2025 revenue |
| 2025 revenue | £97.3 mln | Year-on-year drop of 17.6% |
| 2025 adjusted EBITDA | £3.2 mln | Down 60.1% from last year |
| May fundraise | £81 mln | Cap at 7.4x the raised amount |
| Fundraising shares | 332.2 mln | Roughly 25% of today’s voting stock |
Investors are looking at IQE as a 2026 recovery play. The company said in May that photonics revenue grew 15% in 2025 to £57.1 million, with wireless revenue down 40% at £40.1 million. For 2026, IQE is guiding to revenue growth above 20% and adjusted EBITDA in the high single digits to low double digits, helped by order visibility into the back half.
CEO Jutta Meier said in IQE’s May results that the £81 million capital raise gave the company the balance sheet strength to invest in future growth. Meier also said IQE expects demand for its Indium Phosphide products, linked to data centre and AI markets, to push growth from 2026 onward.
Cost pressure is still around. In May, Meier told Reuters that Chinese export curbs and shortages had pushed up prices for materials like indium phosphide and gallium. “We are working together with our customers to really ensure that we are sharing the pain of that pricing,” she said. Peel Hunt’s Damindu Jayaweera said in May that the stock was taking a breather after its run following a share sale backed by MACOM. Reuters
The capital raise altered the shareholder structure. IQE said it raised £81 million, with £45 million coming from MACOM Technology Solutions Inc. NASDAQ:MTSI through a £30 million equity buy and £15 million in non-interest-bearing convertible loan notes. IQE said it will use the funds to pay off its bank debt, cover working capital, and make further investments.
MACOM got a bigger board seat this week after IQE said July 1 that Robert Dennehy and David O’Carroll are joining as non-executive directors. Their appointments come under the board appointment agreement with MACOM. Chairman Mark Cubitt said, “I am delighted to welcome Robert and David to the Board of IQE.” London South East
A July 1 RNS reported 1.331 billion voting shares as of June 30, with 12.7 million shares left under the all-employee share option block admission, just under 1% of current voting shares. The RNS also showed no further company statements after the July 1 voting rights and board appointment updates.
The focus is on InP supply for optical links in AI buildouts. IQE and Tower Semiconductor NASDAQ:TSEM said June 15 they struck a multi-year InP epiwafer supply deal, settling an earlier patent fight over porous-silicon and securing minimum buys from year two. “IQE will be a key supplier” for next-gen photonics needed in future AI capacity, Tower President Marco Racanelli said. London South East
