Short Sellers Circle LPKF Laser as the Company Taps a Semiconductor CEO and Shareholders Revolt

Activist shareholders at LPKF's AGM push for capital increase to accelerate LIDE technology; management resists. Stock up 249% YTD but down 25% in a week as short sellers increase.

LPKF Laser & Electronics held its annual general meeting in Hanover on a day that laid bare the widening fault lines beneath a stock that has surged 249% since January. The company unveiled a key board appointment designed to strengthen its semiconductor ambitions, but the event also turned into a stage for activist shareholders to challenge the management’s cost-cutting orthodoxy — even as two hedge funds quietly expanded their short positions.

The AGM’s headline move was the nomination of Dr. Arne Schneider to the supervisory board, replacing the outgoing deputy chairman Dr. Dirk Michael Rothweiler. Schneider, the chief executive of chip developer Elmos Semiconductor, brings deep industry knowledge in advanced packaging and accounting expertise. His mandate would run until 2029. The meeting also voted to confirm Baker Tilly as auditor — the firm has handled LPKF’s accounts since 2023 — and to amend the company’s statutes to allow future AGMs to be held within a 50-kilometre radius of the corporate headquarters.

But the formalities were overshadowed by an open rebellion from a faction of shareholders. They have submitted countermotions demanding that the board withhold ratification of the executive board’s actions and, more controversially, push through an immediate capital increase. Their goal: to accelerate the commercialisation of Laser Induced Deep Etching, or LIDE — the proprietary glass-substrate technology that has fuelled LPKF’s spectacular rally. Management rejects the idea, arguing that financial independence is essential in a volatile market. The retained earnings of roughly €7.6 million will be carried forward; no dividend is on the table.

The tension reflects a deeper divide over strategy. Chief executive Klaus Fiedler’s restructuring programme, dubbed “North Star”, aims to slash costs and deliver a double-digit operating margin by 2028. It has already consolidated production in Suhl, closed the Fürth site, and extended the syndicated loan agreement to 2028. Restructuring costs for the current year are expected to eat up around three to four percent of revenue.

Yet the operational numbers offer little ammunition for either side. First-quarter revenue plunged 32% to €17.1 million, with the EBIT swinging to a loss of €6.9 million from a loss of €3.9 million a year earlier, largely due to a collapse in the solar segment as customers hold off on investment pending a switch to perovskite cell technology. On the brighter side, order intake rose to €24.1 million, lifting the book-to-bill ratio to 1.4 — meaning new orders have outpaced invoiced sales.

The stock price reflects the market’s bet that LIDE will eventually transform LPKF’s fortunes. At €21.00, the shares have fallen about 25% over the past week — still 249% above the start of the year, but 18% below the May peak of €29.20. The recent slide has drawn in short sellers. Voleon Capital Management has expanded its net short position from 1.70% to 2.13% since late April, while Marshall Wace also appears in the public shorting register.

LIDE remains the linchpin of the entire narrative. The patented glass-processing technology is positioned as a key enabler for next-generation chip packaging, targeting the same interface that Nvidia is betting on with its $500 million investment in Corning for glass-based co-packaged optics. LPKF is currently testing the process with multiple customers. Management expects to land first production orders as early as the second quarter of this year — though the timing depends on clients qualifying their own downstream steps. A real ramp-up is not expected before 2027, and high volumes are unlikely before 2029.

For the full year 2026, LPKF has guided for group revenue between €105 million and €120 million and an adjusted EBIT margin of minus 3% to plus 4.5%. Those figures do not include any potential large-scale order from the advanced semiconductor packaging segment. The half-year report, due on 23 July, will be the next test of whether the order momentum can translate into genuine revenue. Until then, the debate over LIDE’s timing — and who should be steering the ship — is only set to intensify.