Short Sellers Split on LPKF Laser as the Stock’s 269% Rally Meets a Packed Conference Calendar

Professional short sellers take opposing bets on LPKF Laser & Electronics as shares trade near highs. Revenue drops, but order intake surges 1.4x, fueled by LIDE semiconductor tech. Guidance excludes potential big wins.

Professional short sellers are taking opposite sides on LPKF Laser & Electronics, even as the stock trades less than a third off its 52-week high. Voleon Capital Management has trimmed its net short position to 1.77% of the company’s share capital, down from 1.99% on 9 June. Qube Research & Technologies, meanwhile, has edged its own bet up to 0.82% from 0.75% just days earlier. The combined net short interest of 2.59% represents a wager worth roughly €14 million — an expensive punt given the stock’s annualised 30-day volatility of 141%.

The volatility is well earned. LPKF’s shares closed on Friday at €22.20, capping a 2.78% daily gain and a weekly advance of 9.36%. Since the start of 2026, the stock has surged 269%, yet it still sits 26% below its peak of €30.00. The distance to the 200-day moving average remains a staggering 131%, underlining how stretched the rally has become.

Those gains have been fuelled by hope, not by recent fundamentals. First?quarter revenue slumped to €17.1 million from €25.3 million a year earlier, dragged down by weak solar?industry orders. The operating loss widened to €6.9 million. There is, however, a clear bright spot: order intake jumped to €24.1 million, pushing the book?to?bill ratio to a healthy 1.4. In plain terms, LPKF is pulling in more orders than it is shipping, a signal that the pipeline is filling again.

That pipeline is concentrated in the company’s LIDE technology for advanced semiconductor packaging. LPKF’s management is in Chicago this week for the GFAB Conference, a glass?processing event where it is showcasing LIDE to potential chip?industry customers. The company already has multiple semiconductor clients testing the technology in their R&D labs and is holding talks about first production?line orders. Any tangible win from this conference blitz would give the stock a fresh catalyst.

The roadshow does not stop in the US. On 18 June, LPKF will appear at the Evertiq Expo in Berlin and, later that same day, CEO Klaus Fiedler faces private shareholders at an SdK investor forum. The sheer density of events underscores the urgency to convert industry buzz into signed contracts.

Management has left itself some room for surprise. The full?year guidance calls for revenue between €105 million and €120 million and an adjusted EBIT margin ranging from minus 3.0% to plus 4.5%. Critically, potential large?ticket orders from the Advanced Packaging segment are not baked into those numbers. That means any breakthrough in the coming weeks would represent pure upside.

Until then, price action will be driven by sentiment and technical levels. The 50?day moving average at €18.57 provides a near?term floor — a level the stock has not tested since mid?March. The next major data point arrives on 23 July with the half?year report. By then, investors will know whether the trade?fair tour has produced more than handshakes and whether the short sellers’ divergent bets are about to converge in one direction or the other.