Semiconductor production equipment provider Amtech Systems (NASDAQ: ASYS) will be reporting results this Thursday afternoon. Here’s what investors should know.

Amtech beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 16.7% last quarter, reporting revenues of $19.84 million, down 17.7% year on year. It was a very strong quarter for the company, with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

Is Amtech a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.

This quarter, analysts are expecting Amtech’s revenue to decline 22.1% year on year to $19 million, a further deceleration from the 2.1% decrease it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $0.07 per share.

Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Amtech has only missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates once over the last two years, exceeding top-line expectations by 6.7% on average.

Looking at Amtech’s peers in the semiconductor manufacturing segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Teradyne delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 43.9%, beating analysts’ expectations by 11%, and Lam Research reported revenues up 22.1%, topping estimates by 1.8%. Teradyne traded up 13.5% following the results while Lam Research was also up 3.6%.

Read our full analysis of Teradyne’s results here and Lam Research’s results here.

There has been positive sentiment among investors in the semiconductor manufacturing segment, with share prices up 11.2% on average over the last month. Amtech is up 34% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $12 (compared to the current share price of $17.63).

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