AIXTRON Reports Financial Results For The First Nine Months Of 2006.

* Equipment Order Intake Up 76% Year Over Year

* Gross Margin Up 7 Percentage Points Year Over Year to 38%

* Third Quarter 2006 Profitable

* FY 2006 Guidance Raised

AACHEN, Germany -- AIXTRON AG (FSE: AIX, ISIN DE0005066203; NASDAQ: AIXG, ISIN US0005066203), a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, today announced financial results for the nine months of 2006, ended September 30, 2006.

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Highlights In The First Nine Months of 2006

* Order Intake: Due to improved market confidence, the value of equipment orders received in the first nine months of 2006 rose substantially, by 76 percent, compared to the first nine months of 2005. The continued year-over-year increase was supported by a 6 percent sequential increase in equipment order intake, to EUR 52.3 million in the third quarter of 2006. Reflecting a significant rise in demand for semiconductor equipment, especially from the LED end application markets, order intake for compound semiconductor equipment rose year-over-year by 89 percent to EUR 101.9 million in the first nine months of 2006 and, based on robust demand for CVD equipment, the value of orders received for silicon semiconductor equipment in the first nine months of 2006 rose by 44 percent year over year, to EUR 31.6 million.

* Revenues: Revenues in the first nine months of 2006 were EUR 108.6 million, a year-over-year increase of 14 percent. The largest element of the nine-month 2006 revenue (49 percent; comparable prior-year period: 57 percent) was generated from the sale of compound semiconductor equipment, which in turn was driven by LED system demand, especially from Asia (81 percent of total nine-month 2006 revenue; comparable prior-year period 72 percent). The share of revenues related to the sale of silicon semiconductor equipment rose from 24 percent in the first nine months of 2005 to 31 percent in the first nine months of 2006.

* Gross Margin: Due to both a reduction in the cost of sales relative to revenue and higher revenue in the first nine months of 2006, as compared to the first nine months of 2005, the Company's gross profit increased by 38 percent year over year to EUR 41.5 million in the first nine months of 2006. Consequently, the gross margin rose from 31 percent in the first nine months of 2005 to 38 percent in the first nine months of 2006.

* Net Result: The Company's net loss after tax decreased from EUR 11.7 million (net loss after tax per share: EUR 0.15) in the first nine months of 2005 to a net loss of EUR 2.4 million (net loss after tax per share: EUR 0.03) in the first nine months of 2006. AIXTRON's net loss after tax in the first nine months of 2005 included beneficial allocations to deferred tax assets which did not occur in the first nine months of 2006.

* Cash: Despite a EUR 19.8 million increase in the value of inventories as of September 30, 2006 compared with year-end 2005, cash and cash equivalents increased by EUR 21.1 million, from EUR 31.4 million as of December 31, 2005 to EUR 52.5 million as of September 30, 2006. The increase in cash and cash equivalents was largely due to cash inflows from operating activities totaling EUR 23.2 million.

Management Review

Paul Hyland, President and Chief Executive Officer at AIXTRON, commented: 'We are particularly pleased at being able to present yet another quarter of improving profit, increased cash, growing order intake, reduced costs, better margins and stable market conditions, all of which, bar the market environment, are a reflection of a more consistent and focused internal performance across the AIXTRON group."

Hyland continued: 'Looking forward over the next three months, although we have a very busy and challenging time ahead of us, we expect to continue to make good progress with our own internal operational performance, and to make further progress towards extending both our technology and our market reach."

Outlook

Based on the positive business development in the first nine months of 2006, the Company raises its current 2006 full year guidance to approximately EUR 160 million in revenue (previous guidance given on August 3, 2006: approximately EUR 150 million in revenue), with net income after tax for fiscal year 2006 estimated to be approximately EUR 3 million (previous guidance given on August 3, 2006: breakeven on a net result basis).

Investor Conference Call

AIXTRON will host a financial analyst and investor conference call on November 2, 2006 at 08:30 CET (02:30 EST) to review the first nine months 2006 results. From 08:15 CET (02:15 EST) you may listen to the call live at [phone] (Germany) / [phone] (United Kingdom) / [phone] (United States). Both a conference call audio replay and a transcript of the conference call will be available at http://www.aixtron.com, section 'investors", following the conference call.

Financial Tables

The complete consolidated interim financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, statement of changes in equity) relating to this press release are available on www.aixtron.com, section 'Investors', subsection 'Financial Data", subsection 'Reports", as part of AIXTRON's Group interim report for the nine months ended September 30, 2006. Genus was consolidated into the AIXTRON Group only from March 14, 2005 onwards.

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Further Information

For further information on AIXTRON (FSE: AIX, ISIN: DE0005066203; NASDAQ: AIXG, ISIN: US0096061041) please consult our website at: www.aixtron.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements about the business, financial condition, results of operations and earnings outlook of AIXTRON within the meaning of the 'safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 'may", 'will", 'expect", 'anticipate", 'contemplate", 'intend", 'plan", 'believe", 'continue" and 'estimate", and variations of these words and similar expressions, identify these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements reflect our current views and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. The following factors, and others which are discussed in AIXTRON's public filings and submissions with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, are among those that may cause actual and future results and trends to differ materially from our forward-looking statements: actual customer orders received by AIXTRON; the extent to which chemical vapor deposition, or CVD, technology is demanded by the market place; the timing of final acceptance of products by customers; the financial climate and accessibility of financing; general conditions in the thin film equipment market and in the macro-economy; cancellations, rescheduling or delays in product shipments; manufacturing capacity constraints; lengthy sales and qualification cycles; difficulties in the production process; changes in semiconductor industry growth; increased competition; exchange rate fluctuations; availability of government funding; variability and availability of interest rates; delays in developing and commercializing new products; general economic conditions being less favorable than expected; and other factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and AIXTRON does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.

Contact:
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
AIXTRON AG, Kackertstr. 15-17, 52072 Aachen, Germany
Phone: [phone], Fax: [phone], [e-mail]
www.aixtron.com
Language:   English
Issuer:     AIXTRON AG
            Kackertstr. 15-17
            52072 Aachen Deutschland
Phone:      [phone]
Fax:        [phone]
E-mail:     [e-mail]
WWW:        www.aixtron.com
ISIN:       DE0005066203
WKN:        506620
Indices:    TecDAX
Listed:     Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
            Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, ME-nchen, Hamburg,
            DE-sseldorf, Stuttgart; TerminbErse EUREX; Foreign
            Exchange(s) Nasdaq