Coherent Inc. has posted a net loss of $8.7 million for the quarter ending July 4. The company reported a total revenue of $298.3 million for its third quarter, a year-over-year decrease of just over $40 million. The figure is on a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis. Earnings per share for the company also dipped by $0.36. For its third quarter 2019, Coherent posted net sales of $339.2 million and a net loss of $3.1 million, or $0.13 per share. The company posted a third-quarter non-GAAP net income of $12.6 million and $0.52 per share. Non-GAAP net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2019 was $32.1 million, or $1.33 per share. Though Coherent shares have fallen 13% since the start of the year, the company’s quarterly postings did exceed market forecasts. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research analysts called for earnings of $0.13 per share and net revenue just under $283 million. The quarter was company President and CEO Andy Mattes’ first at Coherent. He noted continued strength in nonmetal applications sales and a decline in materials processing sales. “Machine tool demand remains depressed, especially across Europe and to a lesser extent the U.S., bookings are down more than 25% from pre-COVID levels,” Mattes said. “This trend already started in the German automotive sector before the pandemic, but has been exacerbated by the impact of COVID. With our recently announced exit from the commodity kilowatt fiber laser business, we chose to have a more limited participation in the China materials processing market. “Our Q3 performance is encouraging, even though the current quarter was again impacted by COVID-19. We grew revenue sequentially, with microelectronics more than overcompensating the headwinds in material processing and OEM components. Our focus on operational excellence and cash yielded promising initial results and positions us well for the quarters to come.”