UK's Oxford Instruments stock surges 14% with renewed order momentum

(Reuters) -Scientific tools maker Oxford Instruments expects to deliver improved performance for the rest of the year, it said on Tuesday after order momentum returned in the second quarter, sending its shares surging more than 14%.

Oxford, which makes tools and systems primarily for scientific research and advanced industrial applications, also raised its share buyback by a further 50 million pounds ($67.11 million) to a total of 100 million pounds.

The company, like other UK technology exporters, scrambled to reorganise supply chains as shifting global trade policies and rare-earth export controls disrupted global manufacturing, forcing companies to invest in localised production to preserve margins and customer relationships.

Oxford re-priced its open order book, particularly in its largest segment - imaging & analysis (I&A) - and reorganised manufacturing across three continents to mitigate tariff impact that hammered orders in the first quarter, it said in a statement.

The company said it worked with a UK supply chain partner to manufacture electron microscopy detectors in China for local customers, moved atomic force microscope production from U.S. to Germany, and planned to shift nanoindentation manufacturing from Switzerland to Britain.

The Oxfordshire-based company's stock was up 9.3% at 1,958 pence by 0844 GMT, on track to record its biggest one-day percentage gain since February 2022.

While new Chinese controls on the export of rare-earth minerals hindered growth at its I&A business, where many of the products contained strong magnets, the company said it has been substantially able to mitigate the impact through R&D adaptations and alternative sourcing. 

($1 = 0.7451 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Unnamalai L in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Harikrishnan Nair)