Shares in Soitec climbed after it confirmed its full-year guidance and said it had turned a corner following a weak start to the year.

In mid-morning trade in Europe, shares rose 17% to 74.10 euros, but remain down 54% year to date.

The semiconductor materials manufacturer reiterated Wednesday that for the full year it expects revenue at constant exchange rates to be stable on year and confirmed it expects an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin of around 35%.

Soitec's second-quarter performance suggests that there is light at the end of the tunnel after a challenging start to the year, and show that the company has made progress on the high inventory levels that had dragged on its performance, Stifel analysts Florian Sager and Juergen Wagner wrote in a research note.

Soitec said its performance rebounded in the second quarter and confirmed that it reached the bottom of its cycle in the previous quarter. Sequentially, the company reported 89% organic growth, it said.

Most importantly, revenue at its mobile division more than doubled on quarter after hitting a low at the start of the year, the analysts said. Revenue remains down 25% on-year but the improvement from last quarter is significant, they added.

The company also named Frederic Lissalde as chairman of the board of directors which should be taken positively given investors had previous concerns about his predecessor, the analysts wrote.

For the second quarter, the company reported revenue of 217 million euros ($228.8 million) compared with 245 million euros the same time a year prior, and 121 million for the first quarter.

For the first half, Soitec reported an Ebitda margin of 33.4%.

Write to Adam Whittaker at [email protected]