--- title: "InTest's record order quarter left out gross margin, and the stock dropped 10%" description: "Record Q3 orders of $48 million to $50 million and a book-to-bill above 1.3x, announced with no gross margin figure after Q2's miss, dropped InTest shares 10.2% in premarket trade. The margin question now rides into a October 13 investor summit and a November 6 earnings print." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Silicon" published: 2026-10-11T13:20:50.189Z modified: 2026-10-11T13:20:50.189Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/intest-s-record-order-quarter-left-out-gross-margin-and-the-stock-dropped-10 language: en keywords: "Semiconductors, Earnings, Stocks, Guidance, InTest" --- # InTest's record order quarter left out gross margin, and the stock dropped 10% > Record Q3 orders of $48 million to $50 million and a book-to-bill above 1.3x, announced with no gross margin figure after Q2's miss, dropped InTest shares 10.2% in premarket trade. The margin question now rides into a October 13 investor summit and a November 6 earnings print. ## Record orders, 10% off the price On Monday October 5, InTest said [third-quarter orders would reach $48 million to $50 million](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261005923319/en/InTest-Expects-Record-Orders-for-Q3-2026-and-Revenue-at-High-End-of-Guidance-Range-for-Q3-and-Full-Year-2026), the most in its history and up 28% to 33% year over year, on a book-to-bill above 1.3x [1]. Backlog should end September at $58 million to $60 million [1]. CEO Rich Rogoff tied the demand to customer capacity expansions "fueled in part by AI-driven data center demand" [1]. The shares [fell 10.2% in premarket trade](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/intest-shares-fall-10-following-122815137.html) the next morning, to $13.50 [2]. ## The number the release left out The update carried no gross margin figure [2]. That is the line InTest just missed on: Q2 gross margin printed 40.5%, down 210 basis points year over year and, per one account of the quarter, roughly 500 basis points under the company's own guidance [2][3]. On August 10 [management guided Q3 margin to approximately 44%](https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/10/intest-intt-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript/) [3]. A record order quarter that declined to repeat that promise is the silence the tape priced. The fine print is no quieter: a material weakness in internal controls at the Alfamation division, disclosed with a July 31 revision of Q1 results and detailed in [the 10-Q filed August 10](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001036262&type=10-Q&dateb=&owner=include&count=10), sits in the risk factors of the very release announcing the record [1][3][6]. ## The boom is booked, not shipped Revenue "at the high end" of the $33 million to $35 million range is about $35 million, slightly under the $35.3 million InTest printed in Q2, so the record order quarter implies sequentially flat sales [1][3]. The demand is parked in [backlog](https://theinference.org/article/acm-research-s-2-5-billion-backlog-comes-with-fine-print-and-an-october-28-test), roughly 1.7x a quarter's revenue, and the release itself notes contracts may include cancellation, termination or suspension at the customer's discretion [1]. Mix is the margin problem: semiconductor, the mid-50s-margin line, was $9.1 million of Q2 revenue, down 11%, while lower-margin automotive and EV projects carried the quarter [3]. *Chart: **Gross margin slid to 40.5% in Q2; the Oct 5 update said nothing about the 44% Q3 guide** Column chart of InTest quarterly gross margin from Q3 2025 to Q3 2026, sliding to 40.5% in Q2 2026 against a guided 44% for Q3 2026* *Quarterly gross margin, percent of revenue, from SEC filings. The Q3 2026 bar is company guidance of approximately 44%, given on the August 10, 2026, earnings call and unrepeated in the October 5 update. [3][5]* ## The bulls still have the mix The bull case is not empty. Back-end semiconductor margins run in the mid-50s, the revenue mix shifts toward semi into the second half, and full-year guidance was raised to $135 million to $140 million at roughly 43% gross margin [3]. Rogoff expects a back-end order cycle, typically nine to 12 months of elevated capacity spending, to stretch into 2027 [3]. Against that stands a tape already paid: [the shares closed October 9 at $14.55](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/INTT/), up 94.8% this year from a $7.07 low, at 208 times trailing earnings [4]. ## The 44% test on November 6 Rogoff takes the record book to invited accredited investors at the CEO Investor Summit on October 13, inside SEMICON West in San Francisco [1]. The reading that settles it comes November 6: Q3 gross margin against the 44% guide [3][4]. Orders are the promise. Margin is the print. ## Takeaway InTest's record order quarter said nothing about gross margin, and the tape read the silence: the 44% Q3 guide from August 10 now gets its test on November 6. ## Sources 1. [Business Wire, InTest Expects Record Orders for Q3 2026 and Revenue at High End of Guidance Range, 5 October 2026](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261005923319/en/InTest-Expects-Record-Orders-for-Q3-2026-and-Revenue-at-High-End-of-Guidance-Range-for-Q3-and-Full-Year-2026) 2. [Yahoo Finance, inTest Shares Fall 10% Following Preliminary Third-Quarter Business Update, 6 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/intest-shares-fall-10-following-122815137.html) 3. [The Motley Fool, InTest (INTT) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript, 10 August 2026](https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/08/10/intest-intt-q2-2026-earnings-call-transcript/) 4. [Yahoo Finance, InTest Corporation (INTT) quote page, close of 9 October 2026, retrieved 11 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/INTT/) 5. [inTEST Corporation quarterly figures from SEC filings, retrieved 11 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001036262) 6. [SEC EDGAR, InTest Corp filing index, 10-Q filed 10 August 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001036262&type=10-Q&dateb=&owner=include&count=10) --- InTest's record order quarter left out gross margin, and the stock dropped 10% — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/intest-s-record-order-quarter-left-out-gross-margin-and-the-stock-dropped-10