ROGERS, CT -- Rogers Corp. today announced all-time record net sales of $163.1 million as its Printed Circuit Materials unit's revenue jumped 34.5% year-over-year. 

In its third quarter ended Sept. 30, the company said laminates sales reached $63.4 million, driven primarily by significant demand for high-frequency circuit materials to support wireless base station and antenna applications in connection with the global 4G/LTE infrastructure build-out, automotive radar applications for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, and certain applications in portable electronic devices for improved internet connectivity.

Overall net sales exceeded company guidance from July 29 of $153 million to $159 million in net sales.

President and CEO Bruce D. Hoechner said, “We are very pleased to report that in the third quarter, we set another all-time quarterly revenue record and posted our seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth. All three of our business segments contributed solid results and, overall, we saw strong gains in both gross margin and operating margin resulting in excellent earnings. These strong results were driven by the success we achieved in a number of higher growth markets, as well as our disciplined approach to operational improvements. Specifically, in the area of margin expansion, we continue to benefit from our implementation of manufacturing process improvements, enhancements of our business systems and processes, and high value products created through our market-driven innovation efforts.”

Gross margin improved 380 basis points to 39.6%, and operating margin was up 410 basis points to17.4%. 

The company guided for fourth-quarter net sales of $147 million to $154 million. 

Third quarter net sales at its High Performance Foams unit were up 5.1% to  $46.7 million, with higher demand for hybrid electric vehicles, consumer comfort and impact protection applications offset slightly by portable electronics. The Power Electronics Solutions unit reported net sales of $46.5 million, up 2.5%  Rogers’ High Performance Foams joint ventures’ net sales totaled $12 million, down 26.8%.