Photo | U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
Eugene Scherbakov, CEO of IPG Photonics
September 4, 2024
Another IPG executive is set to depart this year, as new CEO looks to reverse stock price plummet
Image | Courtesy of Google Maps
Formerly headquartered in Oxford, IPG Photonics is now based in Marlborough.
The chief technology officer of Marlborough-based IPG Photonics Corp. is heading to retirement, as the company’s new CEO looks to overcome falling stock prices and global demand issues after replacing the company’s co-founder in June.
Alexander Ovtchinnikov, senior vice president and chief technology officer at IPG, is set to resign on Sep. 15, according to an IPG filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 15.
Ovtchinnikov, who first joined IPG in 2001 and ascended to the role of CTO in February 2022, will provide consulting services for the company until the end of March for a fee of $17,000 per month.
Ovtchinnikov’s departure comes following the arrival of Mark Gitin, who took over the CEO role in June. Gitin took on the role from Eugene Scherbakov, a co-founder of IPG who had been the company’s CEO since May 2021. Scherbakov remains on the board of the company and an advisor to Gitin.
Gitin is a former executive vice president and general manager of the photonics solutions division of Andover-based MKS Instruments. A graduate of Cornell University in New York with a doctorate in electrical engineering, Gitin held several high-level roles at Pennsylvania-based Coherent from 1995 to 2017.
“The entire Board has been focused on the next phase of IPG’s evolution, and we are confident that now is the right moment for an orderly transition to build on the strong foundation that has been established to deliver sustainable and profitable long-term growth,” John Peeler, non-executive chair of the board, said in an April press release announcing Gitin’s hiring. “After thoroughly reviewing a broad range of candidates, we selected Dr. Gitin to lead IPG due to his track record as a strategic industry leader with the ability to identify and execute growth opportunities.”
IPG’s per-share stock price is down about 38% year to date and 24% since Gitin took over in June.
The company reported a 24% decrease in year-over-year revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2024, according to a July 30 press release from the company.
Gitin noted in the July press release global economic conditions were impacting industrial markets, a factor which he said may weigh on product demand for the rest of the year.
“Our focus on financial execution allowed the company to generate strong cash flow from operations and significantly reduce inventory, while continuing to work on significant product cost reductions," Gitin said of the company’s second quarter performance. "The company has a very strong innovation pipeline, and we are making great progress diversifying our business by focusing on complete solutions to customers in welding, cleaning, medical and other applications, while fortifying our position and strong customer relations in the cutting OEM business.”
Founded in a Moscow basement laboratory in 1990, IPG announced on Aug. 29 it had sold its remaining assets in Russia, citing the impact of ongoing sanctions related to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Eric Casey is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
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