Aehr Test System's Stock Shoots Higher On Heavy Volume After Order Announced

Shares of Aehr Test Systems rocketed to a 2 1/2-year high intraday on high volume in afternoon trade Tuesday, after the semiconductor testing company announced it received the first orders for its new production test cell. The stock had more than tripled at its intraday high of $3.42, the highest level seen since December 2013, before paring gains to be up 64% at $1.76 in recent trade. Volume of about 2.5 million shares was nearly 150 times the full-day average. Aehr said before Tuesday's open that the new orders totaled $4.5 million, and the customer was "one of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers." The company had reported in March fiscal third-quarter sales of $1.7 million, down from $2.0 million a year ago. Despite Tuesday's surge, the stock was still down 5.7% year to date, while the S&P 500 was up 3.6%.