Edwin Roks, who calls himself “a simple Dutch guy,” sees an ever-expanding market for the printed circuit boards made by the company he heads, TTM Technologies Inc.
Data centers and aerospace are “two of the big megatrends helping us to grow the company,” Roks told the Business Journal on Oct. 1, after his first month on the job as chief executive.
Roks has big shoes to fill, succeeding Thomas Edman, who retired after 11 years as CEO. Edman led the company to a profit spurt as second-quarter net income soared 58% to $41.5 million, more than twice as much as the 21% increase in sales to $730.6 million.
Analysts are projecting sales this year will climb 15% to $2.8 billion while profit will jump 35% to $2.31 a share. In the last three quarters, the company’s profit per share has easily beat analyst expectations.
In the past two years, shares in Santa Ana-based TTM have jumped more than sixfold and its market cap last week surged past $6 billion. It is the No. 1 maker of PCBs in the U.S. and globally No. 6.
“It has been an incredible privilege to lead TTM Technologies through a transformative period of growth and innovation,” Edman said in a statement. “I am proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and I believe Edwin is the right leader to take TTM forward. His global experience, technical depth and commitment to excellence make him an outstanding choice to guide the company into its next chapter.”
Roks, who holds a PhD in electronics and semiconductor physics from the prestigious University of Twente in his native Netherlands, has long experience in the tech world, including 15 years at Philips, one of Europe’s biggest technology companies.
He worked for 20 years at Thousand Oaks-based Teledyne Technologies Inc., where he became known for expanding the company’s capabilities in aerospace, defense, industrial and communications sectors. After a variety of executive roles, he retired in April after about 21 months as CEO of the company that sports a $27.6 billion market cap (NYSE: TDY).
As for his reasons for leaving Teledyne, Roks said: “After 20 years success at Teledyne it was time for something different. Learnings from Teledyne can and will be applied to TTM.”
He is very optimistic about his role at TTM.
“What I can add is a bit more technology,” the new CEO said. “We want to be the innovation leader.”
Roks said the CEO transition at TTM has been “very smooth.”
An 80-Layer PCB
The printed circuit boards—used to hold powerful semiconductors in place in nearly all electronic products today—are far more complex than their name indicates.
Some of them can have up to 80 layers in all and are becoming increasingly sophisticated, turning them into modules, sub-systems and full-fledged systems.
“If you look at the bill of material, the most expensive component is quite often the PCB.
So that is why we are so well positioned,” according to the CEO. “I’m sure our stock price will continue to go up.”
Europe will be the company’s next strategic direction, he said (see story, this page).
He predicts data center demand may not flatten out until 2030 or 2032, as AI “is booming,” while defense demand is also growing.
TTM has 480 employees in Orange County and 17,800 companywide.
While the PCBs make up over 80% of TTM’s business, Roks said that percentage is likely to decrease as the company creates even more complex modules.
“We do modules where you add very, very high-end components on top of the PCB and we sell it as a sub-system,” he said.
Roks said the majority of TTM’s printed circuit boards are made in the U.S., China and a growing facility in Penang, Malaysia.
Two top headline issues aren’t really bothering him and his company now: President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported goods and costs for work visas.
“The tariffs are not a dominant actor in our business,” he says, while the $100,000 fees for H-1B visas are “not a real issue.”
Price Target Raised
TTM shares were trading at $56.52 for a market cap of $5.8 billion as of Oct. 9.
Analyst Jim Ricchiuti at Needham on Sept. 23 had already raised the company’s price target to $65 apiece from $56.
Ricchuiti wrote in a note to clients that discussions with TTM made him “more optimistic about TTM’s 2H’25 and 2026 growth prospects,” while the company’s facilities “will be able to respond to accelerating demand from key AI customers and increase output.”
“The combination of robust demand and increased board complexity created what we view as a perfect storm for TTM’s DCC (data center) business (21% of Q2 revs) that could extend into 2027,” Ricchiuti wrote.
Dutch Weather Isn’t Always Lousy, Says SoCal Transplant CEO
TTM Technologies new CEO Edwin Roks loves the Southern California climate but also sticks up for the weather in his often rainy and blustery native Netherlands.
“Sometimes the weather is better in the Netherlands than here,” Roks told the Business Journal. “It’s amazing.”
Roks, who took over as president of Santa Ana-based TTM on Sept. 2, makes it clear he and his wife are fond of their local surroundings.
“We love it here in Southern California,” he told the Business Journal.
The Roks still live in Ventura County, but they will be looking for a home in Orange County as soon as the new chief executive can break free for house hunting. His first few weeks as TTM CEO have been something of a dash to visit as many company sites and customers as he can.
“We still have a home in the Netherlands as well.”
Europe Is TTM’s Next Push
Printed circuit board maker TTM Technologies’ new CEO says more growth in Europe will be its next goal, saying “there we have a big opportunity” with a strategic direction.
“We are looking at Europe to see what we can do there,” president and CEO Edwin Roks told the Business Journal on Oct. 1. “We want to be a global player.”
He adds that Europeans have increasingly worried about relying on components made by Chinese companies, which may include “hidden components” in the products.
“We have to secure the whole supply chain, especially on the defense side.”
“We already have a quite a bit of business in Scandinavia,” according to Roks. “We have primes that are already working with us.”
