Cohu Reports Third Quarter 2012 Operating Results

Cohu Reports Third Quarter 2012Operating Results

POWAY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cohu, Inc. (NAS: COHU) today reported fiscal 2012 third quarter net sales of $57.7 million and GAAP net loss of $1.7 million or $0.07 per share. Net sales for the first nine months of 2012 were $170.4 million and GAAP net loss was $7.1 million or $0.29 per share.

The Company also reported non-GAAP results, with third quarter 2012 net loss of $0.7 million or $0.03 per share and net loss of $2.4 million or $0.10 per share for the first nine months of 2012.

Sales of semiconductor equipment accounted for 81% of fiscal 2012 third quarter sales. Microwave communications equipment and video cameras and related equipment contributed 12% and 7%, respectively, for the same period.

Orders were $50.1 million for the third quarter of 2012 and $69.8 million for the second quarter of 2012. Orders for semiconductor equipment were $38.5 million in the third quarter of 2012 compared to $59.5 million in the second quarter of 2012. Total consolidated backlog was $54.4 million at September 29, 2012 compared to $62.0 million at June 30, 2012. Cohu expects fourth quarter 2012 sales to be between $45 million and $50 million.

James A. Donahue, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Orders and sales declined in the third quarter amid weak global economic conditions. Despite the difficult business environment, we had a number of important accomplishments during the quarter including the successful qualification and transfer into production of our new gravity handler at our initial customer and the start-up of pick and place handler manufacturing at our Philippines factory, a key initial step in our manufacturing strategy."

Donahue concluded, "Uncertainty associated with the U.S. political environment and unfavorable macroeconomic factors continue to be headwinds for the semiconductor industry. We are closely monitoring spending while continuing to invest in key projects that position us for growth when industry conditions improve."

Cohu's Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share payable on January 2, 2013 to shareholders of record on November 23, 2012. Cohu has paid consecutive quarterly cash dividends since 1977.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information:

Included within this press release are non-GAAP financial measures that supplement the Company's Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations prepared under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). These non-GAAP financial measures adjust the Company's actual results prepared under GAAP to exclude charges and the related income tax effect for share-based compensation, the amortization of acquired intangible assets and the gain on the sale of a facility. Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP amounts for the periods presented herein are provided in schedules accompanying this release and should be considered together with the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

These non-GAAP measures are not meant as a substitute for GAAP, but are included solely for informational and comparative purposes. The Company's management believes that this information can assist investors in evaluating the Company's operational trends, financial performance, and cash generating capacity. Management believes these non-GAAP measures allow investors to evaluate Cohu's financial performance using some of the same measures as management. However, the non-GAAP financial measures should not be regarded as a replacement for (or superior to) corresponding, similarly captioned, GAAP measures.

Forward Looking Statements:

Certain matters discussed in this release, including statements concerning Cohu's new products, expectations of business conditions, orders, sales, revenues and operating results are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or forecasted. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, inventory, goodwill and other intangible asset write-downs; our ability to convert new products under development into production on a timely basis, support product development and meet customer delivery and acceptance requirements for next generation equipment; our reliance on third-party contract manufacturers; failure to obtain customer acceptance resulting in the inability to recognize revenue and accounts receivable collection problems; customer orders may be canceled or delayed; the concentration of our revenues from a limited number of customers; intense competition in the semiconductor test handler industry; our reliance on patents and intellectual property; compliance with U.S. export regulations; and the cyclical and unpredictable nature of capital expenditures by semiconductor manufacturers. These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully in Cohu's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Cohu assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.

About Cohu:

Cohu is a supplier of test handling, burn-in, thermal subsystems and MEMS test solutions used by the global semiconductor industry, microwave communications and video equipment.

Cohu will be conducting their conference call on Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The call will be webcast at www.cohu.com. Replays of the call can be accessed at www.cohu.com.

For press releases and other information of interest to investors, please visit Cohu's website at www.cohu.com.

(1) The three- and nine-month periods ended September 29, 2012 and September 24, 2011 were comprised of 13 weeks and 39 weeks, respectively.

(2) For the three- and nine-month periods ended September 29, 2012, Interest and other income includes a gain on the sale of facility totaling $677,000 related to our metal detection equipment segment, FRL, which was divested in 2006.

(3) For the three- and nine-month periods ended September 29, 2012, potentially dilutive securities were excluded from the per share computations due to their antidilutive effect.