Cohu Reports Second Quarter 2013 Operating Results

Cohu Reports Second Quarter 2013Operating Results

POWAY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cohu, Inc. (NAS: COHU) today reported fiscal 2013 second quarter net sales of $66.7 million and GAAP net loss of $4.0 million or $0.16 per share. Net sales for the first six months of 2013 were $122.7 million and GAAP net loss was $16.1 million or $0.65 per share.

The Company also reported non-GAAP results, with second quarter 2013 net loss of $1.3 million or $0.05 per share and net loss of $9.3 million or $0.38 per share for the first six months of 2013.

⁽¹⁾Non-GAAP results for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2012 were revised in the current period to exclude the impact of other acquisition costs incurred in connection with the acquisition of Ismeca.

Sales of semiconductor equipment accounted for 89% of fiscal 2013 second quarter sales. Microwave communications equipment and video cameras and related equipment contributed 4% and 7%, respectively, for the same period.

Orders were $83.1 million for the second quarter of 2013 and $60.3 million for the first quarter of 2013. Orders for semiconductor equipment were $75.4 million in the second quarter of 2013 compared to $52.5 million in the first quarter of 2013. Total consolidated backlog was $79.8 million at June 29, 2013 compared to $63.4 million at March 30, 2013. Cohu expects third quarter 2013 sales to be between $65 million and $70 million.

James A. Donahue, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "This was a strong quarter for our semiconductor equipment business as orders increased 44% sequentially driven by mobility, automotive, LEDs, MEMs and package inspection. Operationally, we are making solid progress in the transition of pick and place production to Asia and the consolidation of our handler manufacturing operations."

Donahue concluded, "Equipment utilization on our customers' test floors stabilized at the 80% level in recent months. We monitor this metric closely, as it is usually an early indicator of improving business conditions. We are benefitting from significant cross selling synergies following the Ismeca acquisition and the strength and breadth of our product line is unmatched."

Cohu's Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share payable on October 25, 2013 to shareholders of record on August 30, 2013. 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, manufacturing transition costs, other acquisition costs and the purchase accounting inventory step-up included in cost of goods sold. 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 transition of production to Asia and consolidation of our handler manufacturing operations, 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, risks associated with acquisitions, 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, July 31, 2013 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. Contact: Jeffrey D. Jones - Investor Relations (858) 848-8106

⁽¹⁾The three- and six-month periods ended June 29, 2013 and June 30, 2012 were comprised of 13 weeks and 26 weeks, respectively.

⁽²⁾On December 31, 2012 Cohu completed the acquisition of Ismeca and its results have been included since that date.

⁽³⁾Potentially dilutive securities were excluded from the per share computations for all period presented due to their antidilutive effect.