Knobias Clip Report (01-07-20009) AEHR
Submitted By Knobias ClipReport
AEHR: Shares Decline on Q2 Results and Weak Industry Outlook
By Fain Hughes, fhughes@knobias.com
Shares of Aehr Test Systems (AEHR) declined during Wednesday’s session after the Company reported financial results for the second quarter ended November 30, 2008.
Net sales were $9.2 million in the second quarter, compared with $9.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2008. The Company reported net income of $872,000, or $0.10 per diluted share, compared with net income of $1.4 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2008.
Gary Larson, CFO of Aehr Test Systems, added in a conference call, “We are not expecting a meaningful improvement in this difficult operating environment until the second half of calendar 2009 at the earliest. Accordingly, it would be imprudent to provide guidance at this time.”
Rhea Posedel, Chairman and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented during the call, “The current economic downturn finally caught up to us during the last quarter. We saw a number of our customers delay new orders and had some delivery push-outs at the end of the quarter that impacted our results. In spite of the contracting market for semiconductor equipment, we had a pretty decent quarter. Importantly, we did an excellent job in delivering a net income that was slightly higher from the prior quarter and increased our cash position by over $4.3 million.”
He continued, “Our strategy during this downturn is to develop more new products and aggressively sell our new and existing products to expand our customer base and markets. Even though IC manufacturers aren’t adding capacity, they will purchase systems that will lower operating costs or provide new technology needed to meet their future testing and burn-in requirements.”
Mr. Posedel added, “To provide any guidance or outlook at this time is extremely difficult. I would say that the next two quarters will be very difficult. However, we do believe that we are in a favorable position to grow market share during this downturn, enabling us to return to the growth trajectory we had over the last few years when the industry recovers.”
Aehr Test Systems also announced yesterday that it has received a second order for its new Advanced Burn-in and Test System (ABTS) from a leading European provider of imbedded wireless technology. The system is configured for burning-in and testing advanced logic devices.
Mr. Posedel noted, “This order is significant because it allows us to address a new and growing market for high-powered burn-in.”
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
