RF Industries Reports 38% Sequential Sales Growth in Third Quarter of Fiscal 2021; Expects Sequential Revenue Growth in Fourth Quarter

September 13, 2021 at 16:01 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 13, 2021 / RF Industries, Ltd, (NASDAQ:RFIL), a national manufacturer and marketer of interconnect products and systems, today announced its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2021 ended July 31, 2021. As noted below, these financial results include the impact of $800,000 in Employee Retention Tax Credits ("ERC") recognized in the third quarter.

Third Quarter Fiscal 2021 Highlights and Operating Results:

Net sales increased 38% sequentially and 60% year over year to $15.3 million.
Backlog of $31.5 million at July 31, 2021 on third quarter bookings of $31.2 million. As of today, backlog stands at $27.2 million.
Gross profit margin was 33%, which includes the impact of the ERC received during the quarter. Excluding the impact of ERC, gross profit margin was 28%, up from 27% in the preceding second quarter.
Operating income was $1.2 million, which includes the impact of ERC. Excluding the impact of ERC, operating income was $393,000.
Net income was $926,000, or $0.09 per diluted share, which includes the impact of ERC.
Non-GAAP net income was $1.3 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, which includes the impact of ERC.
Adjusted EBITDA was $1.0 million, which excludes the impact of the ERC.
Cash and cash equivalents were $12.6 million.

Robert Dawson, President and CEO of RF Industries, commented:

"We are pleased to report strong sequential and year-over-year revenue growth for the third quarter, and the highest backlog in company history of $31.5 million at quarter-end. We showed significant year-over-year growth in all markets and channels and we continued to see signs of recovery in the wireless carrier ecosystem spend, as evidenced by two multi-million dollar orders for hybrid fiber cables that we received during the quarter. These orders highlight the increasing demand for our product offerings as wireless carriers accelerate their infrastructure builds for 5G and the related densification. With our large backlog and continued sales momentum, we expect a strong finish to the fiscal year with fourth quarter sales higher than the third quarter and exceeding our previous expectations. At this point in the fourth quarter, our year-to-date revenue already exceeds our full fiscal 2020 total revenue."

Conference Call and Webcast

RF Industries will host a conference call and live webcast today at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. ET) to discuss its third quarter fiscal 2021. To access the conference call, dial 844-407-9500 (US and Canada) or 862-298-0850 (International) and ask for the RF Industries third quarter call. In addition, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be accessible on the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.rfindustries.com. A phone replay of the conference call will also be available beginning approximately two hours after conclusion of the call and will remain available for two weeks. To access the phone replay, dial 877-481-4010 (US and Canada) or 919-882-2331(International). The replay conference ID is 42581.

About RF Industries

RF Industries designs and manufactures a broad range of interconnect products across diversified, growing markets including wireless/wireline telecom, data communications and industrial. The Company's products include RF connectors, coaxial cables, data cables, wire harnesses, fiber optic cables, custom cabling, energy-efficient cooling systems and integrated small cell enclosures. The Company is headquartered in San Diego, California with additional operations in Long Island, New York, Vista, California, Milford, Connecticut and North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Please visit the RF Industries website at www.rfindustries.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements with respect to future events, including the return of delayed project-based business and the Company's long-term growth, which are subject to a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the duration and continuing impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the U.S. economy and the Company's customers; changes in the telecommunications industry; the Company's reliance on certain distributors and customers for a significant portion of anticipated revenues; the impact of existing and additional future tariffs imposed by U.S and foreign nations; the Company's ability to execute on its new go-to-market strategies and channel models; its ability to expand its OEM relationships; its ability to continue to deliver newly designed and custom fiber optic and cabling products to principal customers; its ability to maintain strong margins and diversify its customer base; and its ability to address the changing needs of the market. Further discussion of these and other potential risk factors may be found in the Company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov) including its Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements are based upon information available to the Company on the date they are published and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or new information after the date of this release.

Note Regarding Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our condensed financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), this earnings release and the accompanying tables and the related earnings conference call contain certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization (Adjusted EBITDA), non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share (non-GAAP EPS). We believe these financial measures provide useful information to investors with which to analyze our operating trends and performance.

In computing Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP EPS, we exclude stock-based compensation expense, which represents non-cash charges for the fair value of stock options and other non-cash awards granted to employees, acquisition related costs and expenses, and severance. For Adjusted EBITDA we also exclude depreciation, amortization, and provision for income taxes. Because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions, and the variety of equity instruments that can impact a company's non-cash operating expenses, we believe that providing non-GAAP financial measures that exclude non-cash expense and non-recurring costs and expenses allows for meaningful comparisons between our core business operating results and those of other companies, as well as providing us with an important tool for financial and operational decision-making and for evaluating our own core business operating results over different periods of time.

Our Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP EPS measures may not provide information that is directly comparable to that provided by other companies in our industry, as other companies in our industry may calculate non-GAAP financial results differently, particularly related to non-recurring, unusual items. Our Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP Net income, and non-GAAP EPS are not measurements of financial performance under GAAP, and should not be considered as an alternative to operating or net income or as an indication of operating performance or any other measure of performance derived in accordance with GAAP. We do not consider these non-GAAP measures to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial results. A reconciliation of specific adjustments to GAAP results is provided in the last two tables at the end of this press release.

Contacts:
RF Industries, Ltd.
Peter Yin
SVP/ CFO
(858) 549-6340
rfi@rfindustries.com

MKR Investor Relations
Todd Kehrli
Analyst/ Investor Contact
(213) 277-5550
rfil@mkr-group.com