Cohu Reports First Quarter 2020 Results

Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU), a global leader in back-end semiconductor equipment and services, today reported fiscal 2020 first quarter net sales of $138.9 million and GAAP loss of $17.3 million or $0.42 per share. Cohu also reported first quarter 2020 non-GAAP income of $0.1 million or $0.00 per share.(1)

Total cash and investments at the end of first quarter 2020 were $172.4 million.

“We recorded strong bookings in the first quarter, mostly driven by mobility customers accelerating the adoption of 5G test solutions for RF Front-End devices. Shipments were constrained in March by COVID-19 pandemic driven government restrictions in countries where our products are manufactured. Despite Cohu operations remaining largely open, we continue to expect some supply chain uncertainty and operating constraints within our factories in the second quarter,” said Cohu President and CEO Luis Müller. “While we enter the second quarter with approximately $172 million in cash and a strong backlog, the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on short-term semiconductor test and inspection demand remains uncertain. As a result, we are proactively managing cash flow and our Board of Directors has authorized suspending our quarterly cash dividend. The dividend suspension will result in approximately $10 million of annualized cash savings, which we expect to utilize for deleveraging and strengthening our balance sheet.”

Cohu expects second quarter 2020 sales to be between $130 million and $155 million.

Conference Call Information:

The company will host a live conference call and webcast with slides to discuss first quarter 2020 results at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on May 5, 2020. Interested investors and analysts are invited to dial into the conference call by using 1-866-434-5330 (domestic) or +1-213-660-0873 (international) and entering the pass code 6874566. Webcast access will be available on the Investor Information section of the company’s website at www.cohu.com.

About Cohu:

Cohu (NASDAQ: COHU) is a global leader in back-end semiconductor equipment and services, delivering leading-edge solutions for the manufacturing of semiconductors and printed circuit boards. Additional information can be found at www.cohu.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information:

Included within this press release and accompanying materials are non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP Gross Margin/Profit, Income and Income (adjusted earnings) per share, Operating Income, Operating Expense and adjusted EBITDA 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 purchased intangible assets including favorable/unfavorable lease adjustments, restructuring costs, manufacturing transition and severance costs, asset impairment charges, acquisition-related costs and associated professional fees, reduction of indemnification receivable, depreciation of purchase accounting adjustments to property, plant and equipment and purchase accounting inventory step-up included in cost of sales. 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. With respect to any forward looking non-GAAP figures, we are unable to provide without unreasonable efforts, at this time, a GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation of any forward-looking figures due to their inherent uncertainty.

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 uses non-GAAP measures for a variety of reasons, including to make operational decisions, to determine executive compensation in part, to forecast future operational results, and for comparison to our annual operating plan. 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 statements contained in this release and accompanying materials may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding supply chain shipment limitations into the second quarter, manufacturing facilities and offices remaining open, estimated Asia factories’ manufacturing output by month, measures to maintain liquidity and financial flexibility and strengthen the balance sheet, market positions in mobility, medical, computing & network semiconductor & PCB test segments and leadership in automotive and industrial applications, expected recovery in automotive an industrial in 2021, customers adopting our solution for 5G RF test, end-market demand trends by segment in 2020 and 2021, future strength and growth beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, any comments about third quarter or second half 2020 projections, long-term benefiting from manufacturing consolidation reducing cost structure, temporary cost savings and expense reductions, business model for FY’20 and mid-term target, % of incremental revenue expected to fall to operating income, the company’s second quarter 2020 sales forecast, guidance, sales mix, non-GAAP operating expenses, gross margin, adjusted EBITDA and effective tax rate, and cash and shares outstanding, estimated sales for break-even EBITDA, estimated minimum cash levels to run business, and any other statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” and other similar expressions among others. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance.

Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: The ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected, and is continuing to adversely affect, our business, financial condition and results of operations including: i) our workforce and operations, the operations of our customers, and those of our respective vendors and suppliers, ii) our primary manufacturing facilities in Malaysia and the Philippines have been partially operating since March 2020 due to government-mandated movement control orders, iii) we may face other government-mandated facility shutdowns, iv) import/export, shipping and logistics disruptions, and other supply chain and distribution constraints or delays, v) continued rapid changes to business, political or regulatory conditions affecting the semiconductor equipment industry and the overall global economy, vi) availability of employees and lost employee productivity, vii) remote working IT and increased cybersecurity risks, viii) increased internal control risks over financial reporting as key finance staff works remotely, ix) delayed product development programs, x) customers’ canceling, pushing out orders or refusal to accept product deliveries, and delayed collection of receivables, xi) other actions of our customers, suppliers and competitors which may be sudden and inconsistent with our expectations, xii) additional credit rating agency downgrades which would increase the company’s cost of raising capital, and xiii) potential additional impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets, and increased risk of inventory write-downs due to lower product demand; Other significant risks associated with the Xcerra acquisition, integration and synergies including the failure to achieve the expected benefits of the acquisition, and mandatory ongoing impairment evaluation of goodwill and other intangibles whereby Cohu could be required to write off some or all of this goodwill and other intangibles; Continued availability of capital and financing and additional rating agency downgrade actions, and limited market access given our high debt levels; Our Credit Agreement contains various representations and negative covenants that limit our business flexibility; Changes to or replacement of LIBOR may adversely affect interest rates; Adverse investor reaction to the suspended cash dividend; Other risks associated with acquisitions; inventory, goodwill and other asset write-downs; Our ability to convert new products into production on a timely basis and to support product development and meet customer delivery and acceptance requirements for new products; Our reliance on third-party contract manufacturers and suppliers; Failure to obtain customer acceptance resulting in the inability to recognize revenue and accounts receivable collection problems; Market demand and adoption of our new products; Customer orders may be canceled or delayed; The concentration of our revenues from a limited number of customers; Intense competition in the semiconductor equipment industry; Our reliance on patents and intellectual property; Compliance with U.S. export regulations; Impacts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and ongoing tax examinations; Geopolitical issues, trade wars and Huawei/HiSilicon export restrictions; Retention of key staff; Other health epidemics or natural disasters; ERP system implementation issues particularly as Cohu recently launches a new ERP system in first quarter 2020; The seasonal, volatile and unpredictable nature of capital expenditures by semiconductor manufacturers particularly in light of weakened demand in 2019 followed by the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020; and Rapid technological change.

These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully in Cohu’s filings with the SEC, including the most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, and the other filings made by Cohu with the SEC from time to time, which are available via the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by applicable law, Cohu does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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

Management believes the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, provides meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company's operating performance. Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the Company's operating results, as well as when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods and these non-GAAP measures allow investors to evaluate the Company’s financial performance using some of the same measures as management. Management views share-based compensation as an expense that is unrelated to the Company’s operational performance as it does not require cash payments and can vary in amount from period to period and the elimination of amortization and impairment charges provides better comparability of pre and post-acquisition operating results and to results of businesses utilizing internally developed intangible assets. Management initiated certain restructuring activities including employee headcount reductions and other organizational changes to align our business strategies in light of the merger with Xcerra. Restructuring costs have been excluded because such expense is not used by Management to assess the core profitability of Cohu’s business operations. Manufacturing and sales transition costs relate principally to expenses incurred as a result of moving certain manufacturing activities to Asia and incremental costs incurred related to the buildup of a direct sales force for certain equipment sales in Asia. Employee severance are costs incurred in conjunction with the termination of certain employees to streamline our operations and reduce costs. Management has excluded these costs primarily because they are not reflective of the ongoing operating results and they are not used to assess ongoing operational performance. Impairment charges have been excluded as these amounts are infrequent and are unrelated to the operational performance of Cohu. Acquisition costs and adjustments for inventory and PP&E step-up costs have been excluded by management as they are unrelated to the core operating activities of the Company and the frequency and variability in the nature of the charges can vary significantly from period to period. Management believes the reduction of an uncertain tax position liability and related indemnification receivable is better reflected within income tax expense rather than a charge to SG&A and credit to the income tax provision. Excluding this data provides investors with a basis to compare Cohu’s performance against the performance of other companies without this variability. However, the non-GAAP financial measures should not be regarded as a replacement for (or superior to) corresponding, similarly captioned, GAAP measures. The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures above may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies and investors should be careful when comparing our non-GAAP financial measures to those of other companies.

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