Mary Puma
Analyst · Stifel. Your line is open
Thank you, Katherine. With me today is Kevin Brewer, Executive Vice President and CFO; and Doug Lawson, Executive Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Strategy. We are all participating in this call remotely, so I would like to apologize in advance for any technical difficulties. If you have not seen a copy of our press release issued last night, it is available on our Web site. Playback service will also be available on our Web site as described in our press release. Please note that comments made today about our expectations for future revenues, profits, and other results are forward-looking statements under the SEC's Safe Harbor provision. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to the risks inherent in our business. These risks are described in detail in our Form 10-K, annual report, and other SEC filings, which we urge you to review. Our actual results may differ materially from our current expectations. We do not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Good morning and thank you for joining us. 2020 has certainly proven to be an unusual year. Despite this, Axcelis has maintained a focus on driving Purion growth in key markets while addressing the many twists and turns the year has brought. Let’s start with our top priority, which is the health of our employees operating in the COVID-19 environment. Through the implementation of recommended safety protocols, we continue to run our Beverly facility at the full manufacturing and lab capacity with all other employees working from home. Our sales teams around the world are operating according to their local guidelines and are working closely with our customers to ensure that we are able to satisfy their requirements in a safe manner. I would like to personally thank our extraordinary employees around the world who are working diligently to meet our customer commitments. I also want to thank our suppliers and customers for their support, as we strive to meet the continuing high level of customer interest in our Purion products. Our third quarter financial performance met or exceeded guidance and consensus. Revenue for the third quarter was $110.4 million with earnings per share of $0.32, gross margins of 43.6% and a cash balance of $212.7 million at quarter end. Our aftermarket business, or what we refer to as CS&I, once again contributed significantly to our revenue and gross margin. The mature process technology markets continued to be an area of strength for Axcelis, which has been critical during this longer than expected memory slowed down. This is especially highlighted in the third quarter, where 100% of our systems shipments went to mature foundry logic customers. China has also been a strong market for Axcelis this year, with the strength continuing through the third quarter. The geographic mix of our systems shipments in the third quarter with China 66%, Korea 20%, Japan 8% and Europe 6%. This mix highlights the strength of the mature foundry logic market in both China and Korea. We expect there will be some memory shipments in Q4, although the quarter will be heavily weighted toward mature foundry logic. China will also continue to account for a significant percentage of our fourth quarter shipments. During the third quarter, the U.S. government imposed new restrictions on sales of certain semiconductor equipment and materials to the Chinese foundry customer SMIC. SMIC is an important Axcelis customer, especially in the mature process technology market. We have thoroughly assessed the new restrictions. Tools and parts that are affected will require a license to ship in the future. After careful examination of our systems and the mature applications they are used for, we currently expect that we will receive licenses as needed for SMIC shipment. Now turning to guidance. For the fourth quarter, we expect revenue of approximately $110 million, gross margins of approximately 41%, operating profit of approximately $10 million and earnings per share of approximately $0.21. Using Q4 guidance, Axcelis revenues will be up 35% year-over-year. This is strong performance given that memory is expected to account for less than 35% of total revenues in 2020. When memory spending does strengthen, Axcelis will be well positioned to achieve our $550 million and $650 million target models over the next several years. Continued growth of Purion products is the key to achieving our long-term business models. During the third quarter, we shipped three new Purion high current product evaluations. We shipped the first Purion 200 to a leading power device company. The power device market is a critical market for Axcelis and the Purion H200 is expected to play a key role in increasing our customer base and market share in this segment. The other two evaluations are for Purion H systems, the first shipped to a leading advanced logic customer. The advanced logic market segment is a key focus for our $650 million model. The second Purion H shipped to a NAND customer that currently uses the Purion XE. Expanding our Purion footprint at existing customers is a critical element of our long-term strategies for both the $550 million and $650 million models. At the end of Q3, we had six evaluation systems in the field. These evaluations represent the acceptance of our new products, penetration into new market segments and expansion of our product footprint within an existing customer. This includes the Purion VXE and Purion XEmax, both focused on image sensors; a Purion H200 for powered devices; a Purion Dragon for DRAM applications; a Purion H for advanced logic; and a second Purion H for a NAND application. We expect to ship additional evaluation units over the next year as we continue to work closely with customers on further Purion adoption. Before Kevin reviews the financials, I would like to summarize four key takeaways. First, the mature process technology market is very strong and growing and Axcelis is the ion implant market leader in this segment. Second, China will continue to be an important market for Axcelis and we currently expect that we will receive licenses as needed for SMIC shipments. Third, memory is expected to recover in 2021 and will be additive to our strong mature process technology and Chinese business. And fourth, the Purion product family is extremely well positioned to support this future growth. Now I'd like to turn it over to Kevin to discuss our financials and some operational details. Kevin?