Sean Smith
Analyst · SunTrust
Thanks, Peter, and good morning, everyone.
First quarter sales increased 5% year-over-year and was our highest first quarter ever as an increase in high-end sales more than offset lower mainstream shipments. Again, sequentially, sales were down 8%, slightly more than typical seasonal trends with lower sales in high-end foundry logic, principally in Asia, and to a lesser extent, lower U.S. and European-based mainstream sales.
Breaking Q1 sales out geographically, 66% of total sales were from Asia, 28% from North America and 6% from Europe. IC sales were down 2% compared with last year and 11% sequentially. We realized the benefit of product diversity as the impact of soft logic demand was partially mitigated by continued strength in memory. High-end IC sales were $41.2 million, a sequential decline of $8.7 million, principally in Asia.
The transition to 20-nanometer DRAM is still ongoing, driving strong global demand for high-end memory masks. On the high-end logic side, our customers are in the process of ramping 28 and 14 nanometers. And as is typical with any new product introduction, demand has been lumpy over the last several quarters.
In mainstream, greater-than-normal seasonal softness in the U.S. and Europe and lower foundry demand in Asia led to year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decreases. While we anticipate demand for high-end memory to remain strong and for mainstream to rebound from the slow seasonal trends in the U.S. and Europe, high-end logic demand will likely not recover until the second half of 2016, and we anticipate potential headwinds in Asia due to the Chinese New Year.
Sales of FPD photomask were flat compared with a very strong fourth quarter and up 37% over last year on continued strength in the high-end, which increased 7% sequentially. Demand for advanced LCD and OLED displays is extremely strong, and we've seen an increase in backlog giving us the ability to selectively accept orders that optimize revenue and profitability, which is why mainstream sales are lower.
Given the current level of demand and the future growth we expect in this sector, we're in the process of determining our next investment to expand our capacity and capability. Considering the cost and lead time of installing additional writing tools, we need to exercise caution and sound stewardship when making investment decisions. Until then, we expect sales to remain flat limited by our install capacity.
Gross margin for the first quarter was 27.3%, down 420 basis points sequentially as a result of reduced volumes, principally as discussed mainstream IC and foundry logic. Operating expenses increased modestly by 500k to $17.9 million compared with the previous quarter. All-in, for Q1, our operating profit margin was 13.5%.
EBITDA for the quarter was $50 million and, on a trailing 12-month basis, $177 million, a new record for Photronics. As previously reported, we did benefit from a onetime net gain of $8.8 million in the quarter related to the sale of an investment in a foreign entity.
Income taxes of $3.7 million fell sequentially as a result of lower pretax income. We would like to note that the onetime gain had essentially no impact on our taxes for Q1 since this was in the U.S.
Minority interest expense for the quarter was $2.5 million, down $1 million sequentially. Excluding the onetime gains, net income was more than double the first quarter of 2015 but down sequentially due to lower sales and resulting impact on profitability.
GAAP net income for Q1 was $21 million, and excluding the gain, net income was $12.2 million. GAAP EPS amounted to $0.28 per diluted share, and excluding the gain, EPS amounted to $0.17 per diluted share.
Now turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with a cash position of $231 million, bringing our net cash position to $101 million. Working capital improved by $35 million sequentially. I would like to remind everyone that the $57.5 million of our convertible debt becomes due during second quarter with the conversion price of $10.37 per share. In the event that the shares do not convert, we certainly have sufficient cash on hand to pay the principal.
Also, please recall that our investment in MP Mask JV in Boise amounts to approximately $93 million. The JV will not renew when the current term ends in May of this year, and we anticipate receiving a cash payment from Micron for our investment after the JV concludes.
Cash CapEx for the quarter was $22 million. We still anticipate spending approximately $50 million to $75 million in CapEx this year, while that amount could increase if we decide to invest in additional capacity.
Before providing second quarter guidance, I'd like to remind you -- everyone, that our visibility as always is limited. Our backlog is typically 1 to 2 weeks. Also, demand for some of our products, such as high-end IC foundry logic, is inherently lumpy and difficult to predict. Given those caveats, we expect revenues in our second quarter to be between $120 million and $130 million. This range assumes high-end memory and FPD remains strong and mainstream in the U.S. and Europe rebound from their seasonal slowdown, and high-end logic remains soft due to lackluster demand from Asian foundries. We're also assuming some headwinds in Asia due to the Chinese New Year.
Based on this revenue expectations in our current operating model, we estimate EPS for the second quarter of 2016 to be in the range of $0.08 to $0.16 per diluted share. The first quarter was challenging not only for us and our customers but for the markets we serve. The good news is that, thanks to the investments we've made and the market share we've gained over the last several years, we had higher sales than any first quarter in our history and achieved solid profitability. Further, we see signs of improving market conditions throughout the balance of 2016 and anticipate returning to a growth trajectory by the second half of the year.
Coupled with our growing cash balance, we're well positioned to grow profitably and continue to invest in growth.
Thank you for your interest. And we'll now turn the call over to the operator for your questions.