Earnings Labs

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (UCTT)

Q1 2013 Earnings Call· Mon, Apr 22, 2013

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good afternoon. My name is Matthew, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Ultra Clean Technology First Quarter Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Joining us today is Mr. Casey Eichler, Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Clarence Granger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. I will now turn the call over to Ms. Sheri Brumm, Vice President of Finance. Ma'am, you may begin.

Sheri Brumm

Analyst

Thank you, operator. Welcome to our first quarter financial results conference call. Presenting today are Clarence Granger, Ultra Clean's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Casey Eichler, Ultra Clean's Chief Financial Officer. We will begin by presenting the financial results for our first quarter, and Clarence will follow with some remarks about the business. A few moments ago, we issued a press release reporting financial results for the first quarter ended March 29, 2013. The press release can be accessed from the Investor Relations section of Ultra Clean's website, along with information for the tape delay and replay of the live webcast at uct.com. Together with our recently issued press release, this conference call enables the company to comply with the SEC regulations for fair disclosure. Therefore, investors should accept the contents of this call as the company's official guidance for the second quarter of fiscal 2013. Investors should note that only the CEO and CFO are authorized to provide company guidance. If at any time after this call we communicate any material changes in guidance, it is our intent that such updates will be done officially via public forum, such as a press release or publicly announced conference call. The matters that we discuss today include forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, related to matters including our future financial performance, new product orders and shipments and industry growth. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Some of those risks and uncertainties are detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any such forward-looking statements or to reflect events or circumstances that occur after this call. Now here is Casey to present the first quarter results.

Kevin C. Eichler

Analyst

Thank you, Sheri. Revenue for the first quarter was $100.5 million or an increase of 12% from the prior quarter, and a decrease of 9% when compared to the same period a year ago. Semiconductor revenue for the first quarter was $85.6 million, an increase of 12%, and non-semiconductor revenue was $14.9 million, an increase of 9% when compared to the fourth quarter. Semiconductor revenue was 85% of total revenue for the quarter. Revenue outside of the U.S. was 21% in the quarter compared to 18% in the prior quarter. Four customers had revenue of over 10% for the quarter. Gas delivery systems represented 54% of our revenue for the quarter. Gross margin for the first quarter increased to 13.8% compared to 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Operating expenses were $13.2 million or an increase of approximately $240,000 from the prior quarter due to higher audit fees and less mandatory time off. Our operating expenses as a percentage of revenue will be in the 11% to 12% range in the second quarter but our long-term target remains 9%. We had operating income of $621,000 or 1% before interest expense and income taxes compared to an operating loss of 100 -- $1.4 million or 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Excluding M&A-related costs and amortization of intangibles, our operating income was $2.2 million or 2.2% in the first quarter. Interest expense for the quarter was $588,000, a decrease of approximately $128,000. An income tax benefit of $25,000 was recorded in the first quarter. The tax rate for the second quarter should be modeled at 24%. First quarter net loss was $311,000 or $0.01 per share. Excluding transaction costs and amortization expense related to the merger with AIT, first quarter net income was $1 million or $0.04 per share compared to $0.00 per…

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Thanks, Casey. I'm pleased that during our first quarter of 2013, we saw some recovery in the semiconductor capital equipment industry. Total revenue coming from semiconductor equipment sales increased greater than $9 million quarter-over-quarter. Yet, the percentage of our sales coming from this industry stayed fairly flat with Q4 2012, indicating growth in our other served markets as well. As Casey previously stated, our revenue for Q1 was $100.5 million, and our adjusted earnings per share was $0.04, excluding merger and amortization charges. On our previous earnings call, we had guided to Q1 revenue of $96 million to $101 million, and $0.02 to $0.06 adjusted earnings per share. Along with increased revenue, we were able to increase our margins a full percentage point from 12.8% in Q4 to 13.8% in Q1. Additionally, UCT's cash balance was at an all-time high. I'll now review highlights of our activities for the first quarter. One of UCT's key accomplishments for the quarter was related to cash. Our cash balances were at an all-time high for the company. We had a cash level of $64.9 million, while at the same time reducing our debt by nearly $5 million. We feel that this is a great accomplishment in light of the decline in demand seen over the last several quarters. One of the main reasons that we've been able to generate such cash level is that we're concentrated heavily on operational execution. Among other accomplishments, operations has increased our gross margins and reduced our inventory. Over the last 3 quarters, we have achieved inventory reductions of over $12 million, and we believe there are still opportunities for further reductions. We're very confident that as a result of our operational execution, we will continue to generate cash and reduce our debt. In Q1, 21% of our…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And your first question comes from the line of Edwin Mok. Edwin Mok - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: So I have a few questions. First one is for the quarter, .not only in semis you guys saw a rebound, but even on non-semi area. Can you give us more color which end market or what is driving that? Is that new win -- the new wins that you guys talked about that was driving the growth, or is it end market? Anything will be helpful.

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Yes, Edwin, this is Clarence. Ironically, we've actually started to see a little bit of a pickup again in the flat panel market, so I would say that's probably the area outside -- medical continues to be a good market for us but we're starting to see a little bit of a rebound in the flat panel market. Edwin Mok - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: And then what about the other wins that you guys talked about, like the robotic business that you talked about last quarter? Are those starting to contribute to the top line as well?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Yes, we're starting to get some of that business. I said we would be ramped on the robotic side. That is semiconductor business, so that is part of the growth in semiconductor. But we are still shipping in relatively low volumes. We anticipate reaching what I had said is around $2 million a quarter, and $8 million to $10 million a year run rate on that new robotics business. And we expect that to start to kick in towards the end of Q3 and fully kicked in in Q4. We also think there's some further growth opportunities within that market. Edwin Mok - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: I see. That's very helpful. And then on this new consumer electronic win, when you say automations, I assume you'd return to manufacturing on consumer electronics product and some automation equipment related to that. Am I correct in that?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

That is correct, yes. It's an automated inspection system. And we're manufacturing it for them in Asia. Edwin Mok - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: I see. So business could be a little bit lumpy. I see. And it sounds like business could be a little lumpy for that business. But $2 million is actually a pretty good size business for a quarter. I was wondering, any way you can kind of quantify, I mean, is this something that you think you can see a lot more those type of customer come in, is it something that you expect to get [indiscernible] one customer at a quarter? How do you guys think about that?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Yes, I do. I mean -- Edwin, again, this is Clarence. So the way we feel about that, so we think this is kind of an untapped market. I mean, obviously, our primary focus is going to be to continue to be on our large customers and potential large opportunity, business opportunities, but we also see a fairly significant segment of relatively small companies that are selling typically manufacturing equipment of some kind into a market where they get big demands for tools. And then once that demand is satisfied, they have a lull period and then it picks up again maybe 6 months later. And so we've identified at least 2 or 3 customers that are now -- that we're now supporting and we think there might be quite a few more out there, might be smaller companies, might be startup companies. But we think that's kind of an untapped market and we think we can do well at that. Edwin Mok - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: In those business, do you expect to have a similar kind of margin structure as your current business?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

I would say at least as good as our current margin structure. Maybe a little better because there's more complexity.

Kevin C. Eichler

Analyst

But generally, yes. Edwin Mok - Needham & Company, LLC, Research Division: I see. Very helpful. And then, I guess, last question and I'll go away. So on kind of your guidance, if I take what you said, Casey, which is OpEx remain at this 11% to 12% range, which is what you did in the first quarter, and I take kind of your top line guidance, still implies, actually still pretty meaningful gross margin improvement in the coming quarter, right? So I'm just curious, is that all just volume or is it more work that you guys are doing in the gross margin front to drive that improvement and how do you kind of think about that also in terms of further improvement? Is it all just going to be driven by volume or is that other stuff that you're guys doing to improve that?

Kevin C. Eichler

Analyst

Yes. I think the natural drivers, as you mentioned, are volume and also mix between low-cost region and the U.S. Those are kind of the natural drivers from quarter-to-quarter, but there is also continued margin improvement activities going on that we think will continue to nick away and drop more through. So those are the biggest drivers of that.

Operator

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Iyer Jagadish.

Jagadish K. Iyer - Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division

Analyst

Clarence, Casey, 2 questions. First, on your semi business, as you look out for the remainder of the year, how should we be thinking about your semi business? I know you have very little visibility sometimes, but as you see that evolving, any granularity in terms of the first half or the second half? And then I have a follow-up, please.

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Sure, Jagadish, this is Clarence. I would say, at this point in time, it remains pretty cloudy about what's going to go on in the second half in the semiconductor side. I don't see any huge swings one way or the other, but we're getting conflicting information from analysts and customers, so right now, I would say it probably looks pretty flat, maybe slightly up or down but not significantly either way. That's only into the third quarter, I have 0 visibility into the fourth quarter. And was there another part of the question?

Jagadish K. Iyer - Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division

Analyst

Yes. So how do you kind of plan out your operations for the remainder of this year? Do you still have kind of shutdowns and other things that you have planned out, just to manage your expenses?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Yes. Again, we are not planning any shutdowns in the second quarter. So based on the increased volumes, we think we can achieve these performance metrics that we've outlined without any shutdowns. So it's really going to depend on what happens and business condition swings. The other thing that we're primarily focused on right now is combining UCT and AIT successfully and efficiently in Q1. Obviously, we took some big steps by combining our new business development team and refocusing our overall sales force to get the team better focused on the future and consolidate it and coordinate it and we think that will do a lot of good for us. So we still think -- our primary focus at this point in time on terms of business activity and business opportunity is still focused on the consolidation and combination of UCT and AIT. I think there's lots of things that we can continue to do here that will make us a more efficient and profitable company as we fully digest combining the 2 businesses.

Jagadish K. Iyer - Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division

Analyst

Fair enough. Just a question for Casey, just wanted to -- Casey, did you call out what was your cash flow from operations in the quarter, please?

Kevin C. Eichler

Analyst

Well, again, I called out the noncash items that contribute to that. So it was this FAS 123R calculation, so do you want me to walk right back through that?

Jagadish K. Iyer - Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division

Analyst

No, no. I just want the number on that one.

Kevin C. Eichler

Analyst

It was $1.3 million.

Jagadish K. Iyer - Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division

Analyst

Okay. And as you start to pile up more cash, is the strategy going to be just to pay off those long-term debt or are you going to keep some dry powder for any acquisitions?

Kevin C. Eichler

Analyst

Yes. So certainly, paying down the debt is important but we also want to have the flexibility to take advantage of opportunities as we would see them. And so we do want to have some powder, as you say, for that type of opportunity and also make sure that we have the appropriate level of operating cash. But certainly, we've been paying the debt down and we'll continue to pay the debt down and that's an important thing as well.

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

We wouldn't walk away from a really good opportunity. On the other hand, we still have a fair amount to digest in combining the 2 companies, so unless something extraordinary came along, I think our near-term primary focus is to successfully combine the 2 companies. And then longer-term, we have had success with acquisitions and we do believe in that strategically. So at some point in time, we would expect to do that again.

Jagadish K. Iyer - Piper Jaffray Companies, Research Division

Analyst

Okay. Casey, what kind of cash levels would you be comfortable kind of maintaining some level of threshold?

Kevin C. Eichler

Analyst

Well, certainly, again, we run this business with net cash balances around $10 million or $11 million. And so it doesn't take a huge amount of cash to run the business but I think to have the cash and the operating flexibility to take advantage of opportunities, I think you'd want to try to have a net cash position probably closer to $20 million to $30 million.

Operator

Operator

And your next question comes from the line of Dick Ryan. Richard A. Ryan - Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division: Say, Clarence, on AIT, you talked about that cost savings and the efficiencies you're starting to see there. How about top line. Any success getting any cross-selling opportunities going?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

We do anticipate that those kinds of things will happen. One of the things that we've talked about or some of the things that we talked about are the strengths of AIT has been their complete vertical integration and making complete turnkey tools, their ability to make sheet metal and frame assemblies, their ability to do control panels. So we think there's some opportunities there. And on the UCT side, we have an international presence and they had a relatively limited international presence. So it wouldn't surprise us at some point in the near future to see something that might combine some of the strengths of both of those companies. But we're not in a position to discuss anything right now. Richard A. Ryan - Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division: Okay. On the automated inspection customer, was there any contribution in Q1 from them or did this start just with Q2?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

No contribution in Q1. It will all be in Q2. Richard A. Ryan - Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division: Okay. And is that kind of a high or low watermark, if you can kind of...

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

I think that's kind of their run rate. I don't -- when they get orders, they seem to be in that kind of magnitude. So I think we'll see a -- what I was implying is I think we'll see a roughly $2 million quarter in Q2, maybe slightly higher than that and then probably 1 or 2 quarters with nothing and then probably another $2 million pop as they secure another customer. Richard A. Ryan - Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division: Okay. In your comments about the semi recovery, what are the tone of the conversations across customers? Is it pretty solid across customers or is there some spotting as that can give you some -- you talked about the cloudiness in Q3, but [indiscernible] of those comments?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Yes, I think, most -- a lot of what we're seeing is rumors about end-users and what they're doing and what they're planning and are they going to scale back or increase their commitments. And so I would say from our customers, it seems to be fairly consistent and relatively flat. It's really hard for me to -- and then we hear all these anecdotal inputs from analysts and various other sources that we really can't tell how factual-based they are. Richard A. Ryan - Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division: Okay. And LED, obviously, a small contributor...

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

LED continues to be a very small contributor. On our side, at least, we have not seen an increase of any significance in that. Richard A. Ryan - Dougherty & Company LLC, Research Division: Okay. So that's still less than $1 million?

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Yes, on that order. That order of magnitude, roughly 1% of sales.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And there are no further audio questions at this time.

Kevin C. Eichler

Analyst

Great. Well, I appreciate it. Thanks, everybody, for joining. And we look forward to talking with all of you over the course of the quarter.

Clarence L. Granger

Analyst

Thanks a lot. Bye.

Operator

Operator

This does conclude today's teleconference. You may now disconnect.