Operator
Operator
Good day and welcome to the Veeco Instruments Q4 Year End 2014 Earnings Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Debra Wasser. Please go ahead, ma'am. Debra A. Wasser - Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications: Thank you operator, and thank you all for joining today's call. With me are Veeco's CEO, John Peeler and CFO, Sam Maheshwari. Today's earnings call is available on the Veeco website. Please note that we have prepared a slide presentation to accompany today's webcast. We encourage you to follow along with the slides on veeco.com. This call is being recorded by Veeco Instruments and is copyrighted material. It cannot be recorded or rebroadcast without Veeco's express permission. Your participation implies consent to our taping. To the extent that this call discusses expectations about market conditions, market acceptance and future sales of the company's products, future disclosures, future earnings expectations, or otherwise makes statements about the future, such statements are forward-looking and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors are discussed in the Business Description and Management's Discussion and Analysis sections of the company's report on Form 10-K and Annual Report to shareholders and in our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and press releases. Veeco does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, including those made on this call to reflect future events or circumstances after the date of such statements. During this call, management may address non-GAAP financial measures. Information regarding such non-GAAP financial measures, including reconciliation to GAAP measures of performance, is available on Veeco's website. I'd now like to turn the call over to John for opening remarks. John R. Peeler - Chairman & Chief Executive Officer: Thanks, Deb. One year ago, we said we transitioned Veeco back to growth and profitability. We've accomplished just that. We grew revenue and bookings, increased gross margins, realigned our cost structure, returned the company to EBITDA profitability and generated substantial cash. We also told you that the path to improved financial performance involved delivering game-changing new products and we've done that as well. The EPIK700 and Propel MOCVD systems were successfully launched and will contribute meaningfully to our market leadership and future growth. We gained market share in MBE with GENxplor. Data storage orders picked up nicely in the fourth quarter, result of having great products aligned with our customers' roadmaps. And lastly, we completed the purchase of SSEC, now called Veeco Precision Surface Processing, adding a new trajectory for revenue and profit growth in 2015 and beyond. One major disappointment for 2014 has been our atomic layer deposition business. We successfully demonstrated our FAST-ALD technology for flexible OLED encapsulation at a key customer. However, the incumbent deposition technology has progressed to be good enough for the current market requirements and we've not received any sizable orders for OLED encapsulation tools. While this opportunity may not be permanently off the table, diminished near-term revenue potential required an impairment charge and we will reduce our ALD spending. Going forward, we'll continue to assess our flexible OLED market opportunity and focus our ALD R&D efforts on semiconductor and other applications. Turning to the fourth quarter performance, I'm excited to report that we booked $196 million, our best quarter since 2011. Orders improved 80% from the third quarter. And as a result, we started 2015 with over $280 million in backlog, setting the stage for another year of growth. Revenue was $114 million, up 22% from the last quarter and we reported positive EBITDA. We generated approximately $50 million in cash from operations during the quarter. So even after the PSP acquisition, our cash balance remains quite strong at nearly $400 million. I'm pleased that we continue to execute effectively and deliver better results. I'll turn the call over to Sam for the details of our performance. Shubham Maheshwari - Chief Financial Officer & Executive VP-Finance: Thanks, John, and thanks everyone for joining us. I'm pleased to report that Veeco delivered within our guidance range for both the top line and the bottom line on a non-GAAP basis. Revenue for Q4 was $114 million. On a GAAP basis, we completed the acquisition of SSCC, now Veeco PSP, and also took a charge for impairment of assets related to ALD products. Due to these reasons, our GAAP diluted loss per share of $1.44 was significantly below the guided range. On a non-GAAP basis, diluted EPS was $0.13. Adjusted EBITDA of $8.3 million was significantly better than the prior quarter and also ahead of the top end of the guidance range of $6.7 million. Due to PSP acquisition, going forward we will be providing P&L guidance on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. We use these non-GAAP financial measures to assess our performance and facilitate meaningful comparison to our historical operating results. On slide nine, we have reconciled our non-GAAP measures to their most comparable GAAP equivalent. Consistent with industry peers, our non-GAAP measures exclude share-based compensation and acquisition-related items, including intangible amortization, transaction cost, write-up of inventory and backlog. I want to highlight some of the unusual one-time adjustments that we have removed from our Q4 non-GAAP results. We recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $55 million primarily due to changes in near-term financial expectations for the ALD business. We excluded a $3 million currency gain associated with the liquidation of our subsidiary in Japan. And in taxes, we excluded a $5 million tax benefit associated with the resolution of an incentive tax rate in Asia. Now moving to P&L highlights. Our recent acquisition of PSP is already yielding positive top-line and bottom-line growth. We completed the acquisition in early December 2014 and Q4 results include three weeks of PSP contribution. We recognized revenue from two EPIK700 systems, which received beta signoff during the fourth quarter. While revenue from production EPIK systems will remain deferred until we receive final acceptances, the accounting treatment for beta tools allowed us to recognize revenue in Q4. Gross margin on a non-GAAP basis was 38.5%, a significant three percentage point increase over Q3 and higher than the guidance range. Gross margin improved due to an increase in volume in MOCVD and data storage product, as well as the addition of PSP to our portfolio. And while we are very pleased with our gross margin performance, we remain focused on driving down our manufacturing costs through supply chain management and other initiatives. We expect to continue to see some volatility in gross margin as we manage competitive pricing pressure, which remains a factor for our gross margins. Our non-GAAP operating expenses remained the same as Q3 even though we added additional expenses associated with PSP. I'm pleased to report that excluding PSP, we met our expense reduction goals as stated in prior calls. Adjusted EBITDA was $8 million, a good result and achieved in part from the addition of PSP to our portfolio. The strong performance in Q4 makes our adjusted EBITDA positive for the full fiscal year 2014. In the tax area, we have structured our acquisition of PSP to preserve certain tax benefits, estimated to be worth up to $25 million over the next 15 years, as we can deduct a portion of the intangible asset amortization for tax purposes. Moving to the details of bookings for the fourth quarter. New orders were $196 million. These were significantly up from $107 million in Q3. MOCVD orders increased 75% to $142 million due mostly to the significant order received from Sanan to purchase 25 two-reactor EPIK Systems. MOCVD continues to strengthen. And like Q3, there were no order cancellations in the quarter. On balance, we have more customers requesting accelerated delivery dates rather than postponements. Data storage bookings almost tripled from Q3 to $45 million in Q4. In the hard disk drive market, we see signs of improved conditions as cloud-related expansion continues to demand higher capacity drive. While these signs and fourth quarter orders were encouraging, order pattern may remain uncertain in this business. Orders from PSP were $3 million for the December quarter. Now, turning to revenue. In Q4, we recognized $114 million in revenue, our first quarter above $100 million in two years. PSP added $8 million of revenue in Q4. Total company book-to-bill for Q4 was $1.7 million, driven primarily by the large order from Sanan. The total backlog at quarter end was $287 million. PSP added $28 million of backlog to the company as of the acquisition date. Now, turning to the balance sheet. Q4 cash flow from operations was $49 million and the quarter ended with $392 million in cash. Overall, cash balance declined sequentially from Q3 due to purchase of SSEC for $145 million on a net basis after adjustments. Cash balance was helped by the receipt of customer deposits as well as collection of an income tax refund from the IRS for approximately $21 million. Quarter-over-quarter, our AR balance has been stable and the increase in inventory is related to getting ready for the production ramp. Now, turning to guidance for Q1. In terms of our outlook for orders in the first quarter, given the fact that Q4 was nearly double the run rate that we were booking previously and that the order pattern is lumpy, we expect Q1 orders to be $100 million or better. Q1 revenue is expected to be in the range of $92 million to $100 million. More than $25 million of EPIK tools would be shipped, billed and invoiced in Q1, but we would wait to recognize revenue until such time as they are installed and final-accepted by the customers. Due to this revenue deferral, we have a dip in Q1 revenue and expect a corresponding increase in Q2 and Q3 revenue. Although we are not guiding for Q2 or Q3 quarters at this time, they are expected to be much higher than Q1 in revenue. Non-GAAP gross margin is expected in the range of 36% to 38%. Non-GAAP operating expenses are expected in the range of $37 million to $39 million. These numbers include full absorption of PSP into the company. Due to revenue being low in Q1, OpEx is somewhat low as well. We plan to reduce spending run rate in ALD by $4 million on an annual basis and expect to incur a restructuring charge of approximately $1 million. Despite completing ALD expense reduction, OpEx is expected to increase after Q1 due to revenue growth and in the range of $40 million to $42 million. I want to remind everybody that these are non-GAAP operating expenses and exclude equity compensation and intangibles amortization. GAAP EPS is expected to be a loss in the range of $0.59 to $0.53 per share. Non-GAAP EPS is expected to be a loss in the range of $0.13 to $0.07 per share. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of breakeven to $2 million. In closing, it is important to note that if we were able to take revenue on EPIK700s upon shipment, Veeco's Q1 revenue guidance would have been in the range of $120 million to $130 million. And the company would be solidly profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis. With that, I will turn the call back to John for a business update. John R. Peeler - Chairman & Chief Executive Officer: Thanks, Sam. Usage of LEDs in displays, signs and automobiles is growing due to lower power consumption and higher performance, while economics and energy efficiency continue to drive LED lighting adoption. IHS recently predicted that LEDs, which were about 5% of the lighting market on a unit basis last year, will represent over 25% or $10 billion of the lighting market by 2020. Interestingly, we expect 2015 to be the crossover year when shipments of LED for lighting surpass shipments of LEDs for backlighting. While there was some seasonal pullback in utilization rates in 2014, strong end market demand has quickly pushed utilization rates back to high levels. And with nearly $200 million of MOCVD backlog starting the year and some great new products that I'll tell you more about, the business is set up for another year of growth in 2015. LED manufacturing is an extremely competitive industry. And our customers' ultimate success requires that they increase their output, while simultaneously lowering their costs. The EPIK700 is a highly competitive product that improves productivity and yield and reduces customers' manufacturing cost. An EPIK cluster with two reactors has roughly the same output as a MaxBright with four reactors and provides significantly better yield and uniformity. From a cost of ownership and performance basis, EPIK is a real winner and it's helping us to widen the technology gap versus the competition. This added performance is not just good for our customers, it will enable us to achieve higher selling prices and better margins. With orders from strategic customers in four regions and solid quoting activity, highly confident that EPIK will drive both the top-line and bottom-line improvement in 2015. You all know that electric vehicles have limited driving ranges, server farms run too hot and are very expensive to cool and we prefer not to carry around large laptop chargers. As power is switched and converted in modern electrical systems and devices, countless terawatt hours are wasted as heat. Inefficient power conversion weighs tens of billions of dollars every year. Many leading companies are working to solve this problem with gallium nitride-based technology. The goal is to make 400 volt to 900 volt devices with higher switching speeds, smaller footprints and better efficiency. We've been shipping MOCVD reactors to power electronics customers for more than five years and our customers have repeatedly told us that no one's MOCVD system was optimized for their application. They told us they needed something different and that's why we introduced Propel. The Propel MOCVD system we launched in November is the industry's first system designed specifically to enable low-cost, high-yield GaN power devices. The first Propel is shipped. We're quoting multiple customers and we expect this system to be an important part of our future growth. We developed the Propel 200-millimeter single-wafer system with outstanding film uniformity, yield and device performance with long campaign runs and for the lowest cost of ownership. We believe that Propel can get novel GaN power devices out of the lab and into mass production a lot faster than otherwise would have occurred. I'm excited to tell you more about our new business, Veeco Precision Surface Processing. First, PSP extends our product footprint in exciting markets into advanced packaging, a market that we believe has enormous potential, in compound semi where we already serve LED, power electronics and wireless customers with our MOCVD and MBE technologies, and in MEMS, where we sell our ion beam etch systems. Second, PSP's core competency of single-wafer wet processing highly complementary to our current process equipment technologies and allows us to sell equipment for multiple process steps to the same customers. And third, we expect PSP to add about $65 million of highly profitable business to Veeco this year. While we've only owned PSP for a couple of months, it is exceeding our expectation. There's a lot of customer overlap and our sales team is already helping to expand their global reach. PSP's soak and spray process is to get wafers ready for thin film production, with lower cost, higher throughput and greater stability than the other alternatives. Competition between mobile device manufacturers as well as the Internet of things is driving the need for higher device functionality in smaller spaces, which requires 2.5 and 3D advanced packaging. The challenge here is to interconnect multiple devices in a single package at a commercially viable cost. PSP is helping to make advanced packaging and TSVs less expensive. So for example, our TSV revealer replaces up to four tools versus what is required for the dry etch approach, which would require a CMP, plasma etch, silicon-thickness measurement and wafer cleaning tools, whereas our PSP approach would require just a single tool. This lower cost of ownership approach represents a more economical, economically feasible solution for the industry. We're excited about our entry into advanced packaging. The market forecasted to have better than an 18% CAGR and which represents a large expansion of our served available market. At the start of this call, I told you that 2014 was a better year than 2013. I'm confident that 2015 will be a much better year than 2014 and in fact we're targeting over 30% growth. We've got great new products to drive our growth in LED lightning, power electronics and mobile devices, areas like MEMS, wireless and advanced packaging. We have a strong team focused on continuing to lower our manufacturing cost, keeping our organization streamlined and improving our bottom-line performance. And we expect to be EBITDA-profitable every quarter in 2015, with our profitability increasing as we proceed through the year. So with that, operator, we'll start the Q&A session.