KALISPELL, MT, Nov. 5, 2009 (Marketwire) --
KALISPELL, MT -- (Marketwire) -- 11/05/09 -- Semitool, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMTL), a leading manufacturer of wafer processing equipment for the semiconductor industry, today reported financial results for its fourth fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2009.
Fourth quarter revenue was $47.1 million versus $31.8 million in this year's third quarter and $60.1 million in the fourth quarter last year. Gross margin was 42 percent versus 45 percent in the third quarter and 52 percent in the comparable year-ago quarter. Net income increased to $2.2 million, or $0.07 per share, compared with a net loss of $1.6 million, or $0.05 per share, in the third quarter and net income of $1.2 million, or $0.04 per share, in last year's fourth quarter. The net income increase versus the comparable year-ago quarter was primarily the result of the company's expense reduction efforts, which drove down operating costs by 42 percent from fourth quarter fiscal 2008 levels.
Fourth quarter bookings were $71.7 million, up 120 percent from this year's third quarter, and an increase of 102 percent versus the fourth quarter a year ago. Deferred revenue at the end of the quarter was $4.8 million and shipping backlog was $69.8 million, combining for a total revenue backlog of $74.6 million. Product shipments during the quarter were $47.5 million.
"The fourth quarter represented our strongest equipment bookings period in more than three years, and was the third best quarter in Semitool history," said Larry Murphy, president and chief operating officer. "Approximately 90 percent of fourth quarter tool bookings were follow-on orders, which illustrates the progress we made during the recent downturn at capturing new process-of-record opportunities and expanding our market share in Asia. Fourth quarter demand for copper ECD and advanced packaging tools was particularly strong, and we experienced a marked increase in orders for our legacy batch tools."
"We also received our first high-volume production tool order from the solar cell industry," Murphy added. "The growing strength of our core business combined with our early successes in emerging end markets has given us added confidence about our future prospects."
Full Year Results
For the full fiscal year, revenue was $139.0 million versus revenue of $238.6 million in fiscal 2008. Net loss was $11.4 million, or $0.35 per share, versus net income of $6.0 million, or $0.19 per share, last year.
At September 30, 2009, Semitool had cash and cash equivalents of $44.6 million, working capital of $125.4 million and total shareholders' equity of $169.4 million.
Guidance
Management expects to report revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 in the range of $47 million to $50 million. First quarter net income per share is expected to range from $0.07 to $0.09. Shipments for the quarter are expected to range from $47 million to $50 million. For fiscal 2010, management expects to report revenue in a range of between $190 million to $210 million.
Conference Call Information
Semitool will host an investor conference call and simultaneous webcast today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. The call can be accessed by dialing 877-356-3834 (706-679-0445 for international callers) and entering the passcode 38345425. The webcast will be available via the Internet at www.semitool.com. Webcast participants should access the website at least 10 minutes early to register and download any necessary audio software. A replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days. An audio replay will be available until 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 7, 2009, and can be accessed by calling 800-642-1687 (706-645-9291 for international callers) and entering the passcode 38345425.
About Semitool, Inc.
Semitool designs, manufactures and supports highly engineered, multi-chamber single-wafer and batch wet chemical processing equipment used in the fabrication of semiconductor devices. The company's primary suites of equipment include electrochemical deposition systems for electroplating copper, gold, solder and other metals; and surface preparation systems for cleaning, stripping and etching silicon wafers.
