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Aehr Test Systems announced financial results for its fiscal 2024 fourth quarter and full year ended May 31, 2024.
Fiscal Fourth Quarter Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $16.6 million, compared to $22.3 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023
- GAAP net income was $23.9 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, which includes the impact of a tax benefit resulting from the release of the Company’s full income tax valuation allowance of approximately $20.8 million, compared to GAAP net income of $6.1 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income was $24.7 million, or $0.84 per diluted share, which includes the tax benefit and excludes acquisition related costs and the impact of stock-based compensation, compared to non-GAAP net income of $6.8 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Bookings were $4.0 million for the quarter
- Backlog as of May 31, 2024, was $7.3 million. Effective backlog, which includes all orders received since the end of the fourth quarter, is $20.8 million.
- Total cash and cash equivalents as of May 31, 2024 were $49.2 million, up from $47.6 million at February 29, 2024
Fiscal Year Financial Results:
- Net revenue was a record $66.2 million, compared to $65.0 million in fiscal 2023
- GAAP net income was $33.2 million, or $1.12 per diluted share, which includes the impact of a tax benefit resulting from the release of the Company’s full income tax valuation allowance of approximately $20.8 million recognized in the fourth quarter, compared to GAAP net income of $14.6 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, in fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income, which includes the tax benefit and excludes acquisition related costs and the impact of stock-based compensation, was $35.8 million, or $1.21 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $17.3 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, in fiscal 2023.
An explanation of the use of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of Aehr’s non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the accompanying tables.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented:
“Our full-year revenue and net income results exceeded our previously provided guidance and surpassed analyst consensus. Although we saw customer pushouts of silicon carbide devices due to slower electric vehicle (EV) demand in the second half of our fiscal year, we achieved another record year for annual revenue for Aehr.
“Wafer level test and burn-in of silicon carbide power semiconductors used in EVs was a key driver of our business in the last year, and we anticipate silicon carbide will continue to be a key contributor to revenue in the current fiscal year and beyond. To that point, we announced today that we received $12.7 million in orders from one of our silicon carbide test and burn-in customers for FOX WaferPak™ full wafer Contactors to support production of silicon carbide power devices for electric vehicles to be delivered over the next three months.
“The silicon carbide market continues to be an enormous opportunity for Aehr as we see more auto suppliers committed to silicon carbide in their EVs, as well as roadmaps that are based on modules for their electric motor power inverters. By 2030, battery EVs are forecasted to more than triple last year’s sales to 30 million or 30% of total vehicles manufactured worldwide.
“We remain actively engaged with a significant number of new silicon carbide device and module suppliers and seek to meet their anticipated capacity coming online beginning in 2025. We are also seeing growing demand for silicon carbide devices beyond the EV market, such as solar, data center, and other industrial applications for power conversion. We believe we are well positioned to continue to grow our business in silicon carbide, and we expect to receive first orders from a significant number of additional silicon carbide customers by the end of this fiscal year.
“We are also seeing traction with several emerging opportunities for our test and burn-in solutions in new target markets and expect bookings and revenue across a much broader range of customers and markets this fiscal year.
“One of the key new market opportunities we are focusing on is the growing demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) processor test and burn-in at both the wafer level and the packaged part level.
“We are currently working with an AI accelerator company and have secured a commitment from them to evaluate our FOX solution for use in production wafer level burn-in of their high-power processors. Upon successful demonstration of wafer level test results and throughput, we expect they will utilize our new high-power FOX-XP systems for production of their next generation AI processors, starting this fiscal year.
“We also announced today in a separate press release our acquisition of Incal Technology, a manufacturer of highly acclaimed reliability test and burn-in solutions of a wide range of semiconductor devices and markets, with a new product family of ultra-high-power test solutions for AI accelerators, graphics & network processors, and high-performance computing processors. We believe that between wafer level and package part, the reliability test and production burn-in market for AI processors exceeds $100 million annually, and with this combined product portfolio we believe we have the opportunity to capture a meaningful share of the market this fiscal year.
“This past year we announced our first order for a FOX wafer level test and burn-in system for gallium nitride (GaN) devices. While silicon carbide will be the semiconductor material of choice for EV traction inverters, GaN is expected to gain significant penetration in the on-board charging market as well as other automotive, solar, and data center power conversion applications. We are working with several of the GaN market leaders, and received a significant number of WaferPak orders throughout the year for gallium nitride reliability test and qualification. We have now received our first forecasts for wafer level production burn-in systems to be delivered during this fiscal year. We continue to be encouraged by this market and believe it will be significant in market size for semiconductors and has the potential to be a solid market opportunity for Aehr’s solutions.
“Within the silicon photonics market, we shipped the first order from a major silicon photonics customer for the new high-power configuration of our FOX-XP system this last fiscal year. This new configuration expands our market opportunity by enabling cost-effective volume production test of wafers of next-generation photonic ICs that are targeted for use in the new optical I/O or co-packaged optics market. Nvidia, AMD, and Intel have all discussed the potential for adding optical chip-to-chip communication for performance improvement and power savings for AI processors and High-Performance Computing chips.
“Looking ahead, we believe Aehr has significant opportunities for growth in fiscal 2025 and beyond with our industry-leading product portfolio, and we look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year as we seek to capitalize on these exciting new opportunities.”
Fiscal 2025 Financial Guidance:
For the fiscal year ending May 30, 2025, Aehr expects total revenue of at least $70 million and net profit before taxes of at least 10% of revenue.
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced financial results for its third quarter of fiscal 2024 ended February 29, 2024.
Fiscal Third Quarter Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $7.6 million, compared to $17.2 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net loss was $(1.5) million, or $(0.05) per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $4.1 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net loss, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, was $(0.9) million, or $(0.03) per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $4.7 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Bookings were $24.5 million for the quarter.
- Backlog as of February 29, 2024 was $20 million.
- Total cash and cash equivalents as of February 29, 2024 were $47.6 million, compared to $50.5 million at November 30, 2023.
Fiscal First Nine Months Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $49.6 million, compared to $42.7 million in the first nine months of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net income was $9.3 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $8.4 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, in the first nine months of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income was $11.0 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, compared to $10.5 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, in the first nine months of fiscal 2023.
- Cash provided by operations was $0.5 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2024.
An explanation of the use of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of Aehr’s non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the accompanying tables.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented:
“As we noted in our preliminary earnings release in March, our third quarter results reflect delays in wafer level burn-in system orders for silicon carbide semiconductor devices used in electric vehicles. Due to this, we had revised our guidance for our fiscal 2024 full year ending May 31, 2024 to be greater than $65 million in total revenue and net income of at least $11 million, which we are reiterating today. We still expect to finish this fiscal year with annual revenue that is near or above our full year record.“Last week we announced an initial order for our FOX-NP solution from a new customer that is a multi-billion dollar per year global semiconductor company, and is entering the silicon carbide market to address several applications that include automotive, industrial, and electrification infrastructure. This is our third straight new customer for silicon carbide that is primarily focused on applications other than electric vehicles, expanding our opportunity within silicon carbide beyond electric vehicles.
“We are still in continued engagements up to and including on-wafer evaluations with well over a dozen silicon carbide suppliers that are focusing on both electric vehicles and other applications and are forecasting production needs for wafer level test and burn-in of their devices with decision timelines that spread out over the next year. We are focused on the qualification process with as many new customers as possible, as once we have demonstrated our FOX wafer level test and burn-in solution using their own wafers, we have not yet lost a potential customer.
“Our discussions with customers indicate that the key markets Aehr is addressing for semiconductor wafer level test and burn-in have significant growth opportunities that will expand this year and throughout this decade, and we are seeing increased customer engagement in each of these markets. We have also seen a recent strengthening in the silicon carbide market for electric vehicles outside the US in what appears to be a shift in the market share of electric vehicle suppliers. This includes Asia where we recently had extensive and very productive and positive visits with a significant number of silicon carbide suppliers and electric vehicle suppliers that we will provide additional details on during our earnings call.
“According to many market forecasts, including the Semiconductor Industry Association, the semiconductor industry is expected to grow from $600 billion in 2022 to over $1 trillion at or around 2030. This acceleration is coming from mega market drivers including artificial intelligence (AI), green energy and decarbonization, and IoT-based digital transformation. Increased reliability concerns about semiconductors, a growing number of mission critical applications, and more multi-chip modules or heterogeneous integration with multiple devices being assembled in a single package are driving the need for wafer level burn-in. At semiconductor industry conferences around the world, we are seeing an increased focus on test and burn-in moving to wafer level before these devices are put into multi-chip packages and modules.
“These favorable macro trends are driving the business that drives Aehr Test and include:
- silicon carbide power devices going into high-density modules for power conversion in electric vehicles;
- gallium nitride power semiconductors going into automotive, solar, and other mission critical industrial applications;
- silicon photonics integrated circuits being put into transceivers for data center infrastructure and optical chip-to-chip communication of CPU, GPU, and AI processors;
- memory devices for solid state disk drives used in enterprise and data storage or for AI processors.
“Our continued investments in the FOX platform like the new 3.5 kW per wafer FOX-XP multi-wafer production system we began shipping last month also position us well to address the requirements of other new market segments that we believe we will be able to discuss over the next several months.
“As we head toward fiscal 2025, we are encouraged by our increasing engagements with current and potential customers and the long-term growth opportunities of all these markets.”
Fiscal 2024 Financial Guidance:
For the fiscal year ending May 31, 2024, Aehr is reiterating its previously provided guidance for total revenue of greater than $65 million and GAAP net income of approximately $11 million or more, or $0.38 per diluted share.Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced it has received an initial customer order for a FOX-NP™ wafer level test and burn-in system, multiple WaferPak™ Contactors, and a FOX WaferPak Aligner to be used for engineering, qualification, and small lot production wafer level test and burn-in of their silicon carbide devices.
The customer is multiple billion dollar per year global semiconductor company with locations across Europe, Asia, and the Americas that serves various industries including automotive, industrial, mobile, and consumer applications. The FOX-NP system, including the FOX WaferPak Aligner and initial WaferPaks, are scheduled to ship over the next few months.
The FOX-NP system is configured with the new Bipolar Voltage Channel Module (BVCM) and Very High Voltage Channel Module (VHVCM) options that enable new advanced test and burn-in capabilities for silicon carbide power semiconductors using Aehr’s proprietary WaferPak full wafer Contactors.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “We are very excited that this new customer selected our FOX-P solution for engineering, qualification, and production of their silicon carbide power devices. After working with the Aehr team and our technology solutions over an extended period of time, they felt secure in our ability to aid them in achieving these goals. A key feature in their selection of our FOX solution is its proven ability to cost-effectively implement their target burn-in and stabilization requirements, including 100% traceability and proof that every device on the wafer is burned in for the needed test duration.
“This customer currently has a wide range of automotive products and is entering the silicon carbide market to address several applications that include automotive, industrial, and electrification infrastructure. Key capabilities of our solution include our ability to scale from engineering and qualification and small lot production with the FOX-NP system to large scale production with the FOX-XP with Automated WaferPak Aligner. They have told us that they plan to transition to our FOX-XP multi-wafer test and burn-in systems for high-volume production. Aehr’s FOX-P technology facilitates a seamless transition from engineering to high-volume production with 100% compatibility between systems.
“This customer sees the enormous opportunity for silicon carbide power devices in industrial and power applications. William Blair forecasts that in addition to the 4.5 million six-inch equivalent wafers that will be needed to meet the demand for electric vehicle related silicon carbide devices in 2030, another 2.8 million wafers are needed to address industrial, solar, electric trains, energy conversion and other applications in 2030. The cost of ownership of our solution proves to be more cost-effective and efficient for these devices than package part burn-in after the die are packaged. This is a strong testimony of the advantage of wafer level burn-in as a better alternative to package part burn-in.
“The FOX family of compatible systems including the FOX-NP and FOX-XP multi-wafer test and burn-in systems and Aehr’s proprietary WaferPak full wafer contactors provide a uniquely cost-effective solution for burning in multiple wafers of devices at a single time to remove early life failures of silicon carbide devices, which is critical to meeting the initial quality and long-term reliability of the automotive, industrial, and electrification infrastructure industry needs.”
The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems, available with multiple WaferPak Contactors (full wafer test) or multiple DiePakTM Carriers (singulated die/module test) configurations, are capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of devices such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride power semiconductors, silicon photonics as well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories, magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs in either wafer form factor, before they are assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages, or in singulated die or module form factor.
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced preliminary financial results for its third quarter of fiscal 2024 ended February 29, 2024. Preliminary results reflect delays in wafer level burn-in system orders for semiconductor devices used in electric vehicles that have created a short-term gap in revenue and profitability. Additionally, Aehr provided updated revenue guidance for its full fiscal year ending May 31, 2024.
For the fiscal third quarter ended February 29, 2024, Aehr expects:
- Revenue of approximately $7.6 million
- GAAP net loss of approximately $1.5 million to $1.8 million, or $0.05 to $0.06 per diluted share
- Non-GAAP net loss of approximately $0.9 million to $1.2 million, or $0.03 to $0.04 per diluted share, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation
- Bookings of $24.5 million
- Backlog as of February 29, 2024, of $20 million
For the fiscal 2024 full year ending May 31, 2024, Aehr expects:
- Total revenue of at least $65 million
- GAAP net income of approximately $11 million or more, or $0.38 per diluted share
- Non-GAAP net income of approximately $14 million or more, or $0.48 per diluted share, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation
An explanation of the use of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of Aehr’s non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures will be included when Aehr releases its full financial results for the fiscal 2024 third quarter on April 9, 2024.
Aehr Test Systems President and CEO Gayn Erickson commented: “As we discussed in our second quarter earnings call, we had seen several push outs of forecasted orders by current and new customers that impacted our fiscal year revenue. We believe that this was due to two key factors. There is clearly softness in the overall semiconductor capital spending, particularly in automotive applications, related to a glut in inventory driving down near-term orders to these companies and has caused them to push out capital spending and drive cost reductions. Multiple companies including the companies we had expected orders from have publicly discussed inventory related headwinds in their public earnings calls and press releases. In addition, we have seen specific shifts in order timing of our equipment used for wafer level test and burn-in of silicon carbide power semiconductors used in electric vehicles. In just the last two weeks of the quarter, we saw delays in orders for silicon carbide systems with customer-requested ship dates within the quarter as well as a last-minute push out by a customer of a system in our backlog. The net effect of this was a significant shift in revenues out of the third and fourth quarters. Until this time, we had been hearing from those customers that their silicon carbide-based capital investments were not being impacted.
“It is now clear that the recent overall softness in semiconductors and the impact of shifts in electric vehicle introductions and ramps are impacting our bookings and revenue forecasts more than we understood only two months ago at our last earnings call. We now expect this to last for another quarter or two before the orders resume based on the latest roll up of direct forecasts from over a dozen silicon carbide companies. We are now forecasting revenue for the full fiscal year to be $65 million or more, representing revenue of at least $15.4 million in our fiscal fourth quarter. We still expect to finish the year with near or above record annual revenue for the year.
“Our discussions with customers indicate to us that the key markets Aehr is addressing for semiconductor wafer level test and burn-in have significant long-term growth opportunities that will continue to expand throughout this decade. Despite what we believe are temporary delays in current and new customer orders, we believe Aehr will experience significant order, revenue, and earnings growth from these market opportunities. Our unique, proprietary wafer level test and burn-in offering for semiconductors addresses the need for the critical reliability testing and screening of semiconductors used in the worldwide electrification infrastructure, battery and hybrid electric vehicles, data and telecommunications and data storage, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence processors and communications chips, and in the large and growing semiconductor memory market. We look forward to discussing the impact and timing of these markets and the increase in customer engagements in all these markets on our earnings call planned for April 9th.”
The foregoing preliminary financial information reflects management’s current views with respect to the Company’s financial results. These preliminary results remain subject to the completion of normal quarter-end accounting procedures and closing adjustments. Aehr plans to release its full financial results for the fiscal 2024 third quarter on April 9, 2024, and will provide the time and conference call details in a later press release. No independent registered public accounting firm has reviewed, examined, or performed any procedures with respect to, nor have they expressed any form of assurance on, these preliminary estimated results.
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced it has received new follow-on orders totaling $23 million from existing customers for FOXTM wafer level test and burn-in products to be used for production and engineering qualification needs for wafer level burn-in and screening of their silicon carbide devices. Customer-requested ship dates for these orders range from immediate shipment through the end of Aehr’s current fiscal year, which ends May 31, 2024.
The orders include a significant number of FOX WaferPakTM full wafer Contactors for both current design capacity increases as well as new device designs that are expected to drive additional orders in calendar year 2024 and beyond.
FOX WaferPak Contactors are used in conjunction with the company’s FOX-NP and FOX-XP wafer level test and burn-in systems to contact 100% of the die on a wafer up to several thousand devices at a time. These proprietary WaferPak designs are specific to a customer’s application as well as die layout and unique electrical contact pads. Aehr’s FOX systems and WaferPaks are currently being used on wafer sizes ranging from 4”, 6”, 8” and 12” wafers and can be configured for a wide range of device applications.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “We are excited to help our customers meet their new design and production capacity needs with our industry-leading lead times and capacity for wafer level stress tests, screening, stabilization, and burn-in. Our proprietary WaferPak Contactors are unique to each end customer’s device design and grow with the number of device designs and capacity needed for volume production of those devices. As we have stated in the past, we are able to quickly ship a large quantity of WaferPaks with very short lead times with our increased design resources, optimized supply chain, and manufacturing and test processes. We continue to believe our WaferPak business will grow in absolute revenue and also as a percent of the overall revenue for the company. In addition, we have increased our material availability and manufacturing capacity to shorten lead times on our FOX-NP and FOX-XP test and burn-in systems and automated FOX WaferPak Aligners.”
The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems and proprietary WaferPaks are capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of silicon carbide and gallium nitride power semiconductors, silicon photonics integrated circuits as well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories, magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs in either wafer form factor before they are assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages, or in singulated die or module form factor.
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2024 ended November 30, 2023.
Fiscal Second Quarter Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $21.4 million, up 45% from $14.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net income was $6.1 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, up 63% from GAAP net income of $3.7 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, was $6.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, up 49% compared to non-GAAP net income of $4.5 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Bookings were $2.2 million for the quarter.
- Backlog as of November 30, 2023, was $3.0 million.
- Total cash and cash equivalents as of November 30, 2023 were $50.5 million, compared to $51.0 million at August 31, 2023.
Fiscal First Six Months Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $42.1 million, up 65% from $25.5 million in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net income was $10.8 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, up 149% compared to GAAP net income of $4.3 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income was $11.9 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, up 105% compared to non-GAAP net income of $5.8 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- Cash provided by operations was $3.4 million for the first six months of fiscal 2024.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented:
“We had another solid quarter with strong year-over-year growth in revenue and net income as we continue to see increased demand for our wafer level test and burn-in products. Revenue for the quarter was $21.4 million, an increase of 45% year over year, and we generated non-GAAP net income of $6.7 million, slightly over 31% net profit. For the first half of the fiscal year, we grew revenue 65% over the same period last year.
“In the last sixty days, we have seen how the slowing of the growth rate of the electric vehicle market has had a negative impact on the timing of several current and new customer orders and capacity increases for silicon carbide devices used in them. For clarity, we do not see the silicon carbide market decreasing, only a temporary slowing of the growth rate. We are also experiencing the impact of shifts in our customers’ product mix, which specifically includes an increase in WaferPakTM full wafer contactors from our lead silicon carbide customer. The net of this is that we now expect a delay in the timing of new orders from current and new customers that will most likely impact this fiscal year’s revenue.
“Given the latest forecasts from our customers and the uncertainty on the timing of their orders, we believe it makes sense to take a more conservative approach to our fiscal year forecast and have reduced our growth estimates for fiscal 2024 revenue. We are reducing our revenue expectations of at least $100 million this fiscal year by 15% to 25% to a range of $75 million to $85 million dollars. This is still a growth rate of 15% to 30% year over year.
“Despite this uncertainty in the timing of orders, we remain confident about the future demand for our unique semiconductor test solutions and the markets they address. We have not reduced our growth expectations for the years ahead, where we continue to see tremendous opportunity. We continue to hear from our current customers as well as companies we are engaged in evaluations with that wafer level burn-in is critical to their product roadmaps to address multiple large and growing markets, including battery and hybrid electric vehicles, industrial and solar power conversion, data and telecommunications infrastructure, and the new and coming optical I/O and co-packaged optics semiconductor markets.
“Last month, we announced our first order for a FOXTM wafer level test and burn-in system to be used for gallium nitride (GaN) applications. This customer is a leading global supplier of semiconductor devices used in electric vehicles and power infrastructure and adds another major customer to the list of companies using Aehr’s FOX products for wafer level test and burn-in of wide bandgap compound semiconductors. We were able to ship this system within a few weeks to meet their needs. We are now working with two of the market leaders in gallium nitride, which positions us front and center in a market that we believe is another potential growth driver for our wafer level solutions.
“We continue to make great progress with our previously announced benchmarks and engagements with prospective new customers, including the significant automotive qualification of wafer level burn-in we have been doing with one of the market leaders in silicon carbide (SiC). We believe we have a large opportunity with this potential new customer and feel confident they will move forward with our FOX-XP multi-wafer solution for their high-volume needs, but the timing is taking longer than anticipated. We remain confident that we will receive initial purchase orders from them in fiscal 2024; however, it is not clear whether they will have the infrastructure ready to take shipments from us within our fiscal year that ends on May 31st.
“We have made significant progress in expanding our customer base for SiC and GaN wafer level burn-in for a wide variety of applications. We currently have a total of seven customers purchasing our solutions for SiC and GaN devices and are also actively engaged with more than two dozen SiC and GaN companies to address their needs for wafer level test and burn-in of these devices. Importantly, 10 of these additional companies have already engaged with Aehr for on-wafer benchmarks. We have never lost a full wafer level burn-in evaluation since introducing our FOX-NP and XP configured with the SiC and GaN nitride test resources, and we believe we will have over 12 SiC/GaN customers buying our wafer level test and burn-in solutions by the end of calendar 2024.
“In anticipation of both our current and new customers’ forecasted needs, Aehr has put in place the inventory, infrastructure, and processes to increase our manufacturing and installation capacity as well as significantly lower our lead times to meet our customers’ future capacity needs.
“While we have seen delays in orders from our automotive customers, we are seeing a pick-up in opportunities for SiC wafer level burn-in for applications outside of the electric vehicle market, including industrial, solar, and commuter electric trains as the efficiency and value of SiC is being recognized for these additional markets. While the largest market opportunity for SiC is still electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, industrial and other power conversion market segments represent significant additional opportunities for SiC and for Aehr’s products. William Blair forecasts that the total silicon carbide market is growing at a CAGR of greater than 40% to $8.5 billion in 2025, and over 25% of that will be in industrial and energy power conversion applications.
“We are also excited about the potential for the new silicon photonic optical I/O or co-packaged optics market and are expecting to ship our first FOX production system in our third fiscal quarter. This FOX-XP system with new high-power WaferPaks is configured to enable cost-effective production test of up to 3,500 watts of power per wafer and up to nine full wafers in parallel. It also enables our customers to easily dock to our new FOX WaferPak Auto Aligner for hands free operation of 6” to 12” wafers using industry standard wafer cassettes and FOUPs including robotic and overhead transport of wafers in FOUPs. This new FOX-XP configuration allows for the testing of as many as 8,000 high-power optical devices in parallel on each of nine wafers before they are singulated and placed into a photonic application such as fiberoptic transceiver modules or for placement in co-packaged optics for optical chip-to-chip communication, as has been announced on product roadmaps by companies including Nvidia, Intel, AMD, TSMC, and GlobalFoundries.
“As we look ahead, we expect continued strong demand for our wafer level burn-in solutions for the markets we currently address, as well as increased demand from the new market opportunities we are seeing. Even with our more conservative guidance, we expect solid year-over-year revenue growth and believe we are poised for continued strong growth for years to come.”
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced it has received an initial customer order for a FOX-NP™ wafer level test and burn-in system and a FOX WaferPak™ Aligner to be used for gallium nitride (GaN) power devices. The customer is a leading global supplier of semiconductor devices used in electric vehicles and power infrastructure and adds another major customer to the list of companies using Aehr’s FOX products for wafer level test and burn-in of wide bandgap compound semiconductors. The FOX-NP system, including the FOX WaferPak Aligner, is scheduled to ship and be installed in the current fiscal quarter.
As Aehr’s first gallium nitride customer to order a system, this company selected Aehr due in part to its unique ability to offer a total solution that allows customers to apply thermal and electrical stress conditions to thousands of devices while still in wafer form. Aehr’s cutting-edge technology provides critical geolocation information across the wafer while inducing the extrinsic (early life) failures that would otherwise fail in the field without reducing the long-term reliability or life of the good devices.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “After seeing the positive results from their long and extensive evaluation of our FOX wafer level test systems for their silicon carbide devices, this customer decided to first move forward with our FOX-NP system to test their gallium nitride devices’ long-term reliability failure rates, as well as qualify the production extrinsic failure screening process for their devices in applications where safety, reliability, and/or security are critical.
A key consideration behind their decision is that the FOX-NP system is 100% compatible with the Aehr FOX-XP system that is targeted for high volume production and can support all the test modes needed for both gallium nitride and silicon carbide device testing and burn-in, including high-voltage testing of up to 2,000 volts with full wafer test without electrical arcing that can damage the wafer, which is a distinct advantage of our unique patented technology.
“Similar to silicon carbide, gallium nitride semiconductor MOSFETs are considered wide bandgap devices with much higher efficiencies in terms of power conversion than silicon, with gallium nitride being particularly good for lower power devices such as under 1000 watt power converters used in consumer devices such as cell phones, tablets, and laptop computers, as well as being targeted for automotive power converters for all the electrical systems in automobiles, whether electric vehicles or traditional gasoline automobiles. Gallium nitride MOSFETs are also believed by many industry analysts and technical communities to likely take over silicon as the power converter of choice for photovoltaic (solar panel) applications.
“Gallium nitride and silicon carbide devices both have excellent long-term intrinsic reliability, making them very good for automotive and industrial applications. But both also experience higher than acceptable early life or extrinsic failures related to the material and processing steps. Gallium nitride and silicon carbide semiconductor suppliers can add a special stress or screening test known as burn-in on 100% of the devices to identify and remove these early life failures so that they can meet the end customers’ target reliability needs. This 100% burn-in requirement is not unique to these devices, as it is also the case with microprocessors and microcontrollers, dynamic random-access memories (DRAM), flash non-volatile memories, as well as many sensors used in automotive and other industrial applications.”
Aehr enables its customers to cost-effectively implement the needed testing and qualification process for semiconductor devices that experience early life failures by not only applying the electrical stress condition to every device on the wafer but by also testing up to 18 wafers at a time using the FOX-XP production test and burn in system. These electrical tests are done with up to thousands of precise calibrated electrical source and measurement instruments per wafer. These tests are done while maintaining the temperature at an accurately programmed thermal temperature across each of the wafers using a direct conduction thermal transfer via a proprietary patented precision thermal chuck per wafer.
The FOX-NP compliments Aehr’s production FOX-XP system by using the exact same test ‘Blades’ that are in the FOX-XP to allow 100% correlation between the results on the FOX-NP to the FOX-XP.
The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems, available with multiple WaferPak Contactors (full wafer test) or multiple DiePakTM Carriers (singulated die/module test) configurations, are capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of devices such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride power semiconductors, silicon photonics as well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories, magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs in either wafer form factor, before they are assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages, or in singulated die or module form factor.
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2024 ended August 31, 2023.
Fiscal First Quarter Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $20.6 million, up 93% from $10.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net income was $4.7 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, up from GAAP net income of $589,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, was $5.2 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $1.3 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Bookings were $18.4 million for the quarter.
- Backlog as of August 31, 2023 was $22.3 million. Effective backlog, which includes all orders received since the end of the first quarter, is $24.0 million.
- Cash provided by operations was $3.9 million.
- Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as of August 31, 2023 were $51.0 million, up from $47.9 million at May 31, 2023.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented:
“We finished the first quarter with solid revenue and non-GAAP net income, the strongest first quarter in our history, which has historically been our seasonally softest quarter. We are off to a very good start to our fiscal year and are reaffirming our expectation to grow fiscal full year revenue by at least 50% and profit by over 90% year over year.
“During the quarter we had record shipments of our FOXTM WaferPak full wafer Contactors in both revenue and units and are very pleased with the continued stream of new designs we are seeing. Our new design volume has tripled over the last nine months as we are seeing more electric vehicles coming online with their own specific device design for inverters and onboard chargers.
“We have now received customer acceptance of both configurations of our new fully automated FOX WaferPak Aligner, which allows hands free operation of WaferPak handling and alignment and is available either as a standalone unit or in full integration with the FOX-XP system. We recognized revenue for two standalone WaferPak Aligners in the first quarter and received customer acceptance and sign off on two fully integrated WaferPak Aligners with the integrated FOX-XPs in September. These acceptances and the associated revenue recognition are a great way to start our second quarter and pave the path for revenue recognition immediately upon future shipments of these products.
“Additionally, we announced last month our sixth customer for silicon carbide wafer level burn-in. This new customer is a US-based multibillion-dollar semiconductor supplier that serves several markets, including automotive, computing, consumer, energy, industrial, and medical markets. After conducting a detailed financial evaluation of Aehr and Aehr’s FOX family of products, including multiple onsite visits to Aehr’s application lab, this new customer purchased an initial FOX-NP system, WaferPak Aligner, and multiple WaferPaks for engineering, qualification, and small lot production of their silicon carbide power devices.
This system is configured with our new Bipolar Voltage Channel Module (BVCM) and Very High Voltage Channel Module (VHVCM) options that enable new advanced test and burn-in capabilities for silicon carbide power semiconductors. This customer has indicated that as their production capacity increases, they intend to quickly move to our FOX-XP multi-wafer test and burn-in systems for high-volume production.
“Including this newest customer, our last two announced customers have selected our systems primarily for applications other than electric vehicles including industrial, solar, and commuter electric trains. This further extends our application space beyond the opportunity we see in silicon carbide for traction inverters and onboard and offboard chargers for electric vehicles. These applications expand our market opportunity to include what William Blair forecasts will be an additional 2.8 million 6” equivalent wafers needed per year by 2030 for applications beyond the 4.5 million 6” equivalent wafers per year it forecasts will be needed just for electric vehicles.
“We continue to see increased interest from prospective new customers for our solutions for silicon carbide wafer level burn-in. In the last few weeks, we have attended two international conferences in Europe and met with more than a dozen companies that are not currently using our solutions, in addition to meeting with all six of our current silicon carbide customers. These face-to-face meetings included multiple meetings with one of the market leaders in silicon carbide with whom we have been doing a significant automotive qualification of wafer level burn-in for well over two years.
This benchmark and qualification process has made even more progress in the last few months with a very large number of wafers being run at our facility and multiple meetings and reviews of the data. We continue to feel confident that this customer will move forward with us using the FOX-XP multi-wafer solution for their high-volume needs, including initial purchase orders and system shipments within this fiscal year. In the next few weeks, we also plan to meet with a significant number of potential new customers as well as end users in Asia, as we are seeing increasing activities and opportunities heating up there. It is a very exciting time in the silicon carbide and electric vehicle markets right now and we have never been busier.
“We are also in extensive engagements with multiple gallium nitride suppliers, including companies that also supply silicon carbide devices. Gallium nitride is similar to silicon carbide in that both of these semiconductor compounds are considered wide bandgap semiconductors that are able to withstand high-voltage applications more directly than silicon. Gallium nitride semiconductor material has characteristics that make it optimal for lower power converter applications such as consumer power converters, solar micro inverters, and industrial motor controllers, compared with silicon carbide that is optimal for higher power / higher voltage applications such as traction inverters in electric vehicles, trucks, trains, and converters used in charging infrastructure and storage.
The gallium nitride market is another potential growth driver for our wafer level solutions, particularly for automotive and photovoltaic applications where burn-in appears to be critical for meeting the initial quality and reliability needs of those markets. This fiscal year, while we do expect to recognize some revenue for systems, WaferPaks and Aligners for gallium nitride applications, we continue to expect a significant majority of our revenue to come from silicon carbide.
“In addition to these power semiconductor applications, we continue to be excited about the current application of silicon photonics devices for fiber optic transceivers used in data centers and data and telecommunication networks, as well as the major market opportunity we see with the upcoming application of silicon photonics integrated circuits for use in optical chip-to-chip communication. As we’ve previously announced, we received a first order from a current major silicon photonics customer for a new configuration of our FOX-XP multi-wafer test and burn-in system for use in very high-power silicon devices, and we expect to receive orders for additional production systems as they increase production of these devices.
While we believe that it will likely be several years before we will potentially see significant revenue generated from this optical chip-to-chip communications market, we are working with some of the leaders in silicon photonics to ensure that we have the products and solutions available to meet their needs for this potentially significant market application.
“In conclusion, we are encouraged by the continued positive momentum we are seeing for silicon carbide in electric vehicles and are also excited about the expanding growth opportunities we are seeing in several additional markets with current and prospective customers.”
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced it has received an initial customer order for a FOX-NP™ wafer level test and burn-in system, multiple WaferPak™ Contactors, and a FOX WaferPak Aligner to be used for engineering, qualification, and small lot production wafer level test and burn-in of their silicon carbide devices. The customer is a US-based multibillion-dollar semiconductor supplier serving several markets including automotive, computing, consumer, energy, industrial, and medical. The FOX-NP system, including the FOX WaferPak Aligner and initial WaferPaks are scheduled per the customer’s requested accelerated schedule to ship by the end of the calendar year 2023.
The FOX-NP system is configured with the new Bipolar Voltage Channel Module (BVCM) and Very High Voltage Channel Module (VHVCM) options that enable new advanced test and burn-in capabilities for silicon carbide power semiconductors using Aehr’s proprietary WaferPak full wafer Contactors. This new order highlights Aehr’s continued progression within the growing silicon carbide global power market.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented, “We are very excited that after conducting a detailed financial evaluation and multiple onsite visits to Aehr’s application lab, this new customer selected our FOX-P solution for engineering, qualification, and production of their silicon carbide power devices.
This evaluation included cost of ownership and system throughput, as well as device test, burn-in, and stabilization coverage. As their production capacity increases, they told us that they will quickly move to our FOX-XP multi-wafer test and burn-in systems for high-volume production. In addition to the automotive electric vehicle device opportunity, this customer in particular sees the enormous opportunity for silicon carbide power devices in industrial, solar, and other power applications.
“William Blair forecasts that in addition to the 4.5 million six-inch equivalent wafers that will be needed to meet the demand for electric vehicle related silicon carbide devices in 2030, another 2.8 million wafers are needed to address industrial, solar, electric trains, energy conversion and other applications in 2030. The interesting part of this is that most of these applications will be served with discrete MOSFETS in single die packages.
The cost of ownership of our solution proved to be more cost-effective and efficient for these devices than package part burn-in after the die are packaged in packages such as TO-247 or other discrete packages. This is a strong testimony of the advantage of wafer level burn-in as a better alternative to package part burn-in. This expands our silicon carbide test and burn-in market even more and this new customer helps expand Aehr’s presence in this market as our total addressable market (TAM) continues to grow.
“Aehr’s FOX-P systems and proprietary WaferPak full wafer Contactors enable our customers to do economical production volume test and reliability burn-in with processes such as High Temperature Gate Bias (HTGB) and High Temperature Reverse Bias (HTRB) very cost-effectively and ensure extremely high device quality. Our systems are typically used for long burn-in times lasting up to 24 hours or more.
We can do this for under $5.00 per hour per wafer capital depreciation cost while testing and burning-in up to several thousand devices at a time per wafer. This is also in a test system footprint that is up to 94% less than a typical test system on a standard semiconductor wafer prober, which in a precious clean room wafer facility is extremely important and saves a great deal of cost.
“The FOX family of compatible systems including the FOX-NP and FOX-XP multi-wafer test and burn-in systems and Aehr’s proprietary WaferPak full wafer contactors provide a uniquely cost-effective solution for burning in multiple wafers of devices at a single time to remove early life failures of silicon carbide devices, which is critical to meeting the initial quality and long-term reliability of the automotive, industrial, and electrification infrastructure industry needs.”
The FOX-XP and FOX-NP systems, available with multiple WaferPak Contactors (full wafer test) or multiple DiePakTM Carriers (singulated die/module test) configurations, are capable of functional test and burn-in/cycling of devices such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride power semiconductors, silicon photonics as well as other optical devices, 2D and 3D sensors, flash memories, magnetic sensors, microcontrollers, and other leading-edge ICs in either wafer form factor, before they are assembled into single or multi-die stacked packages, or in singulated die or module form factor.
Original – Aehr Test Systems
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Aehr Test Systems announced financial results for its fiscal 2023 fourth quarter and full year ended May 31, 2023.
Fiscal Fourth Quarter Financial Results:
- Net sales were a record $22.3 million, up from $20.3 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.
- GAAP net income was a record $6.1 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, up from GAAP net income of $5.8 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.
- Non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, was a record $6.8 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $6.5 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.
- Backlog as of May 31, 2023, was $24.5 million. Effective backlog, which includes all orders received since the end of the fourth quarter, is $39.7 million.
- Total cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as of May 31, 2023 were $47.9 million, up from $31.5 million at May 31, 2022.
Fiscal Year Financial Results:
- Net sales were a record $65.0 million, up 28% from $50.8 million in fiscal 2022.
- GAAP net income was a record $14.6 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, up 54% from GAAP net income of $9.5 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in fiscal 2022.
- Non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, was a record $17.3 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, up 62% from non-GAAP net income of $10.7 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, in fiscal 2022.
An explanation of the use of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of Aehr’s non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the accompanying tables.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented:
“We are pleased to report record financial performance for both the quarter as well as the entire fiscal year ended May 31. For fiscal 2023, total revenue grew 28% to a record $65.0 million, bookings reached a record of $78.3 million, and our GAAP profit of $14.6 million and non-GAAP profit of $17.3 million were also records, growing 54% and 62% year over year, respectively. This record performance was driven by bookings and revenue shipments of our FOX wafer level test and burn-in systems and WaferPak full wafer Contactors for silicon carbide semiconductors used in electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging infrastructure, as well as silicon photonics devices used in data and telecommunications infrastructure and a new application for multichip modules using optical data interconnections.
“We saw fiscal 2023 as a breakout year for our unique and proprietary wafer level test and burn-in products. These products provide complete solutions for semiconductor manufacturers for high-volume test, burn-in, and stabilization of semiconductors such as those used in electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, photovoltaic (solar) power conversion, and data and telecommunications infrastructure. We also see on the horizon a significant new market opportunity for test and burn-in of semiconductors such as silicon photonics devices used in optical input/output (I/O) and co-packaged optics for data farms, computing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) markets.
“In our fiscal fourth quarter just completed, we received the first purchase order from another new silicon carbide semiconductor company for our production FOX-XP solution to be used for volume production wafer level test and burn-in of silicon carbide devices for electric vehicles, trucks, and train traction inverter modules. The train traction inverter application represents an exciting new market driver for our FOX production test solutions due to the extreme reliability and length of service requirements of this application leading to prolonged test times. This new customer, a multinational industrial conglomerate and manufacturer of semiconductors including power semiconductors, is forecasting to grow their silicon carbide business significantly to meet the market demand, which we forecast will in turn drive incremental capacity of our FOX systems as well as our proprietary WaferPak full wafer Contactors.
“With the addition of this latest customer, we have significantly expanded our customer base by adding a total of four new silicon carbide customers this year. Each of these customers is already ramping or plans to ramp our products into high-volume production using our multi wafer test and burn-in systems.
“We also have multiple potential customers inquiring about our systems with the new high voltage option introduced last year to test and burn-in gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors for power conversion applications. The gallium nitride market appears to be a potentially significant growth driver for our systems and WaferPak full wafer Contactors, particularly for automotive and photovoltaic applications where burn-in appears to be critical for meeting the initial quality and reliability needs of those markets.
“We also see a major market opportunity with the upcoming application of silicon photonics integrated circuits for use in optical chip-to-chip communication. This is in addition to the current photonics transceiver market used in data and telecommunications. Multiple companies such as Intel, nVidia, AMD, TSMC, and Global Foundries have made announcements regarding their product roadmaps for co-packaged photonics integrated circuits with microprocessors, graphics processors, chip sets for computing as well as artificial intelligence applications. During the fiscal fourth quarter, we received our first order from a current major silicon photonics customer for a volume production FOX-XP configured to enable cost-effective production test of wafers of next-generation photonic integrated circuits, which can be used in new optical I/O or heterogeneous integrated packages. This customer is one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers and we expect to receive orders for additional production systems as they increase production of these devices.
“Another major milestone is that we have now installed both configurations of our new fully automated WaferPak Aligner at multiple customers, with the standalone Aligner already accepted and released into production just this week, and the FOX-XP with integrated Aligner expected to receive acceptance before the end of our current fiscal first quarter. Our new automated WaferPak Aligner allows hands free operation of WaferPak handling and Alignment and is available either as a standalone with movement between the Aligner and portable carts or in full integration with the FOX-XP system. As capacity and volume forecast increase, eliminating all manual interfaces for automated handling can become critical. The added automation capability of our new Aligner gives our wafer level test and burn-in offering even greater value and opens several incremental markets to Aehr, such as high-volume processors and chipsets with integrated photonics transceivers, flash and ultimately DRAM memories. This capability is also important for high volume, high mix devices requiring extremely high reliability and 100% burn-in such as automotive microcontrollers and sensors. We have received positive feedback on our new Aligner from multiple current and prospective customers across several markets and believe it will be an important addition to our product portfolio going forward.
“The market forecast for wafer level burn-in products is significant. William Blair estimates that the total available market for wafer level burn-in products for silicon carbide alone will be over $400 million by 2027. We believe Aehr has the potential to capture a significant portion of that market based on the level of silicon carbide engagements we have with customers across the globe.
“We start fiscal 2024 with an effective backlog of almost $40 million and a strong forecast from our current and prospective customers. Our engagements with numerous potential customers give us confidence in our growth expectations over the next several years, including record revenue and profit projections for this current fiscal year that ends next May, particularly as the positive momentum in demand for silicon carbide in electric vehicles continues to accelerate.”
Fiscal 2024 Financial Guidance:
For the fiscal year ending May 31, 2024, Aehr expects total revenue to be at least $100 million, representing growth of over 50% year over year, and GAAP net income of at least $28 million, representing earnings growth of greater than 90% year over year.
Management Conference Call and Webcast
Aehr Test Systems will host a conference call and webcast today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern (2:00 p.m. PT) to discuss its fiscal 2023 fourth quarter and full year operating results. To access the live call, dial +1 844-735- 3765 (US and Canada) or +1 412-317-5712 (International) and ask to join the Aehr Test Systems earnings call.
In addition, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available over the Internet at www.aehr.com in the Investor Relations section and may also be accessed by clicking here. A replay of the conference call will also be available via telephone beginning approximately two hours after conclusion of the call and will remain available for one week. To access the call replay, dial +1 877-344-7529 (US and Canada) or +1 412-317-0088 (International) and enter replay passcode 7898611.
Original – Aehr Test Systems
