Cohu Reports Fourth Quarter 2024Results

Cohu Reports Fourth Quarter 2024Results

Full year 2024 revenue of $401.8 million
Full year 2024 gross margin of 44.9%; non-GAAP gross margin of 45.0%
Fourth quarter revenue $94.1 million, approximately 62% recurring
Fourth quarter gross margin of 41.9% impacted by an inventory reserve charge of $2.1 million; non-GAAP gross margin of 41.8%
Acquired Tignis, Inc. a provider of artificial intelligence process control and analytics software

POWAY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Cohu, Inc. (NASDAQ: COHU), a global supplier of equipment and services optimizing semiconductor manufacturing yield and productivity, today reported fiscal 2024 fourth quarter net sales of $94.1 million and GAAP loss of $21.4 million or $0.46 per share. Net sales for full year 2024 were $401.8 million with GAAP loss of $69.8 million or $1.49 per share.

The Company also reported non-GAAP results, with fourth quarter 2024 loss of $7.1 million or $0.15 per share and loss of $10.9 million or $0.23 per share for full year 2024.


GAAP Results
(in millions, except per share amounts)		Q4 FY 2024			Q3 FY 2024			Q4 FY 2023			12 Months 2024			12 Months 2023

	Net sales	$	94.1		$	95.3		$	137.2		$	401.8		$	636.3
	Net income (loss)	$	(21.4	)	$	(18.1	)	$	(2.0	)	$	(69.8	)	$	28.2
	Net income (loss) per share	$	(0.46	)	$	(0.39	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(1.49	)	$	0.59



Non-GAAP Results
(in millions, except per share amounts)		Q4 FY 2024			Q3 FY 2024			Q4 FY 2023			12 Months 2024			12 Months 2023

	Net income (loss)	$	(7.1	)	$	(3.8	)	$	11.1		$	(10.9	)	$	77.9
	Net income (loss) share	$	(0.15	)	$	(0.08	)	$	0.23		$	(0.23	)	$	1.62

Total cash and investments at the end of fourth quarter 2024 were $262.1 million. Cohu did not repurchase any shares of its common stock during fourth quarter 2024.

“Systems revenue increased sequentially in Computing, Industrial and Consumer segments in a seasonally slow period” said Cohu President and CEO Luis Müller. “We are expanding our analytics offering with Tignis, creating the opportunity to potentially grow software revenue at an annual rate of 50% or more over the next three years as the industry seeks solutions to optimize yield and productivity.”

Cohu expects first quarter 2025 sales to be in a range of $97 million +/- $7 million.

Conference Call Information:

The Company will host a live conference call and webcast with slides to discuss fourth quarter 2024 results at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time/4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on February 13, 2025. Interested parties may listen live via webcast on Cohu’s investor relations website at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/qwe68cs8

To participate via telephone and join the call live, please register in advance at https://register.vevent.com/register/BI703c7d889b924f599887f8386232fc79 to receive the dial-in number along with a unique PIN number that can be used to access the call.

About Cohu:

Cohu (NASDAQ: COHU) is a global technology leader supplying test, automation, inspection and metrology products and services to the semiconductor industry. Cohu’s differentiated and broad product portfolio enables optimized yield and productivity, accelerating customers’ manufacturing time-to-market. Additional information can be found at www.cohu.com.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information:

Included within this press release and accompanying materials are non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP Gross Margin/Profit, Income and Income (adjusted earnings) per share, Operating Income, Operating Expense, effective tax rate, net cash per share and Adjusted EBITDA that supplement the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations prepared under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). These non-GAAP financial measures adjust the Company’s actual results prepared under GAAP to exclude charges and the related income tax effect for: share-based compensation, the amortization of purchased intangible assets, restructuring costs, manufacturing transition and severance costs, acquisition-related costs and associated professional fees, impairments, inventory step-up, reduction of indemnification receivable, depreciation of purchase accounting adjustments to property, plant and equipment, amortization of cloud-based software implementation costs (Adjusted EBITDA only) and loss on extinguishment of debt (Adjusted EBITDA only). Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP amounts for the periods presented herein are provided in schedules accompanying this release and should be considered together with the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. With respect to any forward-looking non-GAAP figures, we are unable to provide without unreasonable efforts, at this time, a GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation of any forward-looking figures due to their inherent uncertainty.

These non-GAAP measures are not meant as a substitute for GAAP, but are included solely for informational and comparative purposes. The Company’s management believes that this information can assist investors in evaluating the Company’s operational trends, financial performance, and cash generating capacity. Management uses non-GAAP measures for a variety of reasons, including to make operational decisions, to determine executive compensation in part, to forecast future operational results, and for comparison to our annual operating plan. However, the non-GAAP financial measures should not be regarded as a replacement for (or superior to) corresponding, similarly captioned, GAAP measures.

Forward Looking Statements:

Certain statements contained in this release and accompanying materials may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding effects of near-term growth in revenue in certain vertical markets and corresponding financial impacts; expectations related to our FY2025 outlook, including quarterly projections; success or contribution of M&A transactions; new market entries, product introductions or customer adoptions and corresponding performance metrics or financial impacts; product market projected growth and market sizes and related revenue opportunities for the semiconductor process control market; and any other statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions; and/or include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend;” and/or other similar expressions among others. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Any third-party industry analyst forecasts quoted are for reference only and Cohu does not adopt or affirm any such forecasts.

Actual results and future business conditions could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: new product investments and product enhancements which may not be commercially successful; the semiconductor industry is seasonal, cyclical, volatile and unpredictable; recent erosion in mobile, automotive and industrial market sales; our ability to manage and deliver high quality products and services; failure of sole source contract manufacturer or our ability to manage third-party raw material, component and/or service providers; ongoing inflationary pressures on material and operational costs coupled with rising interest rates; economic recession; the semiconductor industry is intensely competitive, subject to rapid technological changes, and experiences consolidation of key customers for semiconductor test equipment; a limited number of customers account for a substantial percentage of net sales; significant exports to foreign countries with economic and political instability and competition from a number of Asia-based manufacturers; our relationships with customers may deteriorate; loss of key personnel; risks of using artificial intelligence within Cohu’s product developments and business; reliance on foreign locations and geopolitical instability in such locations critical to Cohu and its customers; natural disasters, war and climate-related changes, including related economic impacts; levels of debt; access to sufficient capital on reasonable or favorable terms; foreign operations and related currency fluctuations; required or desired accounting charges and the cost or effectiveness of accounting controls; instability of financial institutions where we maintain cash deposits and potential loss of uninsured cash deposits; significant goodwill and other intangibles as percentage of our total assets; increasingly restrictive trade and export regulations impacting our ability to sell products, specifically within China; risks associated with acquisitions, investments and divestitures such as integration and synergies; constraints related to corporate governance structures; share repurchases and related impacts; financial or operating results that are below forecast or credit rating changes impacting our stock price or financing ability; law/regulatory changes and including environmental or tax law changes; significant volatility in our stock price; the risk of cybersecurity breaches; enforcing or defending intellectual property claims or other litigation.

These and other risks and uncertainties are discussed more fully in Cohu’s filings with the SEC, including our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, and the other filings made by Cohu with the SEC from time to time, which are available via the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by applicable law, Cohu does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For press releases and other information of interest to investors, please visit Cohu’s website at www.cohu.com.

COHU, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share amounts)

		Three Months Ended ^{(1) (2)}						Twelve Months Ended^{(1) (2)}
		December 28,			December 30,			December 28,			December 30,
		2024			2023			2024			2023

Net sales		$	94,122		$	137,226		$	401,779		$	636,322
Cost and expenses:
	Cost of sales (excluding amortization)		54,656			71,816			221,485			333,454
	Research and development		20,795			22,117			84,797			88,571
	Selling, general and administrative		30,540			32,846			128,037			132,249
	Amortization of purchased intangible assets		9,753			9,738			39,087			36,355
	Restructuring charges		5			375			41			2,421
			115,749			136,892			473,447			593,050
Income (loss) from operations			(21,627	)		334			(71,668	)		43,272
Other (expense) income:
	Interest expense		(99	)		(754	)		(618	)		(3,382	)
	Interest income		2,325			2,847			9,976			11,504
	Foreign transaction gain (loss)		98			(2,924	)		(2,395	)		(5,209	)
	Loss on extinguishment of debt		–			–			(241	)		(369	)
Income (loss) from operations before taxes			(19,303	)		(497	)		(64,946	)		45,816
Income tax provision			2,055			1,531			4,872			17,660
Net income (loss)		$	(21,358	)	$	(2,028	)	$	(69,818	)	$	28,156

	Income (loss) per share:
	Basic:	$	(0.46	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(1.49	)	$	0.59
	Diluted:	$	(0.46	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(1.49	)	$	0.59

	Weighted average shares used in
	computing income (loss) per share:⁽³⁾
	Basic		46,719			47,369			46,908			47,486
	Diluted		46,719			47,369			46,908			48,025

(1)		The three- and twelve-month periods ended December 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023 were both comprised of 13 weeks and 52 weeks, respectively.
(2)		On January 30, 2023 the Company completed the acquisition of MCT Worldwide, LLC (“MCT”) and on October 2, 2023 the Company completed the acquisition of Equiptest Engineering Pte. Ltd. (“EQT”). The results of MCT’s and EQT’s operations have been included since those dates.
(3)		For the three- and twelve-month periods ended December 28, 2024 and the three-month period ended December 30, 2023, potentially dilutive securities were excluded from the per share computations due to their antidilutive effect.

COHU, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited)
(in thousands)
			December 28,		December 30,
			2024		2023
Assets:
Current assets:
	Cash and investments⁽¹⁾		$	262,092	$	335,698
	Accounts receivable			91,619		124,624
	Inventories			141,861		155,793
	Other current assets			38,735		22,703
		Total current assets		534,307		638,818
Property, plant & equipment, net				74,786		69,085
Goodwill				234,639		241,658
Intangible assets, net				110,717		151,770
Operating lease right of use assets				13,908		16,778
Other assets				31,058		32,243
		Total assets	$	999,415	$	1,150,352

Liabilities & Stockholders’ Equity:
Current liabilities:
	Short-term borrowings		$	633	$	1,773
	Current installments of long-term debt			1,115		4,551
	Deferred profit			3,589		3,586
	Other current liabilities			79,847		93,511
		Total current liabilities		85,184		103,421
Long-term debt⁽¹⁾				7,052		34,303
Non-current operating lease liabilities				9,893		13,175
Other noncurrent liabilities				39,795		49,283
Cohu stockholders’ equity				857,491		950,170
		Total liabilities & stockholders’ equity	$	999,415	$	1,150,352


(1) On February 9, 2024, the Company made a cash payment of $29.3 million to repay the remaining outstanding amounts owed under our Term Loan B.

COHU, INC.
Supplemental Reconciliation of GAAP Results to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
			Three Months Ended
			December 28,			September 28,			December 30,
			2024			2024			2023
Income (loss) from operations – GAAP basis (a)			$	(21,627	)	$	(15,769	)	$	334
Non-GAAP adjustments:
	Share-based compensation included in (b):
		Cost of sales (COS)		290			270			226
		Research and development (R&D)		966			765			860
		Selling, general and administrative (SG&A)		4,025			4,213			3,471
				5,281			5,248			4,557
	Amortization of purchased intangible assets (c)			9,753			9,791			9,738
	Restructuring charges related to inventory adjustments in COS (d)			(429	)		(20	)		(3	)
	Restructuring charges (d)			5			14			375
	Manufacturing and sales transition costs included in (e):
		COS		9			–			7
		R&D		22			62			–
		SG&A		105			393			527
				136			455			534
	Impairment charge included in SG&A (f)			–			(63	)		–
	Reduction of indemnification receivable included in SG&A (g)			506			–			–
	Inventory step-up included in COS (h)			–			–			868
	Acquisition costs included in SG&A (i)			407			–			288
	Depreciation of PP&E step-up included in SG&A (j)			–			12			30
Income (loss) from operations – non-GAAP basis (k)			$	(5,968	)	$	(332	)	$	16,721

Net loss – GAAP basis			$	(21,358	)	$	(18,056	)	$	(2,028	)
	Non-GAAP adjustments (as scheduled above)			15,659			15,437			16,387
	Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments (l)			(1,377	)		(1,178	)		(3,239	)
Net income (loss) – non-GAAP basis			$	(7,076	)	$	(3,797	)	$	11,120

GAAP net loss per share – diluted			$	(0.46	)	$	(0.39	)	$	(0.04	)

Non-GAAP net income (loss) per share – diluted (m)			$	(0.15	)	$	(0.08	)	$	0.23

Management believes the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, provides meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s operating performance. Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the Company’s operating results, as well as when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods and these non-GAAP measures allow investors to evaluate the Company’s financial performance using some of the same measures as management. Management views share-based compensation as an expense that is unrelated to the Company’s operational performance as it does not require cash payments and can vary in amount from period to period and the elimination of amortization charges provides better comparability of pre- and post-acquisition operating results and to results of businesses utilizing internally developed intangible assets. Management initiated certain restructuring and manufacturing transition activities including employee headcount reductions and other organizational changes to align our business strategies in light of our acquisitions. Restructuring and manufacturing transition costs have been excluded because such expense is not used by Management to assess the core profitability of Cohu’s business operations. Impairment charges have been excluded as these amounts are infrequent and are unrelated to the operational performance of Cohu. PP&E and inventory step-up costs have been excluded by management as they are unrelated to the core operating activities of the Company. Acquisition costs have been excluded by management as they are unrelated to the core operating activities of the Company and the frequency and variability in the nature of the charges can vary significantly from period to period. Management believes the reduction of an uncertain tax position liability and related indemnification receivable is better reflected within income tax expense rather than a charge to SG&A and credit to the income tax provision. Excluding this data provides investors with a basis to compare Cohu’s performance against the performance of other companies without this variability. However, the non-GAAP financial measures should not be regarded as a replacement for (or superior to) corresponding, similarly captioned, GAAP measures. The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures above may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies and investors should be careful when comparing our non-GAAP financial measures to those of other companies.

(a)		(23.0)%, (16.5)% and 0.2% of net sales, respectively.
(b)		To eliminate compensation expense for employee stock options, stock units and our employee stock purchase plan.
(c)		To eliminate the amortization of acquired intangible assets.
(d)		To eliminate restructuring costs incurred related to our acquisitions.
(e)		To eliminate the manufacturing transition and severance costs.
(f)		To eliminate the impairment of the Company’s investment in Fraes-und Technologiezentrum GmbH Frasdorf.
(g)		To eliminate the impact of the reduction of an uncertain tax position liability and related indemnification receivable.
(h)		To eliminate amortization of inventory step up charges related to acquisitions.
(i)		To eliminate professional fees and other direct incremental expenses incurred related to acquisitions.
(j)		To eliminate depreciation of PP&E step up charges related to the acquisitions.
(k)		(6.3)%, (0.3)% and 12.2% of net sales, respectively.
(l)		To adjust the provision for income taxes related to the adjustments described above based on applicable tax rates.
(m)		The three months ended December 30, 2023, was computed using 47,795 shares outstanding, as the effect of dilutive securities was excluded from GAAP diluted common shares due to the reported net loss under GAAP, but are included for non-GAAP diluted common shares since the Company has non-GAAP net income. All other periods presented were calculated using the number of GAAP diluted shares outstanding.

COHU, INC.
Supplemental Reconciliation of GAAP Results to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
			Twelve Months Ended
			December 28,			December 30,
			2024			2023
Income (loss) from operations – GAAP basis (a)			$	(71,668	)	$	43,272
Non-GAAP adjustments:
	Share-based compensation included in (b):
		Cost of sales (COS)		1,049			845
		Research and development (R&D)		3,566			3,394
		Selling, general and administrative (SG&A)		16,125			12,998
				20,740			17,237
	Amortization of purchased intangible assets (c)			39,087			36,355
	Restructuring charges related to inventory adjustments in COS (d)			(465	)		(62	)
	Restructuring charges (d)			41			2,421
	Manufacturing and sales transition costs included in (e):
		COS		11			25
		R&D		142			22
		SG&A		3,334			1,007
				3,487			1,054

	Impairment charge included in SG&A (f)			903			–
	Reduction of indemnification receivable included in SG&A (g)			506			–
	Inventory step-up included in COS (h)			–			1,141
	Acquisition costs included in SG&A (i)			582			1,571
	Depreciation of PP&E step-up included in SG&A (j)			36			67
Income (loss) from operations – non-GAAP basis (k)			$	(6,751	)	$	103,056

Net income (loss) – GAAP basis			$	(69,818	)	$	28,156
	Non-GAAP adjustments (as scheduled above)			64,917			59,784
	Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments (l)			(5,954	)		(10,054	)
Net income (loss) – non-GAAP basis			$	(10,855	)	$	77,886

GAAP net income (loss) per share – diluted			$	(1.49	)	$	0.59

Non-GAAP income (loss) per share – diluted (m)			$	(0.23	)	$	1.62

(a)		(17.8)% and 6.8% of net sales, respectively.
(b)		To eliminate compensation expense for employee stock options, stock units and our employee stock purchase plan.
(c)		To eliminate the amortization of acquired intangible assets.
(d)		To eliminate restructuring costs incurred related to acquisitions.
(e)		To eliminate the manufacturing transition and severance costs.
(f)		To eliminate the impairment of the Company’s investment in Fraes-und Technologiezentrum GmbH Frasdorf.
(g)		To eliminate the impact of the reduction of an uncertain tax position liability and related indemnification receivable.
(h)		To eliminate amortization of inventory step up charges related to acquisitions.
(i)		To eliminate professional fees and other direct incremental expenses incurred related to acquisitions.
(j)		To eliminate the property, plant & equipment step-up depreciation accelerated related to acquisitions.
(k)		(1.7)% and 16.2% of net sales, respectively.
(l)		To adjust the provision for income taxes related to the adjustments described above based on applicable tax rates.
(m)		All periods presented were computed using the number of GAAP diluted shares outstanding.

COHU, INC.
Supplemental Reconciliation of GAAP Results to Non-GAAP Financial Measures (Unaudited)
(in thousands)
				Three Months Ended
				December 28,			September 28,			December 30,
				2024			2024			2023

Gross Profit Reconciliation
	Gross profit – GAAP basis (excluding amortization)⁽¹⁾			$	39,466		$	44,657		$	65,410
			Non-GAAP adjustments to cost of sales (as scheduled above)		(130	)		250			1,098
	Gross profit – Non-GAAP basis			$	39,336		$	44,907		$	66,508

	As a percentage of net sales:
			GAAP gross profit		41.9	%		46.8	%		47.7	%
			Non-GAAP gross profit		41.8	%		47.1	%		48.5	%

Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation
	Net income – GAAP Basis			$	(21,358	)	$	(18,056	)	$	(2,028	)
			Income tax provision		2,055			3,231			1,531
			Interest expense		99			86			754
			Interest income		(2,325	)		(2,609	)		(2,847	)
			Amortization of purchased intangible assets		9,753			9,791			9,738
			Depreciation		3,196			3,362			3,372
			Amortization of cloud-based software implementation costs⁽²⁾		709			709			700
			Other non-GAAP adjustments (as scheduled above)		5,906			5,634			6,619
	Adjusted EBITDA			$	(1,965	)	$	2,148		$	17,839

	As a percentage of net sales:
			Net income – GAAP Basis		(22.7	)%		(18.9	)%		(1.5	)%
			Adjusted EBITDA		(2.1	)%		2.3	%		13.0	%

Operating Expense Reconciliation
	Operating Expense – GAAP basis			$	61,093		$	60,426		$	65,076
			Non-GAAP adjustments to operating expenses (as scheduled above)		(15,789	)		(15,187	)		(15,289	)
	Operating Expenses – Non-GAAP basis			$	45,304		$	45,239		$	49,787

(1		)	Excludes amortization of $7,483, $7,518 and $7,476 for the three months ending December 28, 2024, September 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, respectively.
(2		)	Represents amortization of capitalized implementation costs related to cloud-based software arrangements that are included within SG&A.

				Twelve Months Ended
				December 28,			December 30,
				2024			2023
Gross Profit Reconciliation
	Gross profit – GAAP basis (excluding amortization)⁽¹⁾			$	180,294		$	302,868
			Non-GAAP adjustments to cost of sales (as scheduled above)		595			1,949
	Gross profit – Non-GAAP basis			$	180,889		$	304,817

	As a percentage of net sales:
			GAAP gross profit		44.9	%		47.6	%
			Non-GAAP gross profit		45.0	%		47.9	%

Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation
	Net income (loss) – GAAP Basis			$	(69,818	)	$	28,156
			Income tax provision		4,872			17,660
			Interest expense		618			3,382
			Interest income		(9,976	)		(11,504	)
			Amortization of purchased intangible assets		39,087			36,355
			Depreciation		13,400			13,389
			Amortization of cloud-based software implementation costs⁽²⁾		2,836			2,800
			Loss on extinguishment of debt		241			369
			Other non-GAAP adjustments (as scheduled above)		25,794			23,362
	Adjusted EBITDA			$	7,054		$	113,969

	As a percentage of net sales:
			Net income (loss) – GAAP Basis		(17.4	)%		4.4	%
			Adjusted EBITDA		1.8	%		17.9	%

Operating Expense Reconciliation
	Operating Expense – GAAP basis			$	251,962		$	259,596
			Non-GAAP adjustments to operating expenses (as scheduled above)		(64,322	)		(57,835	)
	Operating Expenses – Non-GAAP basis			$	187,640		$	201,761

(1		)	Excludes amortization of $30,009 and $28,417 for the twelve months ending December 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, respectively.
(2		)	Represents amortization of capitalized implementation costs related to cloud-based software arrangements that are included within SG&A.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250213799093/en/

Cohu, Inc.

Jeffrey D. Jones – Investor Relations

858-848-8106

KEYWORDS: California United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Semiconductor Technology Other Technology Manufacturing Other Manufacturing Hardware

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