Aehr Test Systems reports Q1 EPS 1c, consensus 0c

Reports Q1 revenue $11.0M, consensus $10.8M. Gayn Erickson, CEO, commented: “We are pleased with the start to this fiscal year, with revenues across several market segments and momentum in sales and customer engagements in both wafer level and packaged part test and burn-in of artificial intelligence (AI) processors. While we had not provided guidance for the quarter, we did finish ahead of the street consensus estimates for both revenue and our bottom line. Momentum in packaged part qualification and production burn-in for AI processors continued to drive growth in our new Sonoma ultra-high-power packaged part burn-in systems and consumables. During the quarter, our lead production customer, a world-leading hyperscaler, placed multiple follow-on volume production orders for Sonoma systems and requested shorter lead times to support higher-than-expected volumes as they ramp up development of their own advanced AI processors. This customer has already outlined plans to expand capacity for this device and introduce new AI processors over the coming year to be tested and burned in on our Sonoma platform at one of the world’s leading test houses. We are also collaborating with them on future generations of processors to ensure we can meet their long-term production needs for both package and even wafer level burn-in. Since the acquisition of Incal Technology last year, Aehr has introduced several enhancements to the Sonoma system to address both qualification and production test and burn-in requirements across a broad range of AI processor suppliers, test labs, and Outsourced Assembly and Test Houses (OSATs). Key upgrades include expanding power-per-device to 2000W, increased parallelism, and full automation with an integrated package device handler. Over just the last quarter, including an open house held recently at our headquarters in Fremont, California, we have had 10 companies visit Aehr to review our Sonoma system and its new enhancements, including a fully automated device handler that we have installed at our Fremont facility. Customer feedback on these enhancements and the device handler has been very positive, and we anticipate these new features to drive new applications and orders this fiscal year. Our acquisition of Incal Technology has provided us with intimate visibility into the long-term needs of a large number of leading AI processor companies…. The rapid advancement of generative AI and the accelerating electrification of transportation and global infrastructure represent two of the most significant macro-trends impacting the semiconductor industry today. These transformative forces are driving enormous growth in semiconductor demand while fundamentally increasing the performance, reliability, safety, and security requirements of the devices used across computing and data infrastructure, telecommunications networks, hard disk drive and solid-state storage solutions, electric vehicles, charging systems, and renewable energy generation. As these applications operate at ever-higher power levels and in increasingly mission-critical environments, the need for comprehensive test and burn-in has become more essential than ever. Semiconductor manufacturers are turning to advanced wafer level and package level burn-in systems to screen for early-life failures, validate long-term reliability, and ensure consistent performance under extreme electrical and thermal stress. This growing emphasis on reliability testing reflects a fundamental shift in the industry – from simply achieving functionality to guaranteeing dependable operation throughout a product’s lifetime, a requirement that continues to expand alongside the scale and complexity of next-generation semiconductor devices. We are excited about the year ahead and believe nearly all our served markets will see order growth in the fiscal year, with silicon carbide growth expected to strengthen further into fiscal 2027. Although we remain cautious due to ongoing tariff-related uncertainty and are not yet reinstating formal guidance, we are confident in the broad-based growth opportunities ahead across AI and our other markets.”