Earnings posted on Jan 31, 2018

Rudolph Technologies Reports 2017 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results

WILMINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS (February 1, 2018) – Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: RTEC), a leading provider of semiconductor process control systems, lithography equipment, as well as process control and yield management software for wafer fabs and advanced packaging facilities, today announced financial results for the 2017 fourth quarter.

2017 Fourth Quarter Highlights

2017 Year-End Highlights

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Michael Plisinski, chief executive officer, commented, “The fourth quarter capped another year of balanced double digit growth for Rudolph. In the quarter, we continued to build on our foundation for growth adding new customers and applications for our new products and adding an additional panel fan out customer in advanced packaging. Closing the quarter with record backlog spanning multiple markets is providing Rudolph with unusual clarity for the year ahead.”

Mr. Plisinski concluded, “Strong global markets driven by a variety of factors including continued demand for advanced servers for growing cloud and AI applications, continued demand for sensors and advanced computing for autonomous driving and mobile applications is setting up 2018 to be another year of broad based growth for Rudolph.”

Fourth Quarter 2017 GAAP Financial Results
Fourth quarter revenue totaled $60.1 million, a decrease of 10 percent compared with $66.9 million for the third quarter of 2017 and an 11 percent increase compared with $54.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2016.  The fourth quarter gross margin improved to 53.5 percent of revenues, compared to 52.5 percent in the third quarter of 2017.

Operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2017 totaled $20.7 million, compared to $9.6 million for the third quarter of 2017.  The increase in operating expense was primarily due to a $13.0 million gain from a litigation settlement in the third quarter, which reduced overall operating expenses.  Excluding the gain, operating expenses decreased by $1.9 million primarily due to the timing of research and development projects and lower selling, general and administrative expenses. 

GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of 2017 was ($0.8) million, or ($0.03) per diluted share, compared with GAAP net income of $17.4 million, or $0.54 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2017. The decrease in GAAP net income was primarily due to the after tax impact of the $13.0 million litigation settlement gain recorded in the third quarter, which increased the third quarter net income.  Also contributing to the quarter-over-quarter change were non-cash discrete tax charges of $9.5 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017 related to the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act “Tax Reform” passed by the U.S. Congress, as discussed below.  In the fourth quarter of 2016, GAAP net income was $6.1 million, or $0.19 per diluted share.

Fourth Quarter Non-GAAP Financial Results
Fourth quarter 2017 non-GAAP net income was $9.4 million, or $0.29 per diluted share and exceeded the Company’s guidance.  Non-GAAP results excluded certain items, as detailed in the attached table. Third quarter 2017 non-GAAP net income was $10.6 million, or $0.33 per diluted share. In the fourth quarter of 2016, non-GAAP net income was $6.6 million, or $0.21 per diluted share.

Balance Sheet
At December 31, 2017, cash and marketable securities increased $18.0 million over the previous quarter to $177.4 million and cash provided by operating activities was $21.6 million for the fourth quarter. Accounts receivable decreased slightly in the quarter to $65.3 million and inventory increased slightly to $67.5 million.  Working capital increased in the quarter and ended at $279.8 million.

Outlook
The Company is currently anticipating revenue to be in a range of $64 million to $74 million.  The Company is also expecting diluted GAAP net income per share to be in the range of $0.27 to $0.45 and non-GAAP net income per diluted share to be in the range of $0.32 to $0.50.  Due to the enactment of tax reform, the Company currently expects its effective tax rate to be in the range of 19 percent to 22 percent.

Conference Call
Rudolph Technologies will discuss its 2017 fourth quarter and full year financial results and other matters on a conference call it is hosting today at 4:30 PM EST.  To participate in the call, please dial (800)-289-0438 (Domestic) or +1 (323)-994-2083 (International), and reference Conference ID #5521220 at least five (5) minutes prior to the scheduled start time.  A live webcast will also be available on the Company’s website at www.Onto Innovationtech.com.

To listen to the live webcast, please go to the website at least fifteen (15) minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

There will be a replay of the conference call available from 8:00 pm EST on February 1, 2018 until 11:59 pm EST on February 8, 2018.  To access the replay, please dial (888) 203-1112 (Domestic) or +1 (719) 457-0820 (International) at any time during that period and use Conference ID #5521220.

A replay will also be available on the Company’s website at www.Onto Innovationtech.com.

Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company has provided in this release non-GAAP financial information including non-GAAP gross profit, operating income, net income, and net income per diluted share, as a supplement to the condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Management uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing the Company’s financial results to assess operational performance. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. Further, the Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors because they allow for greater transparency with respect to key financial metrics that the Company uses in making operating decisions and because the Company believes that investors and analysts use them to help assess the health of its business and for comparison to other companies. Non-GAAP results are presented for supplemental informational purposes only for understanding the Company’s operating results. The non-GAAP information should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies.

The financial statements provided with this release include a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to those measures reported in accordance with GAAP.

The Company’s non-GAAP financial measures, used in this press release, reflect adjustments based on the following items:

Share-based compensation expense.   These expenses relate to employee restricted stock units and employee stock options. The Company excludes stock-based compensation expense from its non-GAAP measures primarily because such expenses are non-cash expenses that the Company does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results.

Amortization of intangibles.  The Company incurs expenses for the amortization of intangible assets acquired in acquisitions. The Company excludes these items because these expenses are not reflective of ongoing operating results in the period incurred. These amounts arise from the Company’s prior acquisitions and have no direct correlation to the operation of the Company’s core business.

Patent litigation fees and income. The Company, from time to time, may incur charges or benefits that are outside of the ordinary course of the Company’s business related to litigation. The Company believes it is useful to exclude such charges or benefits because it does not consider such amounts to be part of the ongoing operation of the Company’s business and because of the singular nature of the claims underlying the matter.

Gain on sale of building.  The Company received this benefit from the sale of one of its assets. The Company believes it is useful to exclude such benefit because it does not consider such amount to be part of the ongoing operation of the Company’s business and because of the singular nature of the matter.

Net tax provision (benefit) adjustments.  This line item represents the income tax effects of the non-GAAP items.

Tax reform.  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act impacted the Company’s 2017 results primarily due to (i) a one-time non-cash tax expense estimated at $8 million, reflecting the revaluation of its net deferred tax asset using a U.S. federal tax rate of 21%, (ii) a one-time transition tax estimated at $1.5 million on its unremitted foreign earnings and profits, which are offset by utilized foreign tax credits estimated at $1.6 million and (iii) a valuation allowance associated with any remaining foreign tax credits of $1.5 million, which may not be utilized in future periods. The Company will continue to evaluate the impact of tax reform during the measurement period.

About Rudolph Technologies
Rudolph Technologies, Inc. is a leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of defect inspection, lithography, process control metrology, and process control software used by semiconductor and advanced packaging device manufacturers worldwide. Rudolph delivers comprehensive solutions throughout the fab with its families of proprietary products that provide critical yield-enhancing information, enabling microelectronic device manufacturers to drive down costs and time to market of their devices.  Headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Rudolph supports its customers with a worldwide sales and service organization. Additional information can be found on the Company’s website at www.Onto Innovationtech.com.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”) which include Rudolph’s business momentum and future growth; the benefit to customers of Rudolph’s products and customer service; Rudolph’s ability to both deliver products and services consistent with our customers’ demands and expectations and strengthen its market position; Rudolph’s expectations regarding the semiconductor market outlook; Rudolph’s first quarter 2018 financial outlook; as well as other matters that are not purely historical data. Rudolph wishes to take advantage of the “safe harbor” provided for by the Act and cautions that actual results may differ materially from those projected as a result of various factors, including risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Rudolph’s control.  Such factors include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to leverage its resources to improve its position in its core markets; its ability to weather difficult economic environments; its ability to open new market opportunities and target high-margin markets; the strength/weakness of the back-end and/or front-end semiconductor market segments; and fluctuations in customer capital spending. Additional information and considerations regarding the risks faced by Rudolph are available in Rudolph’s Form 10-K report for the year ended December 31, 2016 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As the forward-looking statements are based on Rudolph’s current expectations, the Company cannot guarantee any related future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Rudolph does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Financial Tables

For more information, please contact:
Michael Sheaffer
Senior Director, Corp. Communications
978.253.6273
Mike.Sheaffer@Onto Innovationtech.com