Ichor Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ: ICHR), a leader in the design, engineering, and manufacturing of critical fluid delivery subsystems and components for semiconductor capital equipment, today announced first quarter 2022 financial results.

First quarter 2022 highlights:

• Record revenues were within our guidance range at $293 million, up 11% year-over-year and up 2% from Q4;
• Gross margin of 15% on a GAAP basis and 16% on a non-GAAP basis, reflecting additional hiring of direct manufacturing labor to support customer demand as well as increased freight and logistics costs; and
• Earnings per share of $0.28 and $0.70 on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis, respectively.

“We are pleased to report record first quarter revenues that were within our guidance range,” commented Jeff Andreson, chief executive officer. “Over the last several quarters, we along with the rest of the industry have been expecting supply chain conditions to improve, yet in 2022 to date, availability of components and materials has become even more challenged. In order to better address the continued very strong levels of customer demand, in the first quarter we increased both our hiring activity for direct labor and our overall manufacturing capacity, which while presenting a near-term headwind to gross margin, are critical investments that will enable us to achieve significant increases in revenue output in the coming quarters and years. We are taking a more cautious view of any supply chain improvements through at least mid-year, but still expect to achieve sequential revenue increases as we progress through 2022.”

U.S. GAAP Financial Results Overview

For the first quarter of 2022, revenue was $293.1 million, net income was $8.0 million, and net income per diluted share (“diluted EPS”) was $0.28. This compares to revenue of $287.2 million and $264.6 million, net income of $14.9 million and $14.6 million, and diluted EPS of $0.51 and $0.51, for the fourth and first quarters of 2021, respectively.

Non-GAAP Financial Results Overview

For the first quarter of 2022, non-GAAP net income was $20.2 million and non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.70. This compares to non-GAAP net income of $26.2 million and $21.7 million, and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.90 and $0.76, for the fourth and first quarters of 2021, respectively.

Second Quarter 2022 Financial Outlook

For the second quarter of 2022, we expect revenue to be in the range of $290 million to $330 million. We expect GAAP diluted EPS to be in the range of $0.45 to $0.73 and non-GAAP diluted EPS to be in the range of $0.68 to $0.94.

This outlook for non-GAAP diluted EPS excludes known charges related to amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation expense, tax adjustments related to these non-GAAP adjustments, and non-recurring charges known at the time of providing this outlook. This outlook for non-GAAP diluted EPS excludes any items that are unknown at this time, such as non-recurring tax-related items or other unusual or infrequent items which we are not able to predict without unreasonable efforts due to their inherent uncertainty.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Results

We ended the first quarter of 2022 with cash and cash equivalents of $34.5 million, a decrease of $41.0 million from the prior quarter.

The decrease was primarily due to cash used in operating activities of $36.3 million and capital expenditures of $3.4 million.

Our cash used in operating activities of $36.3 million during the first quarter of 2022 consisted of net income of $8.0 million, net non-cash charges of $12.3 million, primarily consisting of depreciation and amortization of $9.3 million and share-based compensation expense of $2.9 million, and an increase in our net operating assets and liabilities of $56.6 million.

The increase in our net operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions, was primarily due to an increase in inventories of $27.7 million, a decrease in accounts payable of $18.2 million, and an increase in accounts receivable of $10.5 million. The increase in our inventories is primarily driven by elevated purchasing activity pursuant to strong customer demand and certain supply chain component constraints. The decrease in accounts payable and increase in accounts receivable were primarily due to fluctuations in payment timing to suppliers and from customers, as well as higher revenues in the last few weeks of the first quarter of 2022 compared to the last few weeks of the fourth quarter of 2021.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Results

In addition to U.S. GAAP results, this press release also contains non-GAAP financial results, including non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted EPS, and free cash flow. Management uses these non-GAAP metrics to evaluate our operating and financial results. We believe the presentation of non-GAAP results is useful to investors for analyzing business trends and comparing performance to prior periods, along with enhancing investors’ ability to view our results from management’s perspective. Non-GAAP gross profit, operating income, and net income are defined as: gross profit, operating income, or net income, as applicable, excluding (1) amortization of intangible assets, share-based compensation expense, and non-recurring expenses, including acquisition-related costs and charges, contract settlement losses and facility shutdown costs, to the extent they are present in gross profit, operating income, and net income; and (2) the tax impacts associated with our non-GAAP adjustments, as well as non-recurring discrete tax items. Non-GAAP diluted EPS is defined as non-GAAP net income divided by weighted average diluted ordinary shares outstanding during the period. Non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP operating margin are defined as non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP operating income, respectively, divided by net sales. Free cash flow is defined as cash provided by or used in operating activities, less capital expenditures. Tables showing these metrics on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis, with reconciliation footnotes thereto, are included at the end of this press release.

Non-GAAP results have limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for our results reported under GAAP. Other companies may calculate non-GAAP results differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, both of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP results as a tool for comparison.

Because of these limitations, you should consider non-GAAP results alongside other financial performance measures and results presented in accordance with GAAP. In addition, in evaluating non-GAAP results, you should be aware that in the future we will incur expenses such as those that are the subject of adjustments in deriving non-GAAP results and you should not infer from our presentation of non-GAAP results that our future results will not be affected by these expenses or any unusual or non-recurring items.

Conference Call

We will conduct a conference call to discuss our first quarter 2022 results and business outlook today at 1:30 p.m. PT.

To listen to a live webcast of the call, please visit our investor relations website at https://ir.ichorsystems.com, or go to the live link at https://webcast-eqs.com/ichorholdings20220510_en. To listen via telephone, please call (877) 407-0989 (domestic) or +1 (201) 389-0921 (international), conference ID: 13728745.

After the call, an on-demand replay will be available at the same webcast link.

About Ichor

We are a leader in the design, engineering and manufacturing of critical fluid delivery subsystems and components primarily for semiconductor capital equipment, as well as other industries such as defense/aerospace and medical. Our primary product offerings include gas and chemical delivery subsystems, collectively known as fluid delivery subsystems, which are key elements of the process tools used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices. Our gas delivery subsystems deliver, monitor and control precise quantities of the specialized gases used in semiconductor manufacturing processes such as etch and deposition. Our chemical delivery subsystems precisely blend and dispense the reactive liquid chemistries used in semiconductor manufacturing processes such as chemical-mechanical planarization, electroplating, and cleaning. We also provide precision-machined components, weldments, e-beam and laser welded components, precision vacuum and hydrogen brazing, surface treatment technologies, and other proprietary products. We are headquartered in Fremont, CA. https://ir.ichorsystems.com.

We use a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the last Friday in December. The three months ended April 1, 2022, December 31, 2021, and March 26, 2021, were 13 weeks, 14 weeks, and 13 weeks, respectively. References to the first quarter of 2022 and the fourth and first quarters of 2021 relate to the three-month periods then ended. Our fiscal years ended December 30, 2022, and December 31, 2021, are 52 weeks and 53 weeks, respectively. References to 2022 and 2021 relate to the fiscal years then ended.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "guidance," "expects," "intends," “may,” “will,” "projects," "plans," “predicts,” "believes," “could,” "estimates," "targets," "anticipates," “look forward,” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements.

Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding financial results for our second fiscal quarter of 2022, statements regarding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, materials or component shortages from suppliers, as well as any other statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions, which may not prove to be accurate. These statements are not guarantees and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from these forward-looking statements, including: (1) dependence on expenditures by manufacturers and cyclical downturns in the semiconductor capital equipment industry, (2) reliance on a very small number of original equipment manufacturers for a significant portion of sales, (3) negotiating leverage held by our customers, (4) competitiveness and rapid evolution of the industries in which we participate, (5) risks associated with weakness in the global economy and geopolitical instability, (6) keeping pace with developments in the industries we serve and with technological innovation generally, (7) designing, developing and introducing new products that are accepted by original equipment manufacturers in order to retain our existing customers and obtain new customers, (8) managing our manufacturing and procurement process effectively, (9) defects in our products that could damage our reputation, decrease market acceptance and result in potentially costly litigation, (10) dependence on a limited number of suppliers, and (11) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, any related or unrelated public health threat or fear of such event on economic activity, us and our customers, suppliers, employees, and other business relations, including, but not limited to, demand for our products, workforce availability, and costs to manufacture our products. Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including other risks, relevant factors, and uncertainties identified in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2022.

All forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon information available to us as of the date hereof, and qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of actual results, changes in our expectations, future events or developments, or otherwise, except as required by law.

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