Eagle Test Systems Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2008 Results

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eagle Test Systems, Inc. NASDAQ: EGLT, a provider of automated test equipment solutions for high-performance analog, mixed-signal and radio frequency (RF) semiconductors, announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2008.

Operating Results

Net revenue was $33.1 million for the second fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2008, an increase of $11.8 million, or 55.5%, compared to net revenue of $21.3 million for the same period in the prior fiscal year. Sequentially, net revenues increased $2.1 million or 6.9% from the December 2007 quarter. Gross margin for the second fiscal quarter was 62.0% of net revenue, compared to 60.5% of net revenue for the same period in the prior fiscal year, and 61.5% for our December 2007 quarter. Operating income for the second fiscal quarter was $8.0 million, compared to $2.0 million in operating income for the same period in the prior fiscal year, and $6.9 million for our December 2007 quarter.

Net income for the second fiscal quarter was $6.0 million or $0.26 per fully diluted common share, compared to net income of $1.8 million or $0.08 per fully diluted common share for the same period in the prior fiscal year, and net income of $5.3 million or $0.23 per fully diluted common share for the December 2007 quarter.

Net revenue was $64.1 million for the six months ended March 31, 2008, compared to net revenue of $45.3 million for the same period in the prior fiscal year. Net income was $11.3 million, an increase of $5.6 million over net income of $5.7 million in the comparable period in the prior fiscal year. The Company reported income per fully diluted common share of $0.49 for the six months ended March 31, 2008, compared to $0.25 for the same period in the prior fiscal year.

"I am very pleased with our strong second quarter performance and our ability to continue delivering positive earnings for our shareholders," stated Len Foxman - Eagle CEO. "These results are indicative of the success we can achieve by remaining focused on delivering profitable results and leveraging our strong business model."

Outlook

The Company estimates net revenue will be between $30.0 and $34.0 million in the third fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2008. The Company estimates earnings per share will be between $0.19 and $0.26 based on an estimated 23,200,000 fully diluted common shares.

Earnings Conference Call

Eagle Test Systems will host its earnings call today at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time/ 5:00 p.m. Central Time for analysts, stockholders, investors and the public.

Participants can join for the voice portion of the call by dialing 1-866- 831-6224 (domestic calls) or 1-617-213-8853 (international calls) starting at 5:45 p.m. Eastern time/ 4:45 p.m. Central time and enter the passcode 15220963; you will be asked for your name and firm's name. The live conference call will also be available via web cast and accessible along with our earnings release the day of the call through the Investor Relations section of our website at http://www.eagletest.com.

The conference call will be available for replay from approximately 1 hour after completion of the conference call until May 13, 2008. To hear a replay of the call, please dial 1-888-286-8010 (domestic calls) or 1-617-801-6888 (international calls) and enter the passcode 60674706.

About Eagle Test Systems, Inc.

Eagle Test designs, manufactures, sells and services high performance automated test equipment for the semiconductor industry. The company's products are used to test analog, mixed-signal and radio frequency (RF) semiconductors that are used in products such as digital cameras, MP3 players, automotive electronics, cellular telephones, computers and peripherals. The company was founded in 1976 and has offices located throughout the world in Asia, North America and Europe, with corporate headquarters in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. For more information, please visit www.eagletest.com.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements contained in the press release regarding matters that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our projections for revenue, earnings per share and weighted average diluted common shares for the third fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2008 and statements regarding winning new customers, penetrating existing customers with new products with parallel test capabilities, and our business focus in the future are "forward-looking" statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These forward-looking statements involve important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such important factors involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the risk associated with the highly cyclical nature of the semiconductor market; unanticipated challenges in assessing business conditions and the overall market; the lack of visibility with regard to future business conditions for our Company and the rapid nature of changes in industry business conditions; the risk of a loss or reduction of orders from one or more customers among which our business is concentrated; the difficulty in obtaining new customers because of the high switching cost; competition and pricing pressures; the decision by customers to cancel or defer orders that previously had been accepted; delays or shortages in an adequate supply of raw materials; insufficient or excess inventory; our ability to develop new and enhanced products; the ability to manage our growth; the ability to attract and retain key employees; prolonged disruption in the operations of our single manufacturing facility; economic, political and other risks associated with international sales and operations; risks related to our intellectual property; risks related to our need to achieve and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting; risk related to unanticipated impact of stock based compensation and the tax effects there under on our expenses in any period pursuant to FASB Statement 123(R) and other factors that are detailed from time to time in reports filed by Eagle Test Systems, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including risks and uncertainties discussed under "Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 6, 2007. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether changes occur as a result of new information or future events, after the date they were made.

     Company Contact
     Stephen J. Hawrysz
     Chief Financial Officer
     Eagle Test Systems, Inc.
     847-327-1033

                          Financial Tables to Follow



                           Eagle Test Systems, Inc
                              Financial Results
                                 (UNAUDITED)
            (all dollars in 000's except share and per share data)

                                   Three Months ended      Six Months Ended
                                       March 31,               March 31,
                                    2008        2007        2008        2007

          Net Revenue             $33,134     $21,308     $64,134     $45,344

          COGS                     12,594       8,420      24,533      18,296

          Gross margin             20,540      12,888      39,601      27,048
             Margin %                62.0%       60.5%       61.7%       59.7%

          SG&A                      9,213       8,668      18,505      16,083

          R&D                       3,293       2,208       6,202       4,362

          Total operating expense  12,506      10,876      24,707      20,445

          Operating income          8,034       2,012      14,894       6,603
             % of Revenue            24.2%        9.4%       23.2%       14.6%

          Interest expense              3         235           8         251

          Other (income)
           expense (1)             (1,071)     (1,212)     (2,219)     (2,476)

          Income before taxes       9,102       2,989      17,105       8,828

          Tax expense               3,108       1,150       5,785       3,123

             Net income            $5,994      $1,839     $11,320      $5,705
                                     18.1%        8.6%       17.7%       12.6%

          Earnings per common
           share
             Basic                  $0.26       $0.08       $0.49       $0.25
             Fully diluted          $0.26       $0.08       $0.49       $0.25

          Shares
             Basic             22,974,177  22,895,803  22,974,177  22,864,818
             Fully diluted     23,096,408  23,122,421  23,109,083  23,099,357

          FOOTNOTES:

          (1)Other (income) expense primarily consists of interest income
             earned on cash and marketable securities.



                                                    March 31,    September 30,
             Balance sheet Data (Unaudited)           2008              2007

             Cash & investments                     $76,891          $112,517
             Accounts receivables                    24,047            18,238
             Inventories                             36,056            22,233
             Current assets                         143,617           161,255
             Long-term investments                   35,858               -
             Total assets                          $193,067          $172,570

             Accounts payable                       $13,667            $6,079
             Deferred revenue                         7,457             6,441
             Current liabilities                     29,480            19,222
             Long-term liabilities                      474             1,458
             Total liabilities &
              stockholders equity                  $193,067          $172,570

                                      End of Table