Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Benchmark's Q1 Sales, Gross Profits Rise

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Benchmark Electronics today announced first quarter revenue rose 9% from a year ago to $608 million.

The EMS company swung to a net loss of $24 million, including $40 million due to foreign withholding taxes and state tax expenses related to the repatriation of foreign cash. The non-GAAP profit was $20 million, versus $16 million last year.

First quarter revenues from higher-value markets were in line with expectations, including strong demand in Test & Instrumentation from semiconductor capital equipment customers. Higher-value markets were up 12% year-over-year from Test & Instrumentation and Medical markets. Traditional market revenues in Computing and Telecommunications were down sequentially from seasonality in Computing demand and up 3% year-over-year.

The company recorded 32 manufacturing wins across all market sectors, worth annualized revenue of $141 million to $201 million when fully launched in the next 12 to 24 months.

"Overall, performance in the first quarter was solid," said Paul Tufano, president and CEO. "Revenues were up 9% year-over-year and gross margins improved 40 bps to 9.5%. Non‐GAAP EPS of $0.41 exceeded the high end of our guidance by $0.03; cash cycle days ended at 68 days, within our 73 to 68 day target range; and we achieved 11.2% ROIC, a 90 basis point quarter‐over‐quarter improvement.

"We continue to see good progress in bookings and are encouraged by the quality of our new customer engagements. For the second quarter, the convergence of timing dynamics related to mix shifts primarily in medical, new customer ramp headwinds, and planned investments in engineering and solutions will impact our reported financials. Consequently, our guidance reflects these factors with sequential revenue in the range of $590 million to $630 million and non-GAAP EPS between $0.26 and $0.34," continued Tufano. "We are confident in our ability to address these challenges and remain positive about the second half and our long-term model."

Benchmark guided for second quarter revenue of $590 million to $630 million.