REDMOND, WA – Data I/O reported third quarter net sales of $6.5 million, down 32.3% year-over-year and 9.7% sequentially. The year-over-year decline in sales is attributed to substantial demand in 2017, particularly for automotive electronics and programming center customers.

Third quarter net income was $342,000, compared with net income of $1.7 million in the period of 2017 and $486,000 in the second quarter of 2018. Operating income was $404,000 for the third quarter, down from $1.8 million in the same period last year, and up from $246,000 in the prior quarter.

Total operating expenses in the third quarter were $3.7 million, compared to $4.1 million in the 2017 period.

Orders during the period were $7 million, down 14.6% year-over-year. Automotive represented 58% of orders year to date.

“Now three quarters through 2018, we remain confident in the strength of our business and the progress we are achieving as we maintain focus on our long-term growth strategies in the automotive electronics and Internet of Things (IoT) markets,” said Anthony Ambrose, president and CEO of Data I/O.  “The company’s incredibly strong performance in 2017 created challenging comparables for 2018, particularly with programming center customers working through their capacity from strong orders last year. While certain segments for equipment sales have declined from last year, we were pleased with the overall increase in September activity, which brought bookings in the third quarter to $7 million.  This heightened bookings activity continued into October.”

As of Sept. 30, Data I/O had cash of $18.9 million, compared to $18.5 million at Dec. 31.