Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. 10-Q

ITEM 2. Management’s Discussion And Analysis of Financial Condition And Results Of Operations You should read the following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and the notes thereto included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 6, 2024. This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains “forward-looking statements” that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. The statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, strategies, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected expenses, gross margins and plans and objectives of management. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “objective,” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about future events and involve known risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievement to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below, and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 6, 2024. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements. Overview Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc., (“UCT”, the “Company” or “We”) is a leading developer and supplier of critical subsystems, components, parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services primarily for the semiconductor industry. UCT offers its customers an integrated outsourced solution for major subassemblies, improved design-to-delivery cycle times, design for manufacturability, prototyping and part and component manufacturing, as well as tool chamber parts cleaning and coating, and micro-contamination analytical services. We report results for two segments: Products and Services. Our Products segment primarily designs, engineers and manufactures production tools, components and parts, and modules and subsystems for the semiconductor and display capital equipment markets. Products include chemical delivery modules, frame assemblies, gas delivery systems, fluid delivery systems, precision robotics, process modules as well as other high-level assemblies. Our Services segment provides ultra-high purity parts cleaning, process tool part recoating, surface encapsulation and high sensitivity micro contamination analysis primarily for the semiconductor device makers and wafer fabrication equipment (“WFE”) markets. We ship a majority of our products and provide most of our services to U.S. registered customers with locations both in and outside the U.S. In addition to U.S. manufacturing and service operations, we manufacture products and provide parts cleaning and other related services in our Asia Pacific, Europe and Middle East (“EMEA”) facilities to support local and U.S. based customers. We conduct our operating activities primarily through our subsidiaries. Over the long term, we believe the semiconductor market we serve will continue to grow due to multi-year industry demand from a broad range of drivers, such as new process architecture (e.g. gate all around) and memory devices (e.g. high bandwidth memory) necessary for cloud, artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machine learning (“ML”) applications. We also believe that semiconductor original equipment manufacturers (“OEM”) are increasingly relying on partners like UCT to fulfill their expanding capacity requirements. Additionally, our Services business is benefiting as device manufacturers rely on precision cleaning and coating to achieve ever more advanced devices. Critical Accounting Estimates Our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, which require us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses and related disclosure at the date of our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to inventories, income taxes, business combinations, contingent earn-out liabilities and goodwill, intangible assets and long-lived assets. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis of our judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates. We consider certain accounting policies related to revenue recognition, inventory valuation, accounting for income taxes, business combinations, valuation of goodwill, intangible assets and long-lived assets to be critical policies due to the estimates and judgments involved in each. - 24 - Table of Contents There have been no significant changes to our critical accounting policies, significant judgments and estimates disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K subsequent to December 29, 2023. For further information on our critical and other significant accounting policies and estimates, see Part II, Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2023, as filed with the SEC. Results of Operations Fiscal Year Our fiscal year is the 52- or 53-week period ending on the Friday nearest December 31. Fiscal year 2024 is a 52-week period ending December 27, 2024 and fiscal year 2023 was a 52-week ended December 29, 2023. The fiscal quarters ended September 27, 2024 and September 29, 2023 were both 13-week periods. Discussion of Results of Operations for the Three and Nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the Three and Nine months ended September 29, 2023 Revenues Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended Revenues by Segment (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change Products $ 479.0 $ 380.9 25.8 % $ 1,350.2 $ 1,112.0 21.4 % Services 61.4 54.1 13.5 % 184.1 177.8 3.5 % Total revenues $ 540.4 $ 435.0 24.2 % $ 1,534.3 $ 1,289.8 19.0 % Products as a percentage of total revenues 88.6 % 87.6 % 88.0 % 86.2 % Services as a percentage of total revenues 11.4 % 12.4 % 12.0 % 13.8 % For the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024, Products revenues increased compared to the same periods in the prior year. The increase in Products revenues was primarily due to an increase in customer demand, along with an overall market improvement in the semiconductor industry and in part due to the acquisition of HIS in October 2023. Services revenues increased for three and nine months ended September 29, 2023 compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily due to increase in demand across its customer base. Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended Revenues by Geography (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change United States $ 145.6 $ 125.8 15.7 % $ 432.7 $ 393.7 9.9 % International 394.8 309.2 27.7 % 1,101.6 896.1 22.9 % Total revenues $ 540.4 $ 435.0 24.2 % $ 1,534.3 $ 1,289.8 19.0 % United States as a percentage of total revenues 26.9 % 28.9 % 28.2 % 30.5 % International as a percentage of total revenues 73.1 % 71.1 % 71.8 % 69.5 % Revenues by geographic area are categorized based on the customer’s location to which the products were shipped or services were performed. For the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024, U.S. revenues increased compared to the same periods in the prior year, primarily as the result of the October 2023 acquisition of HIS, whose customers are primarily U.S. based. International revenues increased in the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily as a result of market improvement driving higher customer demand. - 25 - Table of Contents Cost of Revenues Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended Cost of revenues by Segment (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change Products $ 403.3 $ 329.3 22.5 % $ 1,141.2 $ 955.5 19.4 % Services 43.7 40.5 7.9 % 128.6 128.0 0.5 % Total Cost of revenues $ 447.0 $ 369.8 20.9 % $ 1,269.8 $ 1,083.5 17.2 % Products cost as a percentage of total Products revenues 84.2 % 86.5 % 84.5 % 85.9 % Services cost as a percentage of total Services revenues 71.2 % 74.9 % 69.9 % 72.0 % Cost of Products revenues consists of purchased materials, direct labor and manufacturing overhead. Cost of Products revenues increased $74.0 million and $185.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year. The increase was due to higher sales volumes driving increased material costs of $64.5 million and $166.4 million for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024, respectively. Services Cost of revenues consists of direct labor, overhead and materials (such as chemicals, gases and consumables). Services Cost of revenues increased $3.2 million for the three months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same period in the prior year driven by higher volumes of service orders, resulting in increased material cost and overhead cost $1.3 million and $1.4 million, respectively. There was no significant change in Services Cost of revenues for the nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same period in the prior year due to labor efficiencies offset by higher materials and overhead costs on higher sales. Gross Margin Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended Gross Profit by Segment (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change Products $ 75.7 $ 51.6 46.7 % $ 209.0 $ 156.5 33.5 % Services 17.7 13.6 30.1 % 55.5 49.8 11.4 % Gross profit $ 93.4 $ 65.2 43.3 % $ 264.5 $ 206.3 28.2 % Gross Margin by Segment Products 15.8 % 13.5 % 15.5 % 14.1 % Services 28.8 % 25.1 % 30.1 % 28.0 % Total Company 17.3 % 15.0 % 17.2 % 16.0 % Gross profit and gross margins fluctuate with revenue levels, product mix, material costs, and labor costs. Products gross profit and gross margin increased for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily due to higher revenue levels, product shift and volume shift from higher to lower cost regions. Services gross profit increased for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily due to higher revenue levels. - 26 - Table of Contents Operating Margin Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended Operating Profit by Segment (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change Products $ 22.4 $ 7.7 190.9 % $ 55.9 $ 27.3 104.8 % Services 2.8 (2.0) 240.0 % 9.4 3.4 176.5 % Operating profit $ 25.2 $ 5.7 342.1 % $ 65.3 $ 30.7 112.7 % Operating Margin by Segment Products 4.7 % 2.0 % 4.1 % 2.5 % Services 4.6 % (3.7 %) 5.1 % 1.9 % Total Company 4.7 % 1.3 % 4.3 % 2.4 % Operating profit and operating margin of Products increased for the three and nine months period ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily due to increases in business volumes and customer demand partially offset by increases in share-based compensation expense, in outside service spending, and in the amortization of intangibles in conjunction with the acquisition of HIS. Operating profit and operating margin of Services increased for the three and nine months period ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily due to the higher gross profit resulting from increased customer demand. Research and Development Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change Research and development $ 7.1 $ 7.4 (4.1) % $ 21.2 $ 21.7 (2.3) % Research and development as a percentage of total revenues 1.3 % 1.7 % 1.4 % 1.7 % Research and development expenses were consistent in the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year. Sales and Marketing Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change Sales and marketing $ 14.4 $ 12.8 12.5 % $ 42.9 $ 38.6 11.1 % Sales and marketing as a percentage of total revenues 2.7 % 2.9 % 2.8 % 3.0 % Sales and marketing expenses increased for the three and nine months period ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily due to the increase in employee related expenses. General and Administrative Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change General and administrative $ 46.7 $ 39.3 18.8 % $ 135.1 $ 115.3 17.2 % General and administrative as a percentage of total revenues 8.6 % 9.0 % 8.8 % 8.9 % General and administrative expenses increased $7.4 million and $19.8 million in the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year primarily driven by increases in amortization of intangible assets acquired through business combinations, in outside service spending and in share-based compensation expense in addition to a combination of other factors, none of which were individually significant. - 27 - Table of Contents Interest and Other Expense, net Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change Interest income $ 1.1 $ 1.2 (8.3) % $ 3.9 $ 2.5 56.0 % Interest expense $ (12.0) $ (12.3) (2.4) % $ (35.8) $ (35.9) (0.3) % Other income (expense), net $ (4.1) $ (2.1) 95.2 % $ 9.3 $ (0.8) (1262.5) % Interest income increased $1.4 million in the nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same period in the prior year primarily due to higher interest income earned on cash and cash equivalent balances attributed to higher interest rates in the current period. Interest expense was consistent in the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year. Other expense, net, increased $2.0 million in the three months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same period in the prior year primarily due to a loss from the change in the fair value of contingent earn-out of $0.8 million and by $1.3 million of unfavorable foreign exchange transactions and remeasurements. Other income, net, increased $10.1 million in the nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same period in the prior year primarily due to the gain from the change in a fair value of contingent earn-out of $22.0 million offset partially by the $3.6 million of debt financing costs and by the $8.7 million unfavorable foreign exchange transactions and remeasurements. Provision for Income Taxes Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended (Dollars in millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Percent Change Provision for income taxes $ 9.9 $ 5.3 86.8 % $ 28.2 $ 17.1 64.9 % Effective tax rate 97.1 % (70.7) % 66.0 % (488.6) % The increase in the effective tax rate for the three and nine months ended September 27, 2024 compared to the same periods in the prior year is primarily attributable to changes in the geographic mix of worldwide earnings and financial results in jurisdictions which are taxed at different rates and the impact of losses in jurisdictions with full valuation allowances on deferred tax assets. The negative tax rates in the three and nine months ended September 29, 2023 were the result of pre-tax losses in those periods compared to pre-tax profits in the comparable periods ended September 27, 2024. Company management continuously evaluates the need for a valuation allowance on its deferred tax assets and, as of September 27, 2024, concluded that a full valuation allowance on its U.S. federal, state and certain of its foreign deferred tax assets remained appropriate. Liquidity and Capital Resources Cash and cash Equivalents The following table summarizes our cash and cash equivalents: (In millions) September 27, 2024 December 29, 2023 Increase Total cash and cash equivalents $ 318.2 $ 307.0 $ 11.2 The following table summarizes the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flow information: Nine Months Ended (In millions) September 27, 2024 September 29, 2023 Operating activities $ 47.9 $ 100.6 Investing activities (46.2) (56.9) Financing activities 8.8 (61.0) Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 0.7 0.5 Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $ 11.2 $ (16.8) - 28 - Table of Contents Our primary cash inflows and outflows were as follows: • For the nine months ended September 27, 2024, we generated cash from operating activities of $47.9 million compared to $100.6 million for the nine months ended September 29, 2023. The $52.7 million decrease in net cash provided by operating activities was driven by a $83.1 million unfavorable change in net working capital and by a $4.7 million decrease in non-cash items included in net income offset in part by an increase in net income of $35.1 million. • The major contributors in net changes in operating assets and liabilities for the nine months ended September 27, 2024 were as follows: ◦ Accounts receivable increased $47.3 million primarily due to the timing of shipments and collections and $28.1 million increase in inventories due to increased production levels. ◦ Accounts payable increased $46.1 million, income taxes payable increased $1.4 million, and accrued compensation and related benefits increased $0.2 million, primarily due to the timing of payments. • Net cash used in investing activities during the nine months ended September 27, 2024 and September 29, 2023 consisted primarily of $46.2 million and $59.2 million purchases of property, plant and equipment, respectively. • During the nine months ended September 27, 2024, the cash provided in financing activities was $8.8 million compared to cash used in financing activities of $61.0 million in the nine months ended September 29, 2023. The $69.8 million increase in net cash provided by financing activities is due to the $23.5 million net cash proceeds from the amended credit agreement, a decrease of $24.6 million in principal payments on bank borrowings, and a $23.7 million decrease in share repurchases offset partially by the additional $2.2 million payment of debt issuance costs. We believe we have sufficient capital to fund our working capital needs, satisfy our debt obligations, maintain our existing capital equipment, purchase new capital equipment and make strategic acquisitions from time to time. As of September 27, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents of $318.2 million compared to $307.0 million as of December 29, 2023. Our cash and cash equivalents, cash generated from operations, and amounts available under our revolving line of credit described below were our principal sources of liquidity as of September 27, 2024. Fluid Solutions has an existing factoring arrangement with a financial institution in which a portion of its accounts receivable are sold on a non-recourse basis. As of September 27, 2024, Fluid Solutions factored $7.6 million under this arrangement. We anticipate that our existing cash and cash equivalents balance and operating cash flow will be sufficient to service our indebtedness and meet our working capital requirements and technology development projects for at least the next twelve months. The adequacy of these resources to meet our liquidity needs beyond that period will depend on our growth, the size and number of any acquisitions, the state of the worldwide economy, our ability to meet our financial covenants with our credit facility, the cyclical expansion or contraction of the semiconductor capital equipment industry and the other industries we serve and capital expenditures required to meet possible increased demand for our products. In order to expand our business or acquire additional complementary businesses or technologies, we may need to raise additional funds through equity or debt financing. If required, additional financing may not be available on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, our stockholders’ equity interest will be diluted and these securities might have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our current stockholders. We may also require the consent of our new lenders to raise additional funds through equity or debt financing. No assurance can be given that additional financing will be available or that, if available, such financing can be obtained on terms favorable to our stockholders and us. As of September 27, 2024, we have cash of approximately $278.3 million in our foreign subsidiaries. It is not practicable to determine the tax liability that might be incurred if the undistributed earnings of these foreign subsidiaries were to be distributed. For undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries which are not considered indefinitely reinvested, deferred taxes have been accrued. - 29 - Table of Contents Borrowing Arrangements The following table summarizes our borrowings: September 27, 2024 (Dollars in millions) Amount Weighted- Average Interest Rate U.S. Term Loan $ 493.8 8.9 % Fluid Solutions Debt Facilities 6.1 7.1 % Debt issuance costs (7.7) $ 492.2 At September 27, 2024, the Company had an outstanding amount under the Term Loan of $493.8 million, gross of unamortized debt issuance costs of $7.7 million. As of September 27, 2024, the interest rate on the outstanding Term Loan was 8.9%. As of September 27, 2024, the Company had $146.0 million, net of $4.0 million of outstanding letters of credit, available under this revolving credit facility. As of September 27, 2024, the Company was in compliance with the financial covenants contained within the Amended Credit Agreement. The Company has a credit agreement with a local bank in the Czech Republic that provides for a revolving credit facility in the aggregate of up to 7.0 million euros (approximately $7.8 million). As of September 27, 2024, no debt was outstanding under this revolving credit facility. Fluid Solutions has credit facilities with various financial institutions in Israel that provides borrowings of up to $11.0 million. As of September 27, 2024, Fluid Solutions had $6.1 million of outstanding debt with interest rate of 7.1%. As of September 27, 2024, the Company’s total bank debt was $492.2 million, net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $7.7 million. As of September 27, 2024, the Company had $146.0 million, $4.9 million and $7.8 million available to draw from our credit facilities in the U.S., Israel and Czech Republic, respectively. See Note 6 - Borrowing Arrangements, of our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part 1 of this Form-10Q for additional information. Capital Expenditures Capital expenditures were $46.2 million during the nine months ended September 27, 2024 and were primarily attributable to the capital invested in our manufacturing facilities worldwide. The Company’s anticipated capital expenditures for the remainder of 2024 are expected to be financed primarily from our cash flow generated from operations and cash on hand. Contractual Obligations The Company had commitments to various third parties to purchase inventories totaling approximately $495.7 million as of September 27, 2024. In conjunction with the sale of our products in the ordinary course of business, we provide standard indemnification against certain liabilities to our customers, which may include claims of losses by their own customers resulting out of property damages, bodily injuries or deaths, or infringement of intellectual property rights by our products. Our potential liability arising out of intellectual property infringement claims by any third party is generally uncapped. As of September 27, 2024, we have not incurred any significant costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification arrangements. As a result, we believe the estimated fair value of these arrangements is minimal. - 30 - Table of Contents