Robert E. Matthiessen
Analyst · Theodore O'Neill with Litchfield Hills Research
Thanks, Laura. I'd like to welcome everyone to our 2013 third quarter conference call. While Hugh will review the financial results in detail, I'll review some of the highlights and then we'll discuss our markets and what we're seeing in the customer base. The industry slowdown that we experienced in the second quarter continued into the third quarter. While this led to an unanticipated decline in overall bookings and net revenue for the quarter, we did maintain solid profitability, delivering earnings per share of $0.10, which was at the high end of our guidance range. While total bookings for the third quarter were $10.4 million compared with the second quarter 2013 bookings of $11 million, non-semi-related bookings were $3.8 million, or 36% of net revenues, compared with $2.2 million, or 20% of net revenues, in the second quarter. Recall that at the end of the second quarter, we've revised the non-semi-related historical bookings and revenue figures to include service, which had previously not been included. Third quarter net revenues were $9.9 million compared with $11.2 million reported in the second quarter. Non-semi test revenue again increased, both in terms of absolute dollars and, as a percent of revenue, up 44% sequentially and representing 37% of total third quarter net revenues. As you may recall, we specialize in delivering semi-custom thermal test solutions that can be readily adapted to industries outside of semiconductor, including automotive, consumer electronics, defense/aerospace, energy and telecommunications. We are well structured in terms of operating profitability, and we again delivered profitable results, with the third quarter marking our 16th consecutive quarter of profitability, including Q1 2012's breakeven quarter. Third quarter net income was $1.1 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, consistent with the second quarter 2013's results and an improvement over third quarter 2012 net income of $664,000, or $0.06 per diluted share. In addition, we have a solid balance sheet and continue to carry no debt. Most notably, we continue to make money even during challenging times, and we generate cash, trends that we fully expect to continue throughout the fourth quarter of 2013. Now let me turn to our segments. In the Thermal segment, our order rate during the quarter was significant, with bookings of $6.5 million. That's a 22% increase over second quarter bookings of $5.4 million. Bookings for North America and Asia were up approximately 10% and 25%, respectively. Although semi-related bookings of $2.8 million decline from $3.1 million last quarter, we currently expect an increase in Thermal bookings overall in the second half of 2013 compared to the first half. Thermal segment revenues for the third quarter were $5.8 million, consistent with those reported by this segment for the second quarter. We had a number of Thermal highlights in Q3. Q3 Thermal bookings represent 63% of total consolidated bookings compared with 49% last quarter. Transceiver bookings in Asia continue to grow during the period, and we developed 3 new customers. The rental market in Europe is strong, and during this period, we added a number of new rentals. This is important because Europe has been so quiet in recent years, and they're beginning to come alive. In fact, Russia continues to be active, with more orders expected in Q4. Mil/aero continues to be our largest North American non-semi segment, accounting for 20% of all North American bookings, again, significant since mil/aero had shut down early during the sequester period. We received significant orders from 4 new Sigma customers. Year-to-date, sales of ThermoChucks in 2013 were $820,000, which already exceeds our total 2012 sales of $567,000. The segment outlook continues to be positive, with promising activity at several large customers. And Temptronic activity is starting to increase with several customers starting to discuss year end purchases. Our OEM chiller project continues. Phase 3 of 4 was completed and approved. The customer visited for first article inspection and performance confirmation in July, and the system was approved and signed off by the customer during that visit. Phase 4, which is the final phase, is underway. This phase is a 6-month long test to simulate real-world use of the model, which is scheduled to conclude in February of 2014. And we fully expect that inTEST Thermal solutions will be added to the approved suppliers list by the end of 2013. Turning to the Mechanical Products segment, bookings for the third quarter were $1.8 million compared with $3.7 million in the second quarter. Third quarter mechanical sales were $2.2 million, compared with second quarter sales of $3.8 million. Evaluation of our new powered IntelliDOCK is underway at one of our largest customers, and early results are very encouraging. Also, we installed a Cobal 500 for our Korean customer. The significance of this is that we have not done much business in Korea over the years. We've recently added a new sales representation there, and this is our first non-OEM sale into Korea for a very long time. We continue to work on the design of new testing mechanicals for a new internal tester for a large customer. In our Electrical segment, bookings for the third quarter were $2 million compared with second quarter bookings of $1.9 million and Q3 electrical revenues were $1.9 million compared with Q2 revenues of $1.6 million. Revenue exceeded forecast by about 35%. We sold interfaces to a mil/aero customer for testing of a large CMOS imaging chip used in missiles. Again, mil/aero is beginning to turn on again. And we also had significant sales activity in Japan, which has been quiet for a long time. The outlook for Q4, the start of Q4, has been quite strong in terms of order rate, and we see a stable business climate for the rest of the year. On another note, during the quarter, we transferred the listing of our common stock to the NYSE MKT from the NASDAQ and look forward to ringing the NYSE closing bell on January 14. We join a number of companies that have made this transition, which, in addition to providing us with a more cost-effective structure, will provide increased visibility and, most importantly, improved liquidity through the lowering of the bid-ask spreads, as well as enhanced services for inTEST through access to greater markets that will benefit our stockholders. Looking forward, while we expect the normal seasonal softening in the business that the industry typically experiences in the fourth quarter, we're quite encouraged by quote activity, which gives us a positive outlook for 2014. Quarter-to-date, our bookings are very positive, and we have a positive book-to-bill of 1.5 for the first 4 weeks, indicative of a strong market. As we noted in our release, when we announced our Q2 results in July, we had forecast that orders and net revenues for the second half of 2013 would be stronger than those of the first half, with a sequential increase in revenues in the fourth quarter. While we still expect this to be the case with respect to orders and anticipate a positive book-to-bill, we now see revenue growth resuming in 2014, although the specific timing of that growth isn't really clear to us at this time. Our long-term objective is to grow and evolve inTEST Corporation, from our origins as an ATE company with a primary focus on semiconductors, into a broad-based industrial test company with a diversified end market penetration and differentiated product strategy. We now address growth markets in both the semiconductor and non-semiconductor areas, including automotive, consumer electronics, defense/aerospace, energy and telecommunications. And we're involved in a very promising project in the energy industry, which could provide increased revenue over the next couple of years. Going forward, we continue to see non-semi-related products playing a substantial role at our growth strategy and success. Our diversification strategy outside of traditional semiconductor markets helps to mitigate the cyclicality that's so closely tied to the semi industry and affords us several exciting new opportunities with multiple new customers. Couple that with the fact that as the semi-market rebounds and resumes normal growth patterns, inTEST is optimally positioned to achieve significantly higher levels of profitability. Combined, it makes inTEST a very compelling investment opportunity. In closing, our confidence in our business prospects remains high. inTEST occupies a profitable niche space. We have a proven long-term history with customers across the globe and provide high-quality, mission-critical products that perform in challenging environments. We will continue to work with our customers and drive innovations that allow us to continue being a leader in our target markets. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Hugh, who will provide a detailed review of Q3 numbers and discuss our guidance for the fourth quarter. Hugh?