Teradyne plans more cost cuts, lowers guidance
The new, unspecified cuts will bring the test company's total planned 2009 cost reductions to approximately $190 million.
By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- EDN, March 24, 2009
Teradyne Inc has lowered its fiscal Q1 guidance and will take steps to further reduce costs on the "continued deterioration" in the semiconductor equipment market.
Teradyne now projects that in the quarter ending April 5, its sales will be between $115 and $120 million and its net loss per share will be between $0.42 and $0.40 on a non-GAAP basis. Teradyne's guidance for the April quarter had been for sales of $125 million to $145 million, with a loss per share between $0.38 and $0.31 on a non-GAAP basis. In the company's Q4 2008, revenue was about $195 million and non-GAAP loss was $0.19 per share.
Teradyne projected its fiscal Q2 sales will be about flat with its Q1 sales.
"Global economic conditions and consumer demand further weakened this quarter, causing our customers to reduce their test needs to unprecedented levels," said Mike Bradley, Teradyne president and CEO, in a statement Monday evening. "While there are some indicators suggesting that we have reached the bottom of this cycle, we cannot currently predict when we will see meaningful improvement in demand. In response to these very difficult market conditions, we are taking steps to further lower our annualized costs by approximately $50 million, with a majority of those savings estimated to be in place by the end of the second quarter."
Teradyne did not specify the further planned cost-cutting actions. The ATE (automatic test equipment) company in January announced a 14% staff reduction and a 10% broad-based temporary pay cut in an effort to reduce expenses by approximately $140 million a year.
Bradley estimated that the new reductions will bring the test company's total planned 2009 cost reductions to approximately $190 million and said that Teradyne will continue to adjust costs as necessary.
