Eagle Test Systems Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2008 Results

BUFFALO GROVE, Illinois, January 29 /PRNewswire/ --

- Net Revenue of US$31.0 million; Net Income of US$5.3 million for the
Quarter

Eagle Test Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGLT), a provider of automated test
equipment solutions for high-performance analog, mixed-signal and radio
frequency (RF) semiconductors, announced financial results for its first
fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2007.

Operating Results

Net revenue was US$31.0 million for the first fiscal quarter ended
December 31, 2007, an increase of US$7.0 million, or 29.0%, compared to net
revenue of US$24.0 million for the same period in the prior fiscal year.
Sequentially, net revenues increased US$10.2 million or 49.2% from the
September 2007 quarter. Gross margin for the first fiscal quarter was 61.5%
of net revenue, compared to 58.9% of net revenue for the same period in the
prior fiscal year, and 61.7% for our September 2007 quarter. Operating income
for the first fiscal quarter was US$6.9 million, compared to US$4.6 million
in operating income for the same period in the prior fiscal year, and US$2.3
million for our September 2007 quarter.

Net income for the first fiscal quarter was US$5.3 million or US$0.23 per
fully diluted common share, compared to net income of US$3.9 million or
US$0.17 per fully diluted common share for the same period in the prior
fiscal year, and net income of US$3.0 million or US$0.13 per fully diluted
common share for the September 2007 quarter.

"I am very pleased with our strong first quarter performance,
particularly during these challenging economic times," stated Len Foxman -
Eagle CEO. "These results are indicative of the success we can achieve by
leveraging our lean business model and we will remain focused on delivering
profitable results and positive earnings for our shareholders."

Outlook

The Company estimates net revenue will be between US$30.0 and US$34.0
million in the second fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2008. The Company
estimates earnings per share will be between US$0.17 and US$0.24 based on an
estimated 23,200,000 fully diluted common shares.

Earnings Conference Call

Eagle Test Systems will host its earnings call today at 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Time/ 5:00 p.m. Central Time for analysts, stockholders, investors and the
public.

Participants can join for the voice portion of the call by dialing
+1-866-700-5192 (domestic calls) or +1-617-213-8833 (international calls)
starting at 5:45 p.m. Eastern time/ 4:45 p.m. Central time and enter the
passcode 83628886; you will be asked for your name and firm's name. The live
conference call will also be available via web cast and accessible along with
our earnings release the day of the call through the Investor Relations
section of our website at http://www.eagletest.com.

The conference call will be available for replay from approximately 1
hour after completion of the conference call until February 12, 2008. To hear
a replay of the call, please dial +1-888-286-8010 (domestic calls) or
+1-617-801-6888 (international calls) and enter the passcode 35995949.

About Eagle Test Systems, Inc.

Eagle Test designs, manufactures, sells and services high performance
automated test equipment for the semiconductor industry. The company's
products are used to test analog, mixed-signal and radio frequency (RF)
semiconductors that are used in products such as digital cameras, MP3
players, automotive electronics, cellular telephones, computers and
peripherals. The company was founded in 1976 and has offices located
throughout the world in Asia, North America and Europe, with corporate
headquarters in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. For more information, please visit
http://www.eagletest.com.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements contained in the press release regarding matters that
are not historical facts, including statements regarding our projections for
revenue, earnings per share and weighted average diluted common shares for
the second fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2008 and statements regarding
winning new customers, penetrating existing customers with new products with
parallel test capabilities, and our business focus in the future are
"forward-looking" statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995). These forward-looking statements involve important
factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such important
factors involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the
risk associated with the highly cyclical nature of the semiconductor market;
unanticipated challenges in assessing business conditions and the overall
market; the lack of visibility with regard to future business conditions for
our Company and the rapid nature of changes in industry business conditions;
the risk of a loss or reduction of orders from one or more customers among
which our business is concentrated; the difficulty in obtaining new customers
because of the high switching cost; competition and pricing pressures; the
decision by customers to cancel or defer orders that previously had been
accepted; delays or shortages in an adequate supply of raw materials;
insufficient or excess inventory; our ability to develop new and enhanced
products; the ability to manage our growth; the ability to attract and retain
key employees; prolonged disruption in the operations of our single
manufacturing facility; economic, political and other risks associated with
international sales and operations; risks related to our intellectual
property; risks related to our need to achieve and maintain effective
internal controls over financial reporting; risk related to unanticipated
impact of stock based compensation and the tax effects there under on our
expenses in any period pursuant to FASB Statement 123(R) and other factors
that are detailed from time to time in reports filed by Eagle Test Systems,
Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including risks and
uncertainties discussed under "Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K, filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on December 6, 2007. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether changes occur as a result of new information or future events, after
the date they were made.

Company Contact:

     Stephen J. Hawrysz
     Chief Financial Officer
     Eagle Test Systems, Inc.
     +1-847-327-1033

Financial Tables to Follow



 
                             Eagle Test Systems, Inc
                                Financial Results
                                   (UNAUDITED)
              (All dollars in 000's except share and per share data)
                   (All amounts in US$ unless otherwise noted)


                                               Three Months ended
                                                   December 31,
                                             2007              2006
    
    Net Revenue                            $31,000           $24,036
    
    COGS                                    11,939             9,877
    Gross margin                            19,061            14,159
          Margin %                            61.5%             58.9%
    
    SG&A                                     9,292             7,414
    R&D                                      2,909             2,154
    Total operating expense                 12,201             9,568
    
    Operating income                         6,860             4,591
          % of Revenue                        22.1%             19.1%
    
    Interest expense                             6                16
    Other (income)            (1)           (1,148)           (1,263)
          Income before taxes                8,002             5,838
    Tax expense                              2,676             1,972
          Net income                        $5,326            $3,866
                                              17.2%             16.1%
    
    Earnings per common share
          Basic and fully diluted            $0.23             $0.17
    
    Shares
          Basic                         22,974,177        22,834,508
          Fully diluted                 23,121,758        23,096,885
    
    FOOTNOTES:
    
    (1) Other (income) primarily consists of interest income earned on cash 
        and marketable securities.

    
                                         December 31,     September 30,
    Balance sheet Data (Unaudited)          2007              2007
    
    Cash & investments                    $115,012          $112,517
    Accounts receivables                    23,976            18,238
    Inventories                             26,265            22,233
    Current assets                         171,640           161,255
    Total assets                          $183,026          $172,570
    
    Accounts payable                        $8,676            $6,079
    Deferred revenue                         7,739             6,441
    Current liabilities                     24,202            19,222
    Long-term liabilities                    1,318             1,458
    Total liabilities &          
     stockholders equity                  $183,026          $172,570
    
                                  End of Table

Web site: http://www.eagletest.com