As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 27, 2023

Registration No. 333-

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S‑8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Under

The Securities Act of 1933

AEHR TEST SYSTEMS

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

California	94-2424084
(State or other jurisdiction of	(I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)	Identification Number)

400 Kato Terrace

Fremont, California 94539

(Address of principal executive offices)  (Zip Code)

Aehr Test Systems 2023 Equity Incentive Plan (Full title of the plan)

Gayn Erickson

President and Chief Executive Officer

400 Kato Terrace

Fremont, California 94539

(510) 623-9400

(Name and address including zip code and telephone number,

including area code, of agent for service)

Copy to:

Brian D. Paulson

Latham & Watkins LLP

505 Montgomery Street, Suite 2000

San Francisco, California 94111

(415) 391-0600 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer	☐	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☒	Smaller reporting company	☒
		Emerging growth company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

The information called for in Part I of Form S-8 is not being filed with or included in this Form S-8 (by incorporation by reference or otherwise) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

This Registration Statement registers shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock to be issued pursuant to the 2023 Equity Incentive Plan, and the following subsequent periodic reports and information contained therein are hereby incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:

(a) The Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2023 filed on August 28, 2023, pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), including portions of the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement for the 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to the extent specifically incorporated by reference therein;

(b) The Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended August 31, 2023, filed with the Commission on October 12, 2023;

(c) The Registrant’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 17, 2023 and October 25, 2023 only to the extent that the items therein are specifically stated to be “filed” rather than “furnished” for the purposes of Section 18 of the 1934 Act; and

(d) The description of the Registrant’s Common Stock contained in its registration statement on Form 8-A filed with the SEC on July 29, 1997, pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act, including any amendment or report filed for purpose of updating such description.

All documents filed by us pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, on or after the date of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered herein have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Item 4. Description of Securities.

Not applicable.

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Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

None.

Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Section 317 of the California General Corporations Law (the “CGCL”) authorizes a court to award, or a corporation’s board of directors to grant, indemnity to directors and officers who are parties or are threatened to be made parties to any proceeding (with certain exceptions) by reason of the fact that the person is or was an agent of the corporation, against expenses, judgments, fines, settlements and other amounts actually and reasonably incurred in connection with the proceeding if that person acted in good faith and in a manner the person reasonably believed to be in the best interests of the corporation, and in the case of a criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe the conduct of the person was unlawful.

Section 204 of the CGCL provides that a corporation’s articles of incorporation may not limit the liability of directors (i) for acts or omissions that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing and culpable violation of law, (ii) for acts or omissions that a director believes to be contrary to the best interests of the corporation or its shareholders or that involve the absence of good faith on the part of the director, (iii) for any transaction from which a director derived an improper personal benefit, (iv) for acts or omissions that show a reckless disregard for the director’s duty to the corporation or its shareholders in circumstances in which the director was aware, or should have been aware, in the ordinary course of performing a director’s duties, of a risk of a serious injury to the corporation or its shareholders, (v) for acts or omissions that constitute an unexcused pattern of inattention that amounts to an abdication of the director’s duty to the corporation or its shareholders, (vi) under Section 310 of the CGCL (concerning transactions between corporations and directors or corporations having interrelated directors) or (vii) under Section 316 of the CGCL (concerning directors’ liability for distributions, loans, and guarantees).

Section 204 further provides that a corporation’s articles of incorporation may not limit the liability of directors for any act or omission occurring prior to the date when the provision became effective or any act or omission as an officer, notwithstanding that the officer is also a director or that his or her actions, if negligent or improper, have been ratified by the directors. Further, Section 317 has no effect on claims arising under federal or state securities laws and does not affect the availability of injunctions and other equitable remedies available to a corporation’s shareholders for any violation of a director’s fiduciary duty to the corporation or its shareholders.

In accordance with Section 317, the Restated Articles of Incorporation, as amended (the “Articles”), of the Registrant limit the liability of a director to the fullest extent permissible under California law. The Articles further authorize the Registrant to provide indemnification to its agents (including officers and directors), subject to the limitations set forth above. The Articles and the Registrant’s By-laws (the “By-laws”) further provide for indemnification of corporate agents to the maximum extent permitted by the CGCL.

Pursuant to the authority provided in the Articles and By-laws, the Registrant has entered into indemnification agreements with its executive officers and directors, indemnifying them against certain potential liabilities that may arise as a result of their service to the Registrant, and providing for certain other protection.

The foregoing summaries are necessarily subject to the complete text of the statute, the Articles, the By-Laws and the agreements referred to above and are qualified in their entirety by reference thereto.

Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.

Not applicable.

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Item 8. Exhibits.

Exhibit Number	Description
4.1 (1)	Restated Articles of Incorporation
4.2 (2)	Bylaws
4.3 (3)	Form of Common stock certificate
5.1	Opinion of Latham &Watkins LLP
23.1	Consent of BPM LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
23.2	Consent of Latham &Watkins LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)
24.1	Power of Attorney (included on signature page of this Registration Statement)
99.1	2023 Equity Incentive Plan.
107.1	Filing Fee Table

(1) Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 previously filed with the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed June 11, 1997 (File No. 333-28987).

(2) Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 previously filed with the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed September 9, 2020 (File No. 000-22893).

(3) Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 previously filed with Amendment No.1 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed July 17, 1997 (File No. 333-28987). 

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Item 9. Undertakings.

(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and

(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement.

Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of this section do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this registration statement.

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(h) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act, and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Fremont, State of California, on October 27, 2023.

AEHR TEST SYSTEMS
By:	/s/ GAYN ERICKSON
	Gayn Erickson
	President and Chief Executive Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Gayn Erickson and Chris P. Siu, and each of them, his attorneys-in-fact, each with the power of substitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto in all documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that such attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them, or his or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

Signature	Title	Date
	President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
/s/ GAYN ERICKSON	(Principal Executive Officer)	October 27, 2023
Gayn Erickson
	Executive Vice President of Finance, Chief Financial Officer
/s/ CHRIS P. SIU	(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)	October 27, 2023
Chris P. Siu
/s/ RHEA J. POSEDEL	Chairman	October 27, 2023
Rhea J. Posedel
/s/ LAURA OLIPHANT	Director	October 27, 2023
Laura Oliphant
/s/ GEOFFREY SCOTT	Director	October 27, 2023
Geoffrey Scott
/s/ HOWARD T. SLAYEN	Director	October 27, 2023
Howard T. Slayen
/s/ FARIBA DANESH	Director	October 27, 2023
Fariba Danesh

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