EX-99.1 2 dex991.htm PRESS RELEASE OF SIMPLETECH, INC Press Release of SimpleTech, Inc

Exhibit 99.1

LOGO

 

Contact:

   

Investors & Financial Media:

 

Media:

Mitch Gellman

 

Elaine Marshall

(949) 260-8328

 

(949) 260-8219

ir@simpletech.com

 

emarshall@simpletech.com

 

SIMPLETECH ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2005 RESULTS IN LINE WITH PREVIOUS GUIDANCE

 

SANTA ANA, Calif., May 4, 2005 — SimpleTech, Inc. (Nasdaq: STEC), a designer, manufacturer and marketer of custom and open-standard memory solutions based on Flash memory and DRAM technologies, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005.

 

Revenue for the first quarter of 2005 was $61.2 million, a decrease of 21% from $77.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2004, and a decrease of 8% from $66.3 million for the first quarter of 2004. Revenue for the first quarter of 2005 decreased from the prior quarter due primarily to a 46% decrease in sales of Stacked Memory products, the affects of seasonality, and approximately 30% to 40% decline in DRAM component prices during the quarter. Decreased sales of Stacked Memory products resulted primarily from delayed orders related to the process of qualifying some of our latest generation stacked modules with customers as they transition certain of their OEM solutions from PC 2100 to PC 2700 and from DDR I to DDR II technologies. This qualification process has taken longer than expected, and will also impact second quarter of 2005 results. We are optimistic that these issues will be resolved by he end of the second quarter of 2005. Diluted earnings per share was $0.02 for the first quarter of 2005, compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.06 for the fourth quarter of 2004 and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.01 for the first quarter of 2004. Order backlog increased from $8.1 million at December 31, 2004 to $14.0 million at March 31, 2005.

 

During the first quarter of 2005, the company repurchased 2,414,964 shares of common stock under its previously announced stock repurchase program at an average price, including commissions, of $ 3.93. Since the inception of the stock repurchase program in June 2004 through April 30, 2005, the company has repurchased an aggregate of 3,777,022 shares of common stock at an average price, including commissions, of $3.84 per share.


Business Segments

 

OEM Division

 

Revenue from OEM Division customers comprised 44% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2005, compared to 53% in the fourth quarter of 2004. OEM Division revenue decreased 34% from $41.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2004 to $26.9 million in the first quarter of 2005 due primarily to a decrease in the sale of Stacked Memory products.

 

Consumer Division

 

Revenue from Consumer Division customers comprised 56% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2005, compared to 47% in the fourth quarter of 2004. Consumer Division revenue decreased 6% from $36.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2004 to $34.3 million in the first quarter of 2005 due primarily to the affects of seasonality and the decline in DRAM component prices.

 

Business Outlook

 

“During the second half of 2004, we identified a number of initiatives to drive future revenue growth and profitability for year 2005 and beyond,” said Manouch Moshayedi, CEO of SimpleTech, Inc. “Our strategic goal is to create new and increase existing bases of sustainable revenue for the long-term. These initiatives include building on our high-capacity, solid-state Flash drive business and increasing our share in the external storage market by adding significant proprietary features which separate our products from others currently available. We continue working diligently to execute these initiatives.

 

“While we have gained considerable traction on our initiatives, lengthy design and sales cycles are often necessary to achieve long-term, sustainable revenue. While our order backlog has increased significantly during the first quarter of 2005, we hope that execution of our initiatives will translate into significant future revenue generation.

 

“We currently expect our revenue for the second quarter of 2005 will range from $63 million to $66 million and our diluted earnings per share to range from $0.02 to $0.03.”

 

Conference Call

 

SimpleTech, Inc. will hold an open conference call to discuss results for the first quarter of 2005. The call will take place today at 1:30 p.m., Pacific/4:30 p.m., Eastern. The call-in numbers for the conference are 1-800-781-3662 (United States and Canada) and 1-706-643-7710 (International).


Webcast

 

This call is being webcast by Thomson/CCBN. The webcast can be accessed by clicking on “Investors” at the bottom of the home page at www.simpletech.com. The webcast will be archived and available for replay beginning approximately two hours after the live call concludes.

 

About SimpleTech, Inc. (Nasdaq: STEC)

 

SimpleTech, Inc., designs, manufactures and markets custom and open-standard memory solutions based on Flash and DRAM memory technologies. Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, the company offers a comprehensive line of over 2,500 products and specializes in developing high-density memory modules, memory cards and storage drives. For information about SimpleTech, Inc., and to subscribe to the company’s “Email Alert” service, please visit our web site at www.simpletech.com, click “Investor” and then Email Alert.

 

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

 

This release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, statements concerning our enthusiasm about our outlook for 2005, expected future growth and profitability due to execution of our initiatives, creation of new or increase existing bases of sustainable revenue for the long-term, building upon our Flash drive business and increasing our share in the external storage market by adding significant proprietary features which separate our products from others currently available, continued plans to diligently execute our initiatives, gaining considerable traction on our initiatives, and revenue and earnings per share guidance for the second quarter of 2005.

 

Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted. Important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements are detailed under “Risk Factors” in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made from time to time by SimpleTech, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and its current reports on Form 8-K. Other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include the following risks: the cost of raw materials may fluctuate widely in the future, the delays we are experiencing in the qualification process of our latest generation stacked memory modules may not be resolved within our time expectations, our major initiatives may not be successfully implemented, slower than expected growth in market demand for our products or a slower adoption rate for these products in current and new markets that we are targeting, slower than expected expansion of our international business; the impact of the implementation in 2006 of new accounting rules related to the expensing of stock options, excess availability of DRAM or Flash memory could reduce component pricing resulting in lower average selling prices and gross profit, DRAM or Flash memory supply may tighten requiring suppliers to place their customers, including us, on limited component allocation, interruptions of or delays in supply from the semiconductor manufacturing


facilities that supply products to us, higher than expected operating expenses, new and changing technologies limiting the applications of our products, our inability to become more competitive in new and existing markets, our inability to maintain and increase market share, difficulty competing in sectors characterized by aggressive pricing and low margins, higher than anticipated product returns, inventory write-downs, price protection and rebate charges, new customer and supplier relationships may not be implemented successfully and we may not repurchase any additional shares under our previously announced stock repurchase plan. SimpleTech undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

 

(unaudited)

 

     March 31,
2005


   December 31,
2004


ASSETS:

Current Assets:

             

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities

   $ 69,191    $ 83,318

Accounts receivable, net of allowances of $1,242 at March 31, 2005 and $993 at December 31, 2004

     37,978      37,047

Inventory, net

     33,552      19,002

Deferred income taxes

     1,615      1,515

Other current assets

     2,042      2,663
    

  

Total current assets

     144,378      143,545

Furniture, fixtures and equipment, net

     5,754      6,146

Intangible assets

     353      373

Deferred income taxes

     2,733      3,345
    

  

Total assets

   $ 153,218    $ 153,409
    

  

LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY:

Current Liabilities:

             

Accounts payable

   $ 25,637    $ 16,553

Accrued and other liabilities

     4,420      5,428
    

  

Total liabilities

     30,057      21,981

Shareholders’ Equity:

             

Common stock

     45      47

Additional paid-in capital

     111,893      121,193

Retained earnings

     11,223      10,188
    

  

Total shareholders’ equity

     123,161      131,428
    

  

Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity

   $ 153,218    $ 153,409
    

  


SimpleTech, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

(unaudited)

 

    

Three Months

Ended March 31,


 
     2005

   2004

 

Net revenues

   $ 61,247    $ 66,291  

Cost of revenues

     50,264      54,766  
    

  


Gross profit

     10,983      11,525  
    

  


Sales and marketing

     5,380      5,054  

General and administrative

     3,078      2,927  

Research and development

     1,287      844  
    

  


Total operating expenses

     9,745      8,825  
    

  


Operating income

     1,238      2,700  

Interest income

     435      200  
    

  


Income from continuing operations before provision for income taxes

     1,673      2,900  

Provision for income taxes

     637      1,227  
    

  


Income from continuing operations

   $ 1,036    $ 1,673  

Loss from discontinued operations before benefit for income taxes

            (2,447 )

Benefit for income taxes

            (1,073 )
           


Loss from discontinued operations

          $ (1,374 )
           


Net income

   $ 1,036    $ 299  
    

  


Net income (loss) per share:

               

Basic:

               

Continuing operations

   $ 0.02    $ 0.04  

Discontinued operations

     —        (0.03 )
    

  


Total

   $ 0.02    $ 0.01  
    

  


Diluted:

               

Continuing operations

   $ 0.02    $ 0.03  

Discontinued operations

     —        (0.02 )
    

  


Total

   $ 0.02    $ 0.01  
    

  


Shares used in computation of net income (loss) per share:

               

Basic

     46,599      47,829  
    

  


Diluted

     48,044      50,214