Aehr Test Systems NASDAQ: AEHR said it entered fiscal 2027 with record backlog and expects revenue to more than double, citing accelerating demand tied to artificial intelligence processors, silicon photonics and data center infrastructure.
President and Chief Executive Officer Gayn Erickson said the company’s fiscal fourth quarter “exceeded consensus street expectations” and capped a year in which Aehr broadened its business beyond its earlier concentration in silicon carbide devices for electric vehicles.
“Just two years ago, over 95% of our business was tied to silicon carbide for electric vehicles, whereas today, almost 95% of our fiscal year 2026 revenue came from markets not electric vehicle silicon carbide,” Erickson said.
The company issued fiscal 2027 revenue guidance of $130 million to $150 million, which Chief Financial Officer Chris Siu said would represent year-over-year growth of about 160% to 200%. Aehr also expects non-GAAP pretax net income to be 18% to 22% of total revenue.
AI and Data Center Demand Drive Outlook
Aehr reported fiscal fourth-quarter bookings of $60.7 million, up more than 500% from $11.1 million in the prior-year quarter. Year-end backlog reached a record $80.6 million, compared with $15.2 million at the end of fiscal 2025. Siu said the company received an additional $20 million in bookings after year-end during a transition period and the first two weeks of fiscal 2027, bringing “effective backlog” to approximately $100.6 million before minimal shipments in that period.
Management attributed the bookings increase primarily to purchase orders for Sonoma package-level and FOX wafer-level burn-in systems, WaferPaks and burn-in module boards for AI and silicon photonics processor burn-in. Those gains were partially offset by lower customer orders for silicon carbide WaferPaks.
Erickson said reliability and production wafer-level burn-in and screening for AI accelerators, CPUs and network processors were Aehr’s fastest-growing markets in fiscal 2026, representing about 71% of annual revenue. Optical device test and burn-in for data center infrastructure transceivers, chip-to-chip I/O and hard disk drives accounted for another 20%.
In the fourth quarter, AI processors and silicon photonics burn-in accounted for more than 80% of revenue, compared with 56% in the prior-year period. Siu said Aehr had three customers representing more than 10% of total quarterly revenue: two targeting the AI market and one focused on data center optical transceivers.
Fourth-Quarter Revenue Rises; Full-Year Revenue Declines
Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $18.8 million, up 34% from $14.1 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Siu said the increase was primarily driven by strong demand from AI and data center customers for FOX systems, Zero Auto Aligners and WaferPaks.
Non-GAAP gross margin in the fourth quarter was 45%, up from 35% a year earlier, which Siu attributed to higher revenue levels, improved manufacturing capacity utilization and a more favorable product mix. Non-GAAP operating expenses rose to $7.5 million from $5.4 million, reflecting higher employment costs, additional headcount for research and development projects, higher commissions tied to record bookings and ongoing legal fees related to patent litigation against SemiE in China.
Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $3.6 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared with a non-GAAP net loss of $0.2 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.
For the full year, Aehr reported revenue of $50 million, down 15% from fiscal 2025. Full-year non-GAAP gross margin was 38.5%, compared with 44% a year earlier. Non-GAAP net income was $0.9 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, compared with $4.6 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in fiscal 2025.
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $116.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter. Siu said Aehr raised approximately $100 million during fiscal 2026, primarily through its at-the-market program, while capital expenditures were $2.1 million.
Wafer-Level and Package-Level Platforms Expand
Erickson said Aehr’s lead AI processor wafer-level burn-in customer doubled its systems from the company over the past year and moved “all production burn and screening to wafer-level burn-in” on Aehr systems. He said that customer is forecasting significant increases in wafer allocation from its foundry this year and beyond.
Aehr also said it completed benchmark testing of its wafer-level burn-in solution with a major supplier of AI accelerators, CPUs and network processors. Erickson said the results exceeded the customer’s expectations and were described by the customer as “better than they can get at package level.” The customer has expressed interest in moving to pilot production test validation at its semiconductor contract manufacturer in Taiwan for a current high-volume device, and has requested evaluation of a second device in parallel.
On the package-level side, Erickson highlighted record follow-on production orders from Aehr’s lead hyperscale customer for Sonoma systems used in high-volume AI processor production burn-in. He said the customer is forecasting a substantial expansion of Sonoma purchases for a second device that has twice the power per package as the first device now using Sonoma systems.
Silicon Photonics, Power Semiconductors and Memory Opportunities
Erickson said demand for silicon photonics burn-in is gaining momentum as AI data center architectures rely more heavily on optical I/O and high-speed optical interconnects. Aehr’s lead silicon photonics customer has placed follow-on orders, while another major silicon photonics customer, described as a global leader in networking products and solutions, has provided a forecast for additional systems this calendar year.
In power semiconductors, Aehr said it completed more than a dozen gallium nitride WaferPak designs now being sampled by potential customers, and completed what Erickson described as the world’s first 300-millimeter GaN wafer-level burn-in solution. The company also sold its first FOX system for a silicon MOSFET wafer-level burn-in application and secured its first silicon carbide customer in Taiwan.
Aehr announced about $8 million in new silicon carbide WaferPak orders in the past month, including expanded orders from its lead silicon carbide customer and an order directly from one of the largest automotive companies in the world for qualification of silicon carbide devices for new electric vehicles.
On memory, Erickson said Aehr continues to pursue NAND flash and potential high-bandwidth flash and DRAM applications. However, during the question-and-answer session, he said the company does not currently anticipate memory revenue in its fiscal 2027 guidance, adding that any memory-related upside would be incremental.
Capacity Buildout Underway
Siu said Aehr continues to scale manufacturing capacity, including its Fremont expansion and the start of Sonoma system shipments from an existing contract manufacturer in Southeast Asia. He said that arrangement adds capacity for more than 20 additional Sonoma systems per month.
Erickson said Aehr does not believe it is capacity-limited at the $150 million revenue level and is working to maintain flexibility without building excessive fixed infrastructure. In response to analyst questions, he said the company is preparing for larger customer opportunities while acknowledging that execution remains complex due to supply chain and component considerations.
“With multiple customers entering or expanding production, a record backlog, and additional opportunities under discussion for both wafer level and package level burn-in, we believe Aehr is well-positioned for multiple years of strong revenue growth,” Erickson said.
About Aehr Test Systems NASDAQ: AEHR
Aehr Test Systems develops, manufactures and sells semiconductor test and burn-in equipment used by device manufacturers to ensure quality and reliability of integrated circuits. Its products are designed for wafer-level reliability assessment, functional test and stress screening of memory devices, system-on-chips, optical components and power semiconductors. By focusing on wafer-level burn-in and testing processes, the company helps reduce cost and improve yield for high-volume semiconductor production.
The company's product portfolio includes FOX series wafer probe test and burn-in systems as well as ABTS burn-in ovens.
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