Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Key Points

• Ultra Clean beat expectations with Q1 EPS of $0.31 (vs. $0.27 est.) and revenue of $533.7M (vs. $525.3M est.), and guided Q2 revenue of $565M–$605M with EPS of $0.44–$0.60.
• Management says AI-driven wafer-fab equipment demand is building and the company is in the early stages of a multi-year upcycle, while materially strengthening the balance sheet by issuing $600M of zero-coupon convertible notes, repaying Term Loan B, upsizing the revolver to $250M, and expecting to cut annual interest by ~$30M.
• Near-term risks include negative operating cash flow of -$33.3M as inventory was built to support ramps and the announced retirement of CFO Sheri Savage, and the stock traded down about 3.5% to $78.25 on the news.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.04, FiscalAI reports. Ultra Clean had a positive return on equity of 3.88% and a negative net margin of 8.82%.The company had revenue of $533.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $525.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Ultra Clean updated its Q2 2026 guidance to 0.440-0.600 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Ultra Clean's conference call:

• UCT beat the midpoint of its Q1 guidance with $533.7M in revenue and EPS of $0.31, and guided Q2 revenue of $565M–$605M with EPS of $0.44–$0.60.
• Management says AI-driven WFE demand is building week-to-week and positions UCT in the early stage of a multi-year upcycle, highlighting strong demand for etch, deposition, HBM and advanced packaging.
• UCT can scale its current global footprint from about $3B in revenue to roughly $4B with modest incremental capital, supported by NPI, ramp-readiness and digital transformation (UCT 3.0).
• The company materially strengthened its balance sheet—issued $600M of zero-coupon convertible notes, repaid Term Loan B, upsized the revolver to $250M and expects to cut its weighted average borrowing rate from ~6.2% to ~1.4%, lowering annual interest by ~$30M.
• Operating cash flow was negative $33.3M as inventory was built to support ramps, and CFO Sheri Savage announced her retirement (remaining engaged through the transition), introducing short-term execution and leadership-transition risk.

Ultra Clean Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of UCTT stock traded down $2.84 on Tuesday, hitting $78.25. The stock had a trading volume of 1,375,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,314,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.19 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.81. Ultra Clean has a 1 year low of $18.02 and a 1 year high of $84.43. The company's 50 day moving average price is $65.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.04.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultra Clean

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 989 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 472.9% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,713 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ultra Clean in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,825 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ultra Clean in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on UCTT. Craig Hallum reissued a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Ultra Clean in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Ultra Clean in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Ultra Clean from $50.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Ultra Clean from $35.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Ultra Clean from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.25.

Ultra Clean Company Profile

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc is a global supplier of critical consumables and process tools for the semiconductor manufacturing industry. The company specializes in precision parts cleaning, chemical–mechanical planarization (CMP) slurries, surface conditioning pads, and specialty components used in wafer fabrication and advanced packaging. Ultra Clean also provides assembly and test hardware, tooling, and automated modules designed to support complex front-end and back-end processes in semiconductor fabs.

Ultra Clean's product portfolio encompasses a range of cleaning systems and consumables aimed at particle and film removal, as well as CMP slurries and pads that are engineered for uniform material removal and planarization.

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