Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR) guided for $60M to $80M in bookings during the second half of fiscal 2026, a sharp uptick driven by AI chip testing demand after revenue dropped 27% year-over-year to $9.9M in Q2.
The Fremont-based test equipment maker disclosed that a lead production customer submitted a "very large forecast" for its Sonoma burn-in systems, with shipments expected to begin in Q1 FY2027 starting May 30, 2026. Sonoma system orders already hit $5.5M in Q3 to date, exceeding Q2's entire total.
CEO Gayn Erickson told analysts the company can ship 20 Sonoma systems monthly for both wafer-level and packaged-part testing if demand warrants. Multiple orders arrived for new high-power Sonoma configurations supporting up to 2,000 watts per device, targeting AI ASIC applications.
The forecast booking range excludes silicon carbide contributions and focuses on AI wafer-level and packaged-part burn-in. Aehr expanded its ISE Labs/ASE partnership to provide testing services for top-tier semiconductor customers working on high-performance computing and AI chips.
Q2 results showed pressure from the product transition. Non-GAAP gross margin fell to 29.8% from 45.3% a year earlier due to lower WaferPak volumes and unfavorable product mix. The company posted a non-GAAP net loss of $1.3M or $0.04 per share versus net income of $0.7M a year ago.
Contactor revenue dropped to $3.4M from $8.6M in the prior-year quarter. Aehr delayed roughly $2M in WaferPak shipments for gallium nitride customers from Q2 to Q3 due to high-voltage faults requiring protection circuit redesigns.
The company raised $10M gross proceeds through its ATM program by selling 384,000 shares in Q2, boosting cash to $31M from $24.7M. It has $30M remaining under a $40M ATM offering filed as part of a $100M shelf registration.
Backlog stood at $11.8M at quarter-end, rising to $18.3M effective after including $6.5M in bookings during the first six weeks of Q3. Management expects $25M to $30M in revenue for the second half of FY2026.