Plexus Announces Fiscal Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results

• Fiscal second quarter 2017 revenue of $604 million
• GAAP diluted EPS of $0.84
• Initiates fiscal third quarter 2017 revenue guidance of $595 to $625 million with GAAP diluted EPS of $0.68 to $0.76

NEENAH, Wis., April 19, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) today announced financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended April 1, 2017, and guidance for its fiscal third quarter ending July 1, 2017.

Fiscal Second Quarter 2017 Information

• Won 26 Manufacturing Solutions programs during the quarter representing approximately $202 million in annualized revenue when fully ramped into production
• Trailing four quarter Manufacturing Solutions wins total approximately $813 million in annualized revenue
• Purchased $6.8 million of our shares at an average price of $55.61 per share

Todd Kelsey, President and CEO, commented, “We delivered GAAP diluted EPS of $0.84, $0.05 above the top end of our guidance range.  Robust productivity improvements, favorable product mix, and exceptional engineering solutions performance all contributed.  We delivered solid earnings despite weaker than anticipated sales within our Communications market sector, resulting in revenue of $604 million.”

Mr. Kelsey continued, “Looking ahead to the fiscal third quarter, we currently expect that continued end-market weakness within our Communications market sector and a forecast adjustment with a large Industrial/Commercial customer will offset meaningful growth within the remainder of our business.  As a result, we are guiding revenue in the range of $595 million to $625 million.  When coupled with anticipated operating margin performance at the high end of our target range, we expect fiscal third quarter 2017 GAAP diluted EPS to be in the range of $0.68 to $0.76.” 

Patrick Jermain, Senior Vice President and CFO, commented, “During the fiscal second quarter, we further improved our operating performance, delivering GAAP operating margin of 5.4%.  We believe our strong operating performance over the last several quarters will continue and are guiding GAAP operating margin in the range of 4.8% to 5.2% for the fiscal third quarter.”

Mr. Jermain continued, “Return on Invested Capital was 16.8% for the fiscal second quarter, 630 basis points above our weighted average cost of capital.  We were pleased to generate this level of return given the challenging revenue environment, which negatively impacted our cash cycle days.  While accounts receivable days sequentially improved, inventory days increased significantly, primarily due to lower than anticipated revenue and increased inventory to support ramping new programs.  Prudent management of capital expenditures during the quarter offset higher working capital, resulting in a similar level of invested capital to the prior quarter.  Through the first six months of fiscal 2017, we have exceeded our cash flow expectations by delivering more than $90 million in free cash flow.”

Mr. Kelsey concluded, “While we are mindful of the near-term revenue challenges, we remain confident in our longer term outlook for achieving meaningful growth.  Our funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities reached a record of $3 billion this quarter and our wins in both manufacturing and engineering continue to exceed our goals as we gain share with key customers and grow our underlying business.”

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Plexus provides non-GAAP supplemental information, such as ROIC, Economic Return, and free cash flow, because such measures are used for internal management goals and decision making, and because they provide management and investors additional insight into financial performance.  In addition, management uses these and other non-GAAP measures, such as adjusted net income and adjusted operating margin, to provide a better understanding of core performance for purposes of period-to-period comparisons.  Plexus believes that these measures are also useful to investors because they provide further insight by eliminating the effect of items that are not reflective of continuing operations.  For a full reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures, please refer to Non-GAAP Supplemental Information and the attached Non-GAAP Supplemental Information Tables.

Business Segment and Market Sector Revenue
The Company measures operational performance and allocates resources on a geographic segment basis. Plexus also reports revenue based on the market sector breakout set forth in the table below, which reflects the Company’s global market sector focused business development strategy.  Top 10 customers comprised 54% of revenue during the quarter, down six percentage points from the fiscal first quarter of 2017.

Non-GAAP Supplemental Information

ROIC and Economic Return
ROIC for the fiscal second quarter of 2017 was 16.8%.  The Company defines ROIC as tax-effected annualized adjusted operating profit divided by average invested capital over a three-quarter period for the second quarter.  Invested capital is defined as equity plus debt, less cash and cash equivalents.  The Company’s weighted average cost of capital for fiscal 2017 is 10.5%.  ROIC for the quarter less the Company’s weighted average cost of capital resulted in an Economic Return of 6.3%.

Free Cash Flow Calculation
The Company defines free cash flow as cash flows provided by operations less capital expenditures.  For the three months ended April 1, 2017, cash flows provided by operations was $26.2 million, less capital expenditures of $7.7 million, resulting in free cash flow of $18.5 million.  For the six months ended April 1, 2017, cash flows provided by operations was $105.6 million, less capital expenditures of $14.6 million, resulting in free cash flow of $91.0 million.

Cash Cycle Days

Conference Call and Webcast Information

About Plexus – The Product Realization Company
Plexus (www.plexus.com) delivers optimized Product Realization solutions through a unique Product Realization Value Stream service model.  This customer-focused services model seamlessly integrates innovative product conceptualization, design, commercialization, manufacturing, fulfillment and sustaining services to deliver comprehensive end-to-end solutions for customers in the America, European and Asia-Pacific regions.

Plexus is the industry leader in servicing mid-to-low volume, higher complexity customer programs characterized by unique flexibility, technology, quality and regulatory requirements.  Award-winning customer service is provided to over 140 branded product companies in the Healthcare/Life Sciences, Industrial/Commercial, Communications and Defense/Security/Aerospace market sectors.

Safe Harbor and Fair Disclosure Statement
The statements contained in this press release that are guidance or which are not historical facts (such as statements in the future tense and statements including believe, expect, intend, plan, anticipate, goal, target and similar terms and concepts), including all discussions of periods which are not yet completed, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the risk of customer delays, changes, cancellations or forecast inaccuracies in both ongoing and new programs; the lack of visibility of future orders, particularly in view of changing economic conditions; the economic performance of the industries, sectors and customers we serve; the effects of the volume of revenue from certain sectors or programs on our margins in particular periods; our ability to secure new customers, maintain our current customer base and deliver product on a timely basis; the particular risks relative to new or recent customers, programs or services, which risks include customer and other delays, start-up costs, potential inability to execute, the establishment of appropriate terms of agreements, and the lack of a track record of order volume and timing; the risks of concentration of work for certain customers; the effect of start-up costs of new programs and facilities; possible unexpected costs and operating disruption in transitioning programs, including as a result of a facility closure; the risk that new program wins and/or customer demand may not result in the expected revenue or profitability; the fact that customer orders may not lead to long-term relationships; our ability to manage successfully and execute a complex business model characterized by high product mix, low volumes and demanding quality, regulatory, and other requirements; the ability to realize anticipated savings from restructuring or similar actions, as well as the adequacy of related charges as compared to actual expenses; increasing regulatory and compliance requirements; the potential effects of regional results on our taxes and ability to use deferred tax assets and net operating losses; risks related to information technology systems and data security; the effects of shortages and delays in obtaining components as a result of economic cycles or natural disasters; the risks associated with excess and obsolete inventory, including the risk that inventory purchased on behalf of our customers may not be consumed or otherwise paid for by the customer, resulting in an inventory write-off; the weakness of areas of the global economy; the effect of changes in the pricing and margins of products; raw materials and component cost fluctuations; the potential effect of fluctuations in the value of the currencies in which we transact business; the effects of changes in economic conditions, political conditions, trade protection measures, and tax matters in the United States and in the other countries in which we do business (including as a result of the United Kingdom's pending exit from the European Union); the potential effect of other world or local events or other events outside our control (such as changes in energy prices, terrorism and weather events); the impact of increased competition; changes in financial accounting standards; and other risks detailed in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings (particularly in "Risk Factors" in our fiscal 2016 Form 10-K).