About Tower Semiconductor
Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ/TASE: TSEM), the leading foundry of high-value analog semiconductor solutions, provides technology, development, and process platforms for its customers in growing markets such as consumer, industrial, automotive, mobile, infrastructure, medical and aerospace and defense. Tower Semiconductor focuses on creating a positive and sustainable impact on the world through long-term partnerships and its advanced and innovative analog technology offering, comprised of a broad range of customizable process platforms such as SiGe, BiCMOS, mixed-signal/CMOS, RF CMOS, CMOS image sensor, non-imaging sensors, displays, integrated power management (BCD and 700V), photonics, and MEMS. Tower Semiconductor also provides world-class design enablement for a quick and accurate design cycle as well as process transfer services including development, transfer, and optimization, to IDMs and fabless companies. To provide multi-fab sourcing and extended capacity for its customers, Tower Semiconductor owns two facilities in Israel (150mm and 200mm), two in the U.S. (200mm), two in Japan (200mm and 300mm) which it owns through its 51% holdings in TPSCo, shares a 300mm facility in Agrate, Italy, with ST as well as has access to a 300mm capacity corridor in Intel’s New Mexico factory. For more information, please visit: www.towersemi.com.
CONTACTS:
Noit Levy | Investor Relations | +972 74 737 7556 | noitle@towersemi.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This release, as well as other statements and reports filed, stated and published in relation to this quarter’s results, includes certain “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements include, among others, projections and statements with respect to our future business, financial performance and activities. The use of words such as “projects”, “expects”, “may”, “targets”, “plans”, “intends”, “committed to”, “tracking”, or words of similar import, identifies a statement as “forward-looking.” Actual results may vary from those projected or implied by such forward-looking statements and you should not place any undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which describe information known to us only as of the date of this release. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with: (i) demand in our customers’ end markets, (ii) reliance on acquisitions and/or gaining additional capacity for growth, (iii) difficulties in achieving acceptable operational metrics and indices in the future as a result of operational, technological or process-related problems, (iv) identifying and negotiating with third-party buyers for the sale of any excess and/or unused equipment, inventory and/or other assets, (v) maintaining current key customers and attracting new key customers, (vi) over demand for our foundry services resulting in high utilization and its effect on cycle time, yield and on schedule delivery, as well as customers potentially being placed on allocation, which may cause customers to transfer their business to other vendors, (vii) financial results that may fluctuate from quarter to quarter, making it difficult to forecast future performance, (viii) our debt and other liabilities that may impact our financial position and operations, (ix) our ability to successfully execute acquisitions, integrate them into our business, utilize our expanded capacity and find new business, (x) fluctuations in cash flow, (xi) our ability to satisfy the covenants stipulated in our agreements with our debt holders, (xii) pending litigation, (xiii) meeting the conditions set in approval certificates and other regulations under which we received grants and/or royalties and/or any type of funding from the Israeli, US and/or Japan governmental agencies, (xiv) receipt of orders that are lower than the customer purchase commitments and/or failure to receive customer orders currently expected, (xv) possible incurrence of additional indebtedness, (xvi) the effects of global recession, unfavorable economic conditions and/or credit crisis, (xvii) our ability to accurately forecast financial performance, which is affected by limited order backlog and lengthy sales cycles, (xviii) possible situations of obsolete inventory if forecasted demand exceeds actual demand when we create inventory before receipt of customer orders, (xix) the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry and the resulting periodic overcapacity, fluctuations in operating results and future average selling price erosion, (xx) financing capacity acquisition related transactions, strategic and/or other growth or M&A opportunities, including funding Agrate fab’s significant 300mm capacity investments and acquisition or funding of equipment and other fixed assets associated with the capacity corridor transaction with Intel as announced in September 2023, in addition to other capacity and capability expansion plans, and the possible unavailability of such financing and/or the availability of such financing on unfavorable terms, (xxi) operating our facilities at sufficient utilization rates necessary to generate and maintain positive and sustainable gross, operating and net profit, (xxii) the purchase of equipment and/or raw material (including purchases beyond our needs), the timely completion of the equipment installation, technology transfer and raising the funds therefor, (xxiii) product returns and defective products, (xxiv) our ability to maintain and develop our technology processes and services to keep pace with new technology, including artificial intelligence, evolving standards, changing customer and end-user requirements, new product introductions and short product life cycles, (xxv) competing effectively, (xxvi) the use of outsourced foundry services by both fabless semiconductor companies and integrated device manufacturers, (xxvii) our dependence on intellectual property rights of others, our ability to operate our business without infringing others’ intellectual property rights and our ability to enforce our intellectual property against infringement, (xxviii) the Fab 3 landlord’s alleged claims that the noise abatement efforts made thus far are not adequate under the terms of the amended lease that caused him to request a judicial declaration that there was a material non-curable breach of the lease and that he would be entitled to terminate the lease, as well the ability to extend such lease or acquire the real estate and obtain the required local state and/or approvals required to be able to continue operations beyond the current lease term, (xxix) retention of key employees and recruitment and retention of skilled qualified personnel, (xxx) exposure to inflation, currency rates (mainly the Israeli Shekel, the Japanese Yen and the Euro) and interest rate fluctuations and risks associated with doing business locally and internationally, as well as fluctuations in the market price of our traded securities, (xxxi) meeting regulatory requirements worldwide, including export, environmental and governmental regulations, as well as risks related to international operations, (xxxii) potential engagement for fab establishment, joint venture and/or capital lease transactions for capacity enhancement in advanced technologies, including risks and uncertainties associated with the Agrate fab and the capacity corridor transaction with Intel as announced in September 2023, such as their qualification schedule, technology, equipment and process qualification, facility operational ramp-up, customer engagements, cost structure, required investments and other terms, which may require additional funding to cover their significant capacity investment needs and other payments, the availability of which funding cannot be assured on favorable terms, if at all, (xxxiii) potential liabilities, cost and other impacts that may be incurred or occur due to reorganization and consolidation of fabrication facilities, including the impact of cessation of operations of our facilities, including with regard to our 6 inch facility, (xxxiv) potential security, cyber and privacy breaches, (xxxv) workforce that is not unionized which may become unionized, and/or workforce that is unionized and may take action such as strikes that may create increased cost and operational risks, (xxxvi) the issuance of ordinary shares as a result of exercise and/or vesting of any of our employee equity, as well as any sale of shares by any of our shareholders, or any market expectation thereof, as well as the issuance of additional employee stock options and/or restricted stock units, or any market expectation thereof, which may depress the market value of the Company and the price of the Company’s ordinary shares and in addition may impair our ability to raise future capital, and (xxxvii) climate change, business interruptions due to floods, fires, pandemics, earthquakes and other natural disasters, the security situation in Israel, global trade “war” and the current war in Israel, including the potential inability to continue uninterrupted operations of the Israeli fabs, impact on global supply chain to and from the Israeli fabs, power interruptions, chemicals or other leaks or damages as a result of the war, absence of workforce due to military service as well as risk that certain countries will restrict doing business with Israeli companies, including imposing restrictions if hostilities in Israel or political instability in the region continue or exacerbate, and other events beyond our control. With respect to the current war in Israel, if instability in neighboring states occurs, Israel could be subject to additional political, economic, and military confines, and our Israeli facilities’ operations could be materially adversely affected. Any current or future hostilities involving Israel or the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its present trading partners, or a significant downturn in the economic or financial condition of Israel, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.