Exhibit 99.1
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Ray Link
Sr. Vice President-Finance
Tel: 407/886-8860
Fax: 407/886-7061
E-mail: rl@sawtek.com
For Immediate Release
SAWTEK ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE QUARTER ENDED DECEMBER 31, 1999
Orlando, Florida, January 4, 2000 ______ Sawtek Inc. (Nasdaq: SAWS) today
announced its preliminary results for the quarter ended December 31, 1999.
The Company expects that its net sales for the quarter ended December 31,
1999 will be approximately $31.8 million and its diluted earnings per share will
be approximately $0.23. Sawtek expects to issue a full report for the quarter
ended December 31, 1999, and host a conference call with the investment
community, on January 27, 2000.
Net sales increased approximately 43% compared to the quarter ended
December 31, 1998 and increased approximately 12% compared to the quarter ended
September 30, 1999. The increase in net sales was a result of increased
shipments of bandpass filters for CDMA digital wireless phones, including
approximately $2.4 million of shipments of SAW RF filters. Sawtek began
shipments of SAW RF filters in the quarter ended December 31, 1999. Diluted
earnings per share increased from $0.15 per share for the quarter ended December
31, 1998 due to the higher net sales and a higher gross profit margin.
Sawtek designs, develops, manufacturers and markets a broad range of
electronic signal processing components based on surface acoustic wave, or SAW,
technology primarily for use in the wireless communications industry. Our
primary products are custom-designed, high performance bandpass filters,
resonators, delay lines, oscillators and SAW-based subsystems. These products
are used in a variety of microwave and RF systems, such as CDMA and GSM digital
wireless communications systems, digital microwave radios, wireless local area
networks, cable television equipment, Internet infrastructure, various defense
and satellite systems, and chemical sensors.
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the Safe
Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Investors
are cautioned that forward-looking statements such as statements of the
Company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions involve risks and
uncertainties. The cautionary statements made in this release should be read as
being applicable to all related statements wherever they appear. Statements
containing terms such as "believes", "does not believe", "no reason to believe",
"expects", "plans", "intends", "estimates", or "anticipates", are considered to
contain uncertainty and are forward-looking statements. The Company's actual
results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could or
contribute to such differences include the following: a decline in either the
growth of wireless communications or the acceptance of CDMA technology; our
ability to successfully develop and bring new products to market, particularly
RF filters; our ability to successfully increase production capacity; our
dependence on a limited number of suppliers for certain key raw materials; risks
associated with international sales; our dependence on a few large customers;
declining selling prices for some of our key products; decreased manufacturing
yields; cancellation of purchase orders by our customers; competitive products
or technologies that could reduce demand for our products; increased competition
from other SAW suppliers; risks associated with our Costa Rican operations; risk
of natural disasters; and other risks discussed in our SEC filings including
Form 10K and Form S-3 filed on December 10, 1999.
A reader of this release should understand that it is not possible to
predict or identify all such risk factors. Consequently, the reader should not
consider this list to be a complete statement of all potential risks or
uncertainties. We do not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking
statement.