NEENAH, WI, July 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: PLXS) today announced financial results for our fiscal third quarter ended July 1, 2023, and guidance for our fiscal fourth quarter ending September 30, 2023.

• Reports fiscal third quarter 2023 revenue of $1.02 billion, GAAP operating margin of 2.8% and GAAP diluted EPS of $0.56, including $0.76 of restructuring and other charges and $0.14 of stock-based compensation expense
• Reports fiscal third quarter 2023 non-GAAP operating margin of 5.0% and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $1.32, including $0.14 of stock-based compensation expense
• Initiates fiscal fourth quarter 2023 revenue guidance of $1.00 billion to $1.04 billion with GAAP diluted EPS of $1.18 to $1.36, including $0.19 of stock-based compensation expense
  
  

Fiscal Third Quarter 2023 Information

• Won 30 manufacturing programs during the quarter representing a record $321 million in annualized revenue when fully ramped into production
• Delivered trailing four-quarter manufacturing wins of $968 million in annualized revenue when fully ramped into production
• Purchased $13.5 million of our shares at an average price of $90.49 per share under our current $50.0 million share repurchase authorization, leaving $9.1 million available
  

Todd Kelsey, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Plexus delivered a solid fiscal third quarter with revenue of $1.02 billion, non-GAAP operating margin of 5.0% and non-GAAP EPS of $1.32. Our team’s continued ability to mitigate supply chain challenges, along with improvements in manufacturing efficiency and better than anticipated performance from our engineering team, contributed to non-GAAP operating margin meeting the high end of our guidance range and non-GAAP EPS exceeding our guidance range. The fiscal third quarter represented the fifth consecutive quarter with operating margin exceeding 5%.”

Patrick Jermain, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, “For the fiscal third quarter, we delivered return on invested capital of 13.5%, which was 450 basis points above our weighted average cost of capital. We drove this result and created substantial shareholder value through strong operating performance, prudent capital investments and a modest reduction in inventory compared to the prior quarter. As we continue these efforts, we are guiding improvement to our cash cycle for the fiscal fourth quarter and expect to generate positive free cash flow for the quarter and fiscal 2023.”

Mr. Kelsey continued, “We are guiding fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $1.00 billion to $1.04 billion, GAAP operating margin of 4.7% to 5.2% and GAAP EPS of $1.18 to $1.36. Increasingly robust commercial aerospace demand and continued new program ramps are being offset by incrementally weaker demand for semiconductor capital equipment, a modest softening in some industrial markets and continued supply chain challenges.”

Mr. Kelsey concluded, “We remain confident in achieving our goal of $5 billion in revenue with 5.5% GAAP operating margin by our fiscal 2025. As fiscal 2024 progresses, we anticipate that revenue growth will accelerate once demand stabilizes in certain markets, new program ramp momentum increases and supply chain challenges lessen. Supporting our growth expectation is the knowledge that Plexus’ best in class capabilities and focus on operational excellence are resonating with customers as demonstrated by our fiscal third quarter wins performance. During the quarter, we won 30 new manufacturing programs worth a record $321 million, including several competitive share gains, while maintaining a robust funnel of qualified manufacturing opportunities of $4 billion. Furthermore, new engineering program wins and the funnel of qualified engineering opportunities expanded versus the prior quarter, both positive leading indicators of future manufacturing wins. Over the long term, we believe our strong execution and accelerating program wins position Plexus to continue to deliver industry leading revenue growth and profitability.”

Business Segment and Market Sector Revenue

Plexus 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 Plexus’ market sector focused strategy. Top 10 customers comprised 51% of revenue during both the second and third quarters of fiscal 2023, down five percentage points from the third quarter of fiscal 2022.

Non-GAAP Supplemental Information

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 with additional insight into financial performance. In addition, management uses these and other non-GAAP measures, such as adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS, 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 non-recurring items that are not reflective of continuing operations. For additional information on non-GAAP measures, please refer to the attached Non-GAAP Supplemental Information tables.

ROIC and Economic Return

ROIC for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 was 13.5%. Plexus defines ROIC as tax-effected annualized adjusted operating income divided by average invested capital over a four-quarter period for the third fiscal quarter. Invested capital is defined as equity plus debt and operating lease obligations, less cash and cash equivalents. Plexus' weighted average cost of capital for fiscal 2023 is 9.0%. ROIC for the third quarter of fiscal 2023 less Plexus’ weighted average cost of capital resulted in an economic return of 4.5%.

Free Cash Flow

Plexus defines free cash flow as cash flows provided by operations less capital expenditures. For the three months ended July 1, 2023, cash flows provided by operations of $18.8 million, less capital expenditures of $30.3 million, resulted in negative free cash flow of $11.5 million. This result included $20.3 million of one-time, non-recurring charges paid during the fiscal third quarter.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Investor and Media Contact
Shawn Harrison
+1.920.969.6325
shawn.harrison@plexus.com

About Plexus
Since 1979, Plexus has been partnering with companies to create the products that build a better world. We are a team of nearly 25,000 individuals who are dedicated to providing Design and Development, Supply Chain Solutions, New Product Introduction, Manufacturing and Sustaining Services. Plexus is a global leader that specializes in serving customers in markets with highly complex products and demanding regulatory environments. Plexus delivers customer service excellence to leading companies by providing innovative, comprehensive solutions throughout a product’s lifecycle. For more information about Plexus, visit our website at www.plexus.com.

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 the effect of inflationary pressures on our costs of production, profitability, and on the economic outlook of our markets; the effects of shortages and delays in obtaining components as a result of economic cycles, natural disasters or otherwise; the risk of customer delays, changes, cancellations or forecast inaccuracies in both ongoing and new programs; the ability to realize anticipated savings from restructuring or similar actions, as well as the adequacy of related charges as compared to actual expenses; 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 outcome of litigation and regulatory investigations and proceedings, including the results of any challenges with regard to such outcomes; the effects of tariffs, trade disputes, trade agreements and other trade protection measures; 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 risks of concentration of work for certain customers; 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 effects of start-up costs of new programs and facilities or the costs associated with the closure or consolidation of facilities; possible unexpected costs and operating disruption in transitioning programs, including transitions between Company facilities; 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 and demanding quality, regulatory, and other requirements; 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; risks related to information technology systems and data security; increasing regulatory and compliance requirements; any tax law changes and related foreign jurisdiction tax developments; current or potential future barriers to the repatriation of funds that are currently held outside of the United States as a result of actions taken by other countries or otherwise; the potential effects of jurisdictional results on our taxes, tax rates, and our ability to use deferred tax assets and net operating losses; 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 and tax matters in the United States and in the other countries in which we do business; the potential effect of other world or local events or other events outside our control (such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, escalating tensions between China and Taiwan or China and the United States, changes in energy prices, terrorism, global health epidemics and weather events); the impact of increased competition; an inability to successfully manage human capital; changes in financial accounting standards; and other risks detailed herein and in our other Securities and Exchange Commission filings, particularly in Risk Factors contained in our fiscal 2022 Form 10-K.