•         Revenues of $42.5 million, up 42.1% compared to $29.9 million for the first quarter of 2017

•         Gross margin of 34.7% compared to 30.0% for the first quarter of 2017

•         Income from operations of $4.2 million, or 9.9% of revenues, compared to $0.6 million, or 2.0% of revenues, for the first quarter of 2017

GAAP net income for the first quarter of 2018 was $2.9 million, or $0.00 per diluted common share, compared to a loss of $1.2 million, or a loss of $0.47 per diluted common share, for the first quarter of 2017. Excluding the impact of stock-based compensation and assuming the conversion of all outstanding convertible preferred stock in the period to common stock, non-GAAP net income for the first quarter of 2018 was $3.1 million, or $0.10 per diluted common share, compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $1.1 million, or a non-GAAP net loss of $0.05 per diluted common share, for the first quarter of 2017.

“We began 2018 on a strong note, delivering record quarterly revenues, gross profit, and income from operations,” commented Scott Keeney, nLIGHT’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We saw activity accelerate across all end markets, led by growth in the industrial end market. Our first quarter results reflect growing customer adoption of our semiconductor and fiber laser technology and demonstrate the expanding global opportunity for high-power lasers.”

First Quarter 2018 Financial Highlights

(1) A reconciliation of the non-GAAP information provided here to the most directly comparable GAAP metric has been provided in the financial statement tables included in this release.

Outlook

For the second quarter of 2018, nLIGHT expects revenues to be in the range of $48.0 million to $52.0 million, gross margin to be in the range of 33.0% to 36.0%, and income from operations in the range of $5.0 million to $7.0 million.

Investor Conference Call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Parties interested in listening to nLIGHT’s quarterly conference call may do so by dialing 1-877-270-2148 (U.S., toll-free) or +1-412-902-6510 (international and toll), with the conference title: nLIGHT First Quarter 2018 Earnings. The call can also be accessed via the web by going to nLIGHT’s Investor Relations page at http://nlight.net/company/investors.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Results

In addition to U.S. GAAP results, this press release also contains non-GAAP financial results, including Adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, basic and diluted. Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial metric, is used to help us evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate business plans and make strategic decisions. In addition to our results determined in accordance with GAAP, we believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful in evaluating our operating performance. Similarly, we believe that providing non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, basic and diluted, is useful to our investors as it gives effect to both the conversion of all outstanding preferred stock to common stock, which occurred immediately prior to the closing of nLIGHT’s initial public offering on April 30, 2018, as well as removing the effect of stock-based compensation expense, which we believe to be an informative view of our results during the period.

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted for income tax expense, other non-operating expense or income, net interest expense, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation and other special items as determined by management, as applicable. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is a meaningful measure of performance as it is commonly utilized by us and the investment community to analyze operating performance in our industry. We define non-GAAP net income (loss) as GAAP net income (loss) adjusted for stock-based compensation. We define non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, basic and diluted, as non-GAAP net income (loss) divided by preferred and common weighted-average shares outstanding during the respective period plus the dilutive effect of any outstanding options or warrants during the period, if applicable.

Tables presenting the reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA, as well as the reconciliation of net income (loss) and net income (loss) per share, basic and diluted to non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, basic and diluted, the two most directly comparable GAAP financial metrics, are included at the end of this press release.