Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ: LFUS), an industrial technology manufacturing company empowering a sustainable, connected, and safer world, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 27, 2021:

• Net sales of $463.8 million were up 34% versus the prior year period, and up 26% organically, due to strong demand across a number of electronics, automotive and industrial end markets
• Growth by segment versus the prior year period:
  • Electronics sales grew 34% (up 32% organically)
  • Automotive sales grew 23% (up 17% organically)
  • Industrial sales grew 80% (up 10% organically)
• GAAP diluted EPS was $2.32; adjusted diluted EPS was $2.67, a growth of 107% and includes $0.54 of benefits related to a non-operating mark-to-market gain and lower effective tax rate compared to the prior year period
• GAAP effective tax rate was 20.6% and the adjusted effective tax rate was 19.2%
• Cash flow from operations was $50.2 million and free cash flow was $35.4 million

“We are off to a strong start this year, delivering double-digit revenue and EPS growth well ahead of expectations,” said Dave Heinzmann, Littelfuse President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our agile teams around the world continue to navigate through this dynamic market environment while meeting commitments to our customers. Looking ahead, we are seeing healthy demand across a number of our end markets aligned to the strategic, structural growth themes of a sustainable, connected, and safer world. We remain confident we are well-positioned for long-term profitable growth.”

Second Quarter of 2021*

For the second quarter, the company expects net sales in the range of $463 to $477 million, adjusted diluted EPS in the range of $2.12 to $2.28 and an adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 17%.

Littelfuse provides guidance on a non-GAAP (adjusted) basis. GAAP items excluded from guidance may include the after-tax impact of items including acquisition and integration costs, restructuring, impairment and other charges, certain purchase accounting adjustments, non-operating foreign exchange adjustments and significant and unusual items. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could be material to results computed in accordance with GAAP. Littelfuse is not able to forecast the excluded items in order to provide the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure without unreasonable efforts.

Dividend and Share Repurchase Authorization

• The company’s Board of Directors approved a new stock repurchase authorization to replace its previous 2020 program. The company may repurchase up to $300 million in the aggregate of shares of the company’s common stock for the period May 1, 2021 to April 30, 2024.
• The company will pay a cash dividend on its common stock of $0.48 per share on June 3, 2021 to shareholders of record as of May 20, 2021

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Littelfuse will host a conference call today, Wednesday, April 28, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. Central Time to discuss the results. The call will be broadcast live and available for replay at Littelfuse.com. A slide presentation will be available in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at Littelfuse.com.

About Littelfuse

Littelfuse (NASDAQ: LFUS) is an industrial technology manufacturing company empowering a sustainable, connected, and safer world. Across more than 15 countries, and with 12,000 global associates, we partner with customers to design and deliver innovative, reliable solutions. Serving over 100,000 end customers, our products are found in a variety of industrial, transportation and electronics end markets – everywhere, every day. Learn more at Littelfuse.com.

“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

The statements in this press release that are not historical facts are intended to constitute "forward-looking statements" entitled to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These statements may involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to general economic conditions; the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken in response thereto and the effects of those items on the company’s business; product demand and market acceptance; the impact of competitive products and pricing; product quality problems or product recalls; capacity and supply difficulties or constraints; coal mining exposures reserves; failure of an indemnification for environmental liability; exchange rate fluctuations; commodity and other raw material price fluctuations; the effect of Littelfuse, Inc.'s ("Littelfuse" or the "Company") accounting policies; labor disputes; restructuring costs in excess of expectations; pension plan asset returns less than assumed; integration of acquisitions; uncertainties related to political or regulatory changes; and other risks which may be detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and outcomes may differ materially from those indicated or implied in the forward-looking statements. This release should be read in conjunction with information provided in the financial statements appearing in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 26, 2020. Further discussion of the risk factors of the company can be found under the caption "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 26, 2020 and in other filings and submissions with the SEC, each of which are available free of charge on the company’s investor relations website at investor.littelfuse.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof. The company does not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the availability of new information.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The information included in this press release includes the non-GAAP financial measures of organic net sales growth, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted income taxes, adjusted effective tax rate, free cash flow, consolidated total gross debt, consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the private placement senior notes), and ratio of consolidated total gross debt to consolidated EBITDA. Many of these non-GAAP financial measures exclude the effect of certain expenses and income not related directly to the underlying performance of our fundamental business operations.

A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is set forth in the attached schedules.

The company believes that organic net sales growth, adjusted operating income, adjusted operating margin, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted diluted earnings per share, adjusted income taxes, and adjusted effective tax rate provide useful information to investors regarding its operational performance because they enhance an investor’s overall understanding of our core financial performance and facilitate comparisons to historical results of operations, by excluding items that are not related directly to the underlying performance of our fundamental business operations or were not part of our business operations during a comparable period. The company believes that free cash flow is a useful measure of its ability to generate cash. The company believes that consolidated total gross debt, consolidated EBITDA, and ratio of consolidated total gross debt to consolidated EBITDA are useful measures of its credit position. The company believes that all of these non-GAAP financial measures are commonly used by financial analysts and others in the industries in which we operate, and thus further provide useful information to investors. Management additionally uses these measures when assessing the performance of the business and for business planning purposes. Note that our definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures may differ from those terms as defined or used by other companies.

(a) "other" typically includes non-GAAP adjustments such as acquisition-related and integration costs, purchase accounting inventory adjustments and restructuring and impairment charges. (See Supplemental Financial Information for details.)

N.M. - Not meaningful