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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended
Aug. 29, 2025
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Purchase Obligations

 

The Company has purchase obligations to certain suppliers. In some cases, the products the Company purchases are unique and have provisions against cancellation of the order.

 

Contingencies

 

The Company may, from time to time, be involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. While there can be no assurances as to the ultimate outcome of any litigation involving the Company, management does not believe any pending legal proceedings will result in judgment or settlement that will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 

On December 3, 2024, a putative shareholder class action lawsuit captioned Lucid Alternative Fund, LP v. Aehr Test Systems, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against the Company. The lawsuit alleged, in part, that the Company and certain of its executives made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s earnings guidance and other financial projections for 2024. The lawsuit sought unspecified monetary damages and purported to represent purchasers of the Company’s securities between January 9, 2024 and March 24, 2024. On February 3, 2025, Lucid and individual investor Yue Guo each filed motions requesting appointment as lead plaintiff. On March 19, 2025, the court appointed Yue Guo, who was represented by Rosen Law, as lead plaintiff in the shareholder class action. On April 4, 2025, the court ordered lead plaintiff to file an amended complaint or designate the existing complaint as operative by May 16, 2025; defendants to file their anticipated motion to dismiss by June 6, 2025; lead plaintiff to respond to the motion by June 27, 2025; and defendants to reply by July 11, 2025.  The court scheduled a hearing on defendants’ motion to dismiss for August 8, 2025. On May 16, 2025, the court-appointed lead plaintiff elected to dismiss the case voluntarily, with all parties to bear their own fees and costs. The Court subsequently closed the case. Additionally, two shareholder derivative complaints were filed, alleging breaches of fiduciary duties and other misconduct by certain directors and officers of the Company. The derivative complaints were consolidated before the same judge as the putative shareholder class action lawsuit under the caption In re Aehr Test Systems, Inc. Stockholder Derivative Litigation, No. 3:24-cv-09236-SI. On April 28, 2025, the court entered an order staying the consolidated action pending resolution of any motion(s) to dismiss, including any related appeal(s), in the Lucid litigation. On June 9, 2025, the court dismissed the derivative action without prejudice pursuant to the parties’ stipulation. The Company believes the claims in all three lawsuits were without merit. Following the voluntary dismissal of the shareholder class action and the court’s dismissal of the consolidated derivative action, no related proceedings are currently pending.

 

On October 16, 2024, the Company filed a complaint with the China Suzhou Intermediate Court to protect its intellectual property rights in China against Suzhou Semight Instruments Co., Ltd. (“Semight”) and its related entities and/or distributors, alleging infringement of the Company’s two patents related to wafer burn-in systems and wafer reliability test systems. The Company is seeking injunctive relief and damage compensation, claiming that Semight’s actions have infringed upon its intellectual property rights and caused substantial harm to its business. The Company believes its claims are valid and is vigorously pursuing its legal remedies. At this stage, the outcome of the litigation is uncertain, and the Company is unable to predict the likelihood of success or estimate the potential financial impact, if any, on its condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company has also incurred and expects to continue to incur legal expenses related to this matter. On November 15 and December 6, 2024, Semight filed a petition for invalidation to the two aforementioned Chinese patents with the Department of National Intellectual Properties in Beijing, respectively. The oral hearings for both of the patents have been held, and the decision has been issued for both patents that upholds part of the claims. In addition, the Company received a suspension ruling from Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court on the infringement proceedings, pending the outcome of the validity rulings. With both patents having been upheld, the suspended infringement proceedings have resumed. The hearing for the divisional patent was held on August 28, 2025, and the hearing for the parent patent is scheduled for October 17, 2025.

 

In the normal course of business to facilitate sales of its products, the Company indemnifies other parties, including customers, with respect to certain matters, for example, including against losses arising from a breach of representations or covenants, or from intellectual property infringement or other claims. These agreements may limit the time within which an indemnification claim can be made and the amount of the claim. In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with its officers and directors, and the Company’s bylaws contain similar indemnification obligations to the Company’s agents.

 

It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. To date, payments made by the Company under these agreements have not had a material impact on the Company’s operating results, financial position or cash flow.