• Q1 net revenues of $135.1 million increased 4.8% sequentially and 28.8% year-over-year
• Q1 Invisalign clear aligner revenue of $123.3 million increased 3.7% sequentially and 17.6% year-over-year with Invisalign case shipments of 85.3 thousand
• Q1 scanner and CAD/CAM services revenue of $11.8 million increased 17.8% sequentially
• Q1 GAAP diluted EPS was $0.26 and Q1 Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.27

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 23, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Align Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALGN) today reported financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 ended March 31, 2012.

Total net revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 (Q1 12) were a $135.1 million. This is compared to $128.9 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2011 (Q4 11) and compared to $104.9 million reported in the first quarter of 2011 (Q1 11). Q1 12 Invisalign clear aligner revenue of $123.3 million increased 3.7% sequentially and 17.6% year-over-year. Invisalign clear aligner case shipments for Q1 12 were 85.3 thousand, compared to 82.6 thousand in Q4 11 and compared to 71.4 thousand in Q1 11. Q1 12 scanner and CAD/CAM services revenue was $11.8 million, compared to $10.0 million in Q4 11. The acquisition of Cadent Holdings, Inc. closed on April 29, 2011, therefore year-over-over year comparisons for Q1 12 do not include scanner and CAD/CAM services.

Commenting on Align's first quarter, Thomas M. Prescott, Align president and CEO said, "I'm pleased to report a very strong quarter and a great start to the year. Strong Invisalign volume, particularly from North American Orthodontists, drove better than expected revenue, margins and EPS, and we achieved a major milestone -- our first $100 million quarter in North America sales. In addition, our scanner and CAD/CAM services business was up nicely this quarter. I'm very proud of our team and the great results they delivered this quarter which reflect their continued focus and execution of our strategic growth initiatives."

Net profit for Q1 12 was $21.0 million, or $0.26 per diluted share. This is compared to net profit of $20.4 million, or $0.25 per diluted share in Q4 11 and net profit of $15.8 million, or $0.20 per diluted share in Q1 11. Net profit for Q1 12 includes pre-tax acquisition and integration related costs of $0.7 million, pre-tax amortization of acquired intangible assets of $1.1 million, pre-tax severance and benefit costs of $0.5 million with a total tax effect of $1.2 million. Net profit for Q4 11 includes pre-tax acquisition and integration related costs of $1.1 million, pre-tax amortization of acquired intangible assets of $1.3 million, pre-tax severance and benefit costs of $0.8 million with a total tax effect of $0.7 million. Net profit for Q1 11 includes pre-tax Cadent acquisition-related transaction costs of $1.5 million with a total tax effect of $0.4 million.

To supplement our consolidated financial statements, we use the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP net revenues, non-GAAP operating expense, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net profit, non-GAAP earnings per share, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. Detailed reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP information are contained in the tables following the financial tables of this release.

Non-GAAP net profit for Q1 12 was $22.1 million, or $0.27 per diluted share. This is compared to non-GAAP net profit of $23.0 million, or $0.28 per diluted share in Q4 11 and non-GAAP net profit of $16.9 million, or $0.21 per diluted share in Q1 11. 

Total stock-based compensation expense included in Q1 12 was $4.9 million compared to $5.0 in Q4 11 and $4.3 million in Q1 11. Stock based compensation expense included in GAAP gross margin in Q1 12, Q4 11 and Q1 11 was $0.5 million. Stock-based compensation expense included in GAAP operating expense in Q1 12 was $4.4 million compared to $4.5 million in Q4 11 and $3.8 million in Q1 11. 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of March 31, 2012, Align Technology had $257.2 million in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities compared to $248.1 million as of December 31, 2011. During Q1 12, we purchased approximately 100,000 shares of our common stock at an average price of $24.68 per share for a total of approximately $2.5 million. There remains $139.7 million available under the Company's existing stock repurchase authorization.

Q2 Fiscal 2012 Business Outlook

For the second quarter of fiscal 2012 (Q2 12), Align Technology expects net revenues to be in a range of $140.2 million to $143.7 million. GAAP earnings per diluted share for Q2 12 is expected to be in a range of $0.25 to $0.27. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share for Q2 12 is expected to be in a range of $0.26 to $0.28. A more comprehensive business outlook is available following the financial tables of this release.

Align Web Cast and Conference Call

Align Technology will host a conference call today, April 23, 2012 at 4:30 p.m. ET, 1:30 p.m. PT, to review its first quarter fiscal 2012 results, discuss future operating trends and business outlook. The conference call will also be web cast live via the Internet. To access the web cast, go to the "Events & Presentations" section under Company Information on Align Technology's Investor Relations web site at http://investor.aligntech.com. To access the conference call, please dial 201-689-8261 approximately fifteen minutes prior to the start of the call. If you are unable to listen to the call, an archived web cast will be available beginning approximately one hour after the call's conclusion and will remain available for approximately 12 months. Additionally, a telephonic replay of the call can be accessed by dialing 877-660-6853 with account number 292 followed by # and conference number 391936 followed by #. The replay must be accessed from international locations by dialing 201-612-7415 and using the same account and conference numbers referenced above. The telephonic replay will be available through 5:30 p.m. ET on May 1, 2012.

About Align Technology, Inc.

Align Technology designs, manufactures and markets Invisalign, a proprietary method for treating malocclusion, or the misalignment of teeth. Invisalign corrects malocclusion using a series of clear, nearly invisible, removable appliances that gently move teeth to a desired final position. Because it does not rely on the use of metal or ceramic brackets and wires, Invisalign significantly reduces the aesthetic and other limitations associated with braces. Invisalign is appropriate for treating adults and teens. Align Technology was founded in March 1997 and received FDA clearance to market Invisalign in 1998.The Invisalign product family includes Invisalign, Invisalign Teen, Invisalign Assist, Invisalign Express 10, Invisalign Express 5, and Vivera Retainers. To learn more about Invisalign or to find an Invisalign trained doctor in your area, please visit www.invisalign.com.

Cadent Holdings, Inc. is a subsidiary of Align Technology and is a leading provider of 3D digital scanning solutions for orthodontics and dentistry. The Cadent family of products includes iTero and iOC scanning systems, OrthoCAD iCast, OrthoCAD iQ and OrthoCAD iRecord. For additional information, please visit www.cadentinc.com.

About non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements and our business outlook, we use the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP profit from operations, non-GAAP net profit and non-GAAP earnings per share, which exclude, as applicable, acquisition and integration related costs, amortization of acquired intangible assets, severance and benefit costs, and any related tax effects, and EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Our management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our "core operating performance". Management believes that "core operating performance" represents Align's performance in the ordinary, ongoing and customary course of its operations. Accordingly, management excludes from "core operating performance" certain expenditures, revenues and other items that may not be indicative of our operating performance including discrete cash and non-cash charges that are infrequent or one-time in nature. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal evaluation of period-to-period comparisons. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making and (2) they are provided to and used by our institutional investors and the analyst community to facilitate comparisons with prior and subsequent reporting periods. A reconciliation of the GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures for the quarter and year and a more detailed explanation of each non-GAAP financial measure and its uses are provided in the footnotes to the table captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP Key Financial Metrics" and "Business Outlook Summary" included at the end of this release. 

Forward-Looking Statement

This news release, including the tables below, contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding certain business metrics for the first quarter of 2012, including anticipated revenue, gross margin, operating expense, operating income, earnings per share, case shipments and cash. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release and the tables below relating to expectations about future events or results are based upon information available to Align as of the date hereof. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. As a result, actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, difficulties predicting customer and consumer purchasing behavior, the willingness and ability of our customers to maintain and/or increase utilization in sufficient numbers, the possibility that the development and release of new products does not proceed in accordance with the anticipated timeline, the possibility that the market for the sale of these new products may not develop as expected, the risks relating to Align's ability to sustain or increase profitability or revenue growth in future periods while controlling expenses, growth related risks, including capacity constraints and pressure on our internal systems and personnel, our ability to successfully achieve the anticipated benefits from the acquisition of Cadent Holdings, Inc., continued customer demand for our existing and new products, changes in consumer spending habits as a result of, among other things, prevailing economic conditions, levels of employment, salaries and wages and consumer confidence, the timing of case submissions from our doctors within a quarter, acceptance of our products by consumers and dental professionals, foreign operational, political and other risks relating to Align's international manufacturing operations, Align's ability to protect its intellectual property rights, continued compliance with regulatory requirements, competition from existing and new competitors, Align's ability to develop and successfully introduce new products and product enhancements, and the loss of key personnel. These and other risks are detailed from time to time in Align's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 29, 2012. Align undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

(1) Acquisition costs and integration related. We have incurred acquisition-related and other expenses which include legal, banker, accounting and other advisory fees of third parties, retention bonuses, integration and professional fees. We do not engage in acquisitions in the ordinary course of business. We believe that it is important to understand these charges; however, we do not believe that these charges are indicative of future operating results. We believe that eliminating these expenses from our non-GAAP measures is useful because we generally would not have otherwise incurred such expenses in the periods presented as part of our continuing operations.

(2) Amortization of acquired intangible assets. When conducting internal development of intangible assets (including developed technology, customer relationships, trademarks, etc.), GAAP accounting rules require that we expense the costs as incurred. In the case of acquired businesses, however, we are required to allocate a portion of the purchase price to the accounting value assigned to intangible assets acquired and amortize this amount over the estimated useful lives of the acquired intangibles. The acquired company, in most cases, has itself previously expensed the costs incurred to develop the acquired intangible assets, and the purchase price allocated to these assets is not necessarily reflective of the cost we would incur in developing the intangible asset. We eliminate these amortization charges for our non-GAAP operating results to provide better comparability of pre and post-acquisition operating results and comparability to results of businesses utilizing internally developed intangible assets.

(3) Severance and benefits costs. These costs are related to the closure of our New Jersey operations and will be realized through the first three quarters of 2012. We have engaged in various restructuring and exit activities in 2011 and 2009 that have resulted in costs associated with severance and benefits. Such activity has been a discrete event based on a unique set of business objectives or circumstances, and each has differed from the others in terms of its operational implementation, business impact and scope. We do not engage in restructuring and/or exit activities in the ordinary course of business. We believe that it is important to understand these charges and, we believe that investors benefit from excluding these charges from our operating results to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of current operating performance and comparisons to past operating performance.

(4) Tax effect on the above items. Non-GAAP financial information for the quarter is adjusted for a tax rate equal to our annual estimated tax rate on non-GAAP income. This rate is based on our estimated annual GAAP income tax rate forecast, adjusted to account for items excluded from GAAP income in calculating the non-GAAP financial measures presented above. Our estimated tax rate on non-GAAP income is determined annually and may be re-calculated during the year to take into account events or trends that we believe materially impact the estimated annual rate.

(5) Includes the amortization of acquired intangible assets.

(6) EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. We use EBITDA as a performance measure for benchmarking against our peers and competitors. We believe EBITDA is useful to investors because it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in the medical technology industry. We also use adjusted EBITDA which excludes certain special or non-recurring expenses, net of certain special or non-recurring benefits, detailed in the reconciliation tables that accompany this release, as an internal measure of business operating performance. We believe such financial measures provide a meaningful perspective of the underlying operating performance to our current business. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are not recognized terms under GAAP. Because all companies do not calculate EBITDA and similarly titled financial measures in the same way, those measures as used by other companies may not be consistent with the way we calculate such measures and should not be considered as alternative measures of operating or net profit.

CONTACT: Investor Relations Contact

         Shirley Stacy

         Align Technology, Inc.

         (408) 470-1150

         sstacy@aligntech.com

         

         Press Contact

         Shannon Mangum Henderson

         Ethos Communication, Inc.

         (678) 261-7803

         align@ethoscommunication.com