Aetrium Revises Second Quarter Expectations.

Business Editors

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 2001

Aetrium Incorporated (Nasdaq:ATRM) today announced that it now expects its revenues for the second quarter, ending June 30, 2001, to be about $4.3 million, down from its earlier announced expectations of $6.0 million. The reduced revenue level is expected to result in a loss of $0.20 to $0.22 per share, exclusive of the impact of unusual charges related to the previously announced reduction in workforce and other cost cutting measures undertaken by the company during the quarter.

"This reduction in our current revenue expectations is largely attributable to a delay into the third quarter of some shipments from our order backlog that were being planned for the second quarter," said Joseph C. Levesque, president and chief executive officer. "As expected, our bookings rate has declined from the previous quarter and reflects the general decline in equipment bookings industry wide. This decline is primarily the result of the excess inventories and the substantial over capacity that still exists throughout the semiconductor industry. On a positive note, the bookings and revenue levels that we are experiencing this quarter continued to be dominated by our newer products that are designed for emerging semiconductor packaging and process requirements where excess inventories and overcapacity is minimal.

"Our forward looking visibility continues to be very limited, as uncertainty persists throughout our customer base and no indications are yet apparent as to when the industry cycle will turn. Accordingly, we are planning for weak business conditions to continue through the remainder of the year. During this uncertain period we will continue to focus on cost reduction and containment measures to preserve our assets, as well as maintaining our critical infrastructures and proceeding with our strategic product development initiatives, so that we can maximize our potential during the next growth cycle."

Aetrium plans to report financial results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2001 on July 24, 2001.

Certain matters in this news release are forward-looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, slowing growth in the demand for semiconductor devices, changes in the rates of capital expenditures by semiconductor manufacturers, progress of product development programs, unanticipated costs associated with the integration of acquired operations, and other risk factors set forth in the company's SEC filings, including its Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2000.

Aetrium, based in North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a leading supplier of proprietary technologies and equipment that are used by the worldwide semiconductor industry to assemble and test integrated circuits (IC's) and other electronic components. The company's products are used by customers to advance reliability, improve quality, increase product yield, or improve manufacturing processes. Aetrium has manufacturing facilities in North St. Paul, Minnesota, and Dallas, Texas. Aetrium's common stock is publicly traded on the Nasdaq market under the symbol ATRM. More information about Aetrium is available on the Internet at www.Aetrium.com.