MENLO PARK, CA, October 26, 2004/PRNewswire — Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: UCTT ) , a leading developer and supplier of critical subsystems for the semiconductor capital equipment industry, focusing on gas delivery systems, today announced operating results for the third quarter ended September 24, 2004.

Sales for the third quarter of 2004 were $47.5 million, representing a 12.8% sequential decrease from sales of $54.5 million for the prior quarter ended June 25, 2004, and a 184% increase over sales of $16.7 million for the quarter ended September 26, 2003. The Company reported $1.9 million of net income for the quarter ended September 24, 2004 compared to net income of $3.1 million for the prior quarter ended June 25, 2004, and net income of $21 thousand for the quarter ended September 26, 2003. On a fully-diluted basis, this equates to earnings per share of $0.11 in the third quarter of 2004, compared to earnings per share of $0.18 in the quarter ended June 25, 2004, and a breakeven quarter ended September 26, 2003.  

Included in net income was a $0.5 million charge for costs associated with legal, accounting and consulting fees related to an acquisition Ultra Clean was considering, which was terminated during the third quarter of fiscal 2004. This charge reduced earnings per share by $0.02.

Clarence Granger, UCT's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the third quarter results: "We are very pleased to have achieved our second highest quarterly sales of $47.5 million and EPS of $.11 despite the recent downturn in orders and the write-off of the terminated acquisition. In addition, we continued to execute on our growth plans for our frame assembly business, shipping products generating nearly $1 million in revenue in the third quarter.   We also made progress on our expansion program in China.   I am happy to announce that we are on track to begin shipping from our new facility by the end of the first quarter of 2005."

Outlook
Commenting on UCT's corporate outlook for the fourth quarter of 2004, Granger noted, "We anticipate that the softness we experienced during the latter half of the third quarter will continue into the fourth quarter, and we expect a further decline in revenue of between 12% and 16% from the third quarter. Earnings per share is expected to be in the range of $0.07 to $0.09."

Ultra Clean will conduct a conference call on Tuesday, October 26, 2004, beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT at 888/793-1728 (domestic) and 303/957-1333 (international). A replay of the webcast will be available for fourteen days following the conference call at 800/633-8284 (domestic) and 402/977-9140 (international). The confirmation number for the live broadcast and replays is 21208112 (all callers). The conference call will also be webcast live on our website.

About Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc.
Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. is a developer and supplier of critical subsystems for the semiconductor capital equipment industry, focusing on gas delivery systems. Ultra Clean offers its customers a complete outsourced solution for gas delivery systems, improved design-to-delivery cycle times, component neutral design and manufacturing and component testing capabilities. Ultra Clean's customers are primarily original equipment manufacturers of semiconductor capital equipment. The Company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. Additional information is available at www.uct.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
The foregoing information contains, or may be deemed to contain, "forward- looking statements" (as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. We use words such as "anticipates," "believes," "plan," "expect," "future,"' "intends," "may," "will," "should," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue" and similar expressions to identify these forward-looking statements.   Forward looking statements included in the press release include estimates made with respect to industry conditions, our fourth quarter revenue and earnings per share, and our expansion program in China.   All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, you should not rely on forward-looking statements, as there are or will be important factors that could cause our actual results, as well as those of the markets we serve, levels of activity, performance, achievements and prospects to differ materially from the results predicted or implied by these forward- looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, those identified in "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations'' and elsewhere in our prospectus and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.