Fremont, CA, October 22, 1997 - Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASYT), the leading supplier of minienvironment and SMIF-based technology to the worldwide semiconductor industry, today reported financial results for its fiscal 1998 second quarter ended September 30, 1997. Earnings per share data has been updated to reflect the effect of a 2-for-1 stock split effective August 22, 1997.

Net sales for the second quarter were $40.3 million, compared to net sales of $33.1 million for the second quarter of fiscal 1997. Income from continuing operations was $4.3 million or $0.37 per share compared to income from continuing operations of $3.4 million or $0.33 per share for the second quarter of fiscal 1997. Net income for the second quarter was $4.3 million or $0.37 per share, compared to $2.4 million or $0.23 per share for the same quarter last year.

For the six months ended September 30, 1997, the Company had net sales of $78.0 million, compared to net sales of $66.2 million for the six months ended September 30, 1996. Income from continuing operations for the first six months of fiscal 1998 was $7.7 million or $0.67 per share, compared to income from continuing operations of $6.9 million or $0.66 per share for the first six months of fiscal 1997. Net income for the first half of fiscal 1998 was $7.7 million or $0.67 per share, compared to $5.6 million or $0.54 per share for the first half of fiscal 1997.

Dr. Mihir Parikh, Asyst's chairman and chief executive officer said, "We are pleased with this quarter's outcome. We continue to see positive results from the programs we have implemented to firmly establish Asyst as the recognized leader in the evolving minienvironment and SMIF technology market. In the near-term, at least, business conditions remain solid with bookings reaching another record level during the quarter."

"With our solutions widely deployed at major 200mm fabs around the world, Asyst is well positioned to address the industry's needs for the transition to 300mm processing. We believe that the move toward 300mm will increase acceptance of integrated minienvironment and SMIF technology. Our SMIF-300 series of products will provide the building blocks as manufacturers place greater demands upon SMIF to drive up yields and productivity," remarked Parikh.

"We are also delivering product solutions that help our customers tightly integrate IC manufacturing hardware and software," Parikh continued. "The Asyst-SWIFT solution - a Windows NT-based software tool set - enables the integration of peripheral devices and "single-wire" connectivity of these devices to factory computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems."

"During the second quarter, we created and filled the new position of vice president of customer satisfaction, increasing our commitment to service. Michael Romani has been chartered with leading field service, customer support and training operations worldwide," Parikh concluded.

Commenting on the results for the second fiscal quarter, Doug McCutcheon, Asyst's senior vice president and chief financial officer, said, "The financial goals we set for ourselves were achieved this quarter. We had excellent revenue growth -- 7 percent over the first fiscal quarter of this year and the third consecutive quarter of gross margin improvement, now at 44 percent. In combination with controlled expense growth, this produced record quarterly profits of $6.8 million before taxes, or nearly 17 percent of sales. Our asset management programs continued to have an impact with net positive cash flow of $8.2 million and days sales in receivables reduced to 70 days." McCutcheon also noted that Asyst's recently announced private placement of 1 million shares of Asyst common stock, which generated gross proceeds to the Company of $42.9 million, was concluded after the end of the fiscal second quarter and therefore is not reflected in any of the financial figures released today.

Actual results may differ materially from the above forward-looking statements due to a number of important factors including but not limited to general economic conditions and risk factors more fully discussed in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q.

About Asyst
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of material handling systems that help semiconductor manufacturers improve their integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing productivity. The company's Asyst-SMIF™ System combines state-of-the-art minienvironments with advanced robotics to create ultraclean processing environments that are both comprehensive and flexible. The SMART Traveler™ System (STS) works in tandem with SMIF to eliminate misprocessing. Both Asyst-SMIF and its companion STS products are integral to seamless factory automation. Asyst Software, Inc., is dedicated to the development of software products for equipment communications and automated material handling, identification and tracking. Founded in 1984, Asyst Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Fremont, CA, with facilities in Europe and the Far East. Asyst Software is located in San Jose, CA

About SMIF
SMIF stands for Standard Mechanical InterFace, the material handling approach that enables wafer transfer to and from sealed SMIF environments without exposure to cleanroom ambient conditions. SEMI standards exist for 150- and 200 mm wafer sizes and are now being defined for 300 mm.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

	Three months ended		Six months ended
	September 30, 1997	September 30, 1996	September 30, 1997	September 30, 1996
Net sales Cost of sales	$ 40,312 22,588	$ 33,085 19,461	$ 77,998 43,902	$ 66,233 38,467
Gross margin	17,724	13,624	34,096	27,766
Operating expenses:
Research and development General, selling, and administrative	3,294 8,344	1,331 7,291	6,038 17,054	3,869 13,435
Total operating expenses	11,638	8,622	23,092	17,304
Operating income Other income, net	6,086 698	5,002 172	11,004 995	10,462 311
Income from continuing operations
before income taxes	6,784	5,174	11,999	10,773
Provision for income taxes	2,442	1,790	4,320	3,893
Income from continuing operations	4,342	3,384	7,679	6,880
Discontinued Operations: Loss from operations of Asyst Automation, Inc., net of applicable income tax benefit	0	(971)	0	(1,329)
Net income	$ 4,342	$ 2,413	$ 7,679	$ 5,551
Weighted average of common and common
share equivalents	11,728	10,332	11,397	10,362
Income per share from continuing operations	$ 0.37	$ 0.33	$ 0.67	$ 0.66
Net income per share	$ 0.37	$ 0.23	$ 0.67	$ 0.54

	September 30, 1997 (unaudited)	March 31, 1997
ASSETS
Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents Accounts receivable, net Inventories Prepaid expenses and other current assets Net current assets of discontinued operations	$ 23,225 31,426 23,218 9,611 4,559	$ 12,021 35,259 18,609 12,626 2,749
Total current assets	92,039	81,264
Property and equipment, net Other assets, net	9,935 2,186 $ 104,160	10,363 2,452 $ 94,079
Liabilities and Shareholders’ equity
Current liabilities: Accounts payable Accrued liabilities and other Customer deposits Income taxes payable Total current liabilities	$ 12,027 12,757 1,832 2,543 29,159	$ 13,392 10,205 2,968 2,510 29,075
Shareholders’ equity: Common stock Retained earnings (deficit)	69,263 5,738	66,945 (1,941)
Total shareholders’ equity	75,001 $ 104,160	65,004 $ 94,079