Fremont, CA, October 18, 2000 - Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: ASYT), the world's largest semiconductor fab automation company, today reported results for its second quarter of Fiscal Year 2001 ended September 30, 2000. Net sales for the quarter were $126.9 million, a 212 percent increase over net sales of $40.7 million for the second quarter of Fiscal 2000.

Net income before amortization of acquired intangible assets was $18.1 million, or $0.52 per share, compared to a net loss of $2.4 million or ($0.09) per share in the second quarter of fiscal year 2000. All per share amounts in this release are stated on a dilutive basis.

Asyst Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mihir Parikh, commented, "We are quite pleased with our results for the quarter. We have witnessed notable progress in regions beyond those of our traditional markets. In these past six months we have generated $61.5 million, or 25 percent of total sales, in Japan and Europe, compared to $13.0 million, or 19 percent of total sales, for the same period last year. These new markets position us to effectively maintain growth throughout this period of shifting industry demand."

"As noted," said Doug McCutcheon, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, "our results for the quarter are testament to the continuing demand for Asyst's automation solutions and products. We are pleased to report for the quarter gross margins in excess of 46 percent. Moreover, we continue to invest in our infrastructure, particularly in R&D. We do so, however, at a controlled rate such that our top-line revenue growth is leveraged to increased profitability."

For the six months ended September 30, 2000, the Company had net sales of $250.6 million, versus net sales of $67.8 million for the first half of fiscal 2000. Net income before amortization of acquired intangible assets for the first six months of fiscal 2001 was $35.5 million, or $1.01 per share, compared to a net loss of $4.8 million or ($0.19) for the same period last year.

Outlook

The Company looks forward to continuing its participation in the growing worldwide demand for semiconductors.

The Company expects to see similar revenue growth for the fiscal third quarter as that seen in the second quarter just completed. Gross margin percentage is expected to be similar to this quarter. Operating expenses are expected to be slightly higher than in the second quarter due to continuing investments in R&D and geographic expansion. As a result, net income for the third quarter is expected to be approximately the same as that of the second quarter.

The foregoing outlook is for ongoing business only and excludes any impact of acquisitions or other non-recurring items.

"As our growth demonstrates, our customers continue to depend on us to provide them with the newest, most reliable, proven technology and products in the automation industry," continued Parikh. "Therefore, despite the industry's uncertain short-term outlook, we continue to invest to improve our product depth and our market presence both here and abroad."

Highlights of the Quarter

Expanding International Presence:

Asyst received $50 million in new orders from leading Japanese chip and equipment manufacturers during the six months starting April 1, 2000. Asyst has customers in the Kansai, Oita, Nagasaki and Yokahama regions that produce large memory chips as well as major logic producers.

The recent multimillion-dollar follow-on order from Anam Semiconductor, Inc. (Buchon, Korea), announced in July, demonstrates Asyst's ability to penetrate new international markets, as well as the reliability and value assurance that customers experience with Asyst products.

Technologically Advanced Product Development and Recurring Demand for Asyst Products: In July, Asyst entered the market for automated fab transport with an innovative system specifically created for the emerging 300 mm production era. The FasTrack™ system is the most recent example of Asyst's ability to consistently revolutionize the automation industry. FasTrack is also the next link in the complete "Value Assured Fab" that Asyst offers its customers, including isolation, robotics, tracking, software and now transport technologies.

Less than two months after the FasTrack introduction, Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq NM: ATML) placed a multimillion-dollar order for fab wide implementation of the system. This order is an example of customer satisfaction with and preference for Asyst's unique products. It is the belief of the company, that the FasTrack System will prove essential to achieve maximum efficiency in fab transport automation.

In early September, the Company featured several products at the SEMICON Taiwan 2000 tradeshow. Three of these included the Asyst Plus™ Portal automated front-end system, the SMS™ (substrate management system) automated wafer management tool, and the SMIF-Pod™ front-opening unified pod (FOUP), all designed to help Asyst's customers as they move towards 300mm manufacturing.

In September, the company announced that it had shipped its 250^th Plus™ Portal automated equipment front-end system to a major United States semiconductor equipment manufacturer. Part of the Asyst "Value Assured Fab" product portfolio, the Asyst Plus Portal has become the industry's most widely used turnkey automated front-end solution for both 200mm and 300mm applications.

About Asyst
Asyst Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of manufacturing automation systems that enable semiconductor makers to protect their valued assets throughout the manufacturing process while increasing manufacturing productivity. Asyst offers a broad range of 200mm and 300mm products that enable the Company to provide semiconductor manufacturers and OEMs automated manufacturing solutions for the transfer of wafers and information between the process equipment and the fab line.

Except for statements of historical fact, the statements in this press release are forward-looking. Such statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These factors include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, semiconductor industry cycles, risks associated with the acceptance of new products and product capabilities and other factors more fully detailed in the Company's recent 10Q quarterly report on file with the Securities Exchange Commission.

CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS
Asyst will discuss its earnings and additional guidance for fiscal 2001 on October 18, 2000. There will be a conference call and simultaneous webcast the same day at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet

			Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
			September 30,				September 30,
			2000		1999		2000		1999
Net sales			$126,922		$ 40,696		$250,593		$ 67,782
Cost of sales			67,458		22,327		135,062		38,167
Gross profit			59,464		18,369		115,531		29,615
Operating expenses:
	Research and development		10,851		4,456		20,572		8,691
	General, selling, and administrative		22,984		11,729		44,435		22,457
	Goodwill amortization		1,366		614		3,068		1,228
	Non-recurring charges		---		4,000		---		4,000
		Total operating expenses	35,201		20,799		68,075		36,376
Operating income (loss)			24,263		(2,430)		47,456		(6,761)
Other income, net			1,648		299		2,959		285
Income (loss) before provision (benefit) for income taxes			25,911		(2,131)		50,415		(6,476)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes			8,937		635		17,556		(842)
Net income (loss)			$ 16,974		$ (2,766)		$ 32,859		$ (5,634)
Earnings (loss) per share:
	Basic		$ 0.53		$ (0.11)		$ 1.02		$ (0.22)
	Diluted		$ 0.49		$ (0.11)		$ 0.94		$ (0.22)
Net income (loss) before amortization of intangible assets      related to acquired business, net of income taxes			$ 18,133		$ (2,361)		$ 35,506		$ (4,824)
Earnings (loss) per share before goodwill amortization:
	Basic		$ 0.56		$ (0.09)		$ 1.10		$ (0.19)
	Diluted		$ 0.52		$ (0.09)		$ 1.01		$ (0.19)
Shares used in per share calculation of:
	Basic earnings (loss) per share		32,308		25,656		32,235		25,064
	Diluted earnings (loss) per share		34,840		25,656		35,109		25,064

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	September 30, 2000 (unaudited)	March 31, 2000
ASSETS
Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents Short-term investments Accounts receivable, net Inventories Deferred tax asset Prepaid expenses and other current assets	$  51,632 64,894 98,508 73,263 14,402 15,289	$ 12,638 93,450 74,278 49,482 20,501 15,368
Total Current Assets	317,988	265,717
Property and equipment, net Other assets, net	31,086 40,208 $ 389,282	27,312 36,171 $ 329,200
Liabilities and Shareholders' equity
Current liabilities: Current portion of long term debt Short term loans Accounts payable Accrued liabilities and other current liabilities Customer deposits Income taxes payable	$       498 35,301 37,949 19,696 9,533 9,293	$    5,285 22,816 38,638 14,294 8,144 4,990
Total Current Liabilities	112,270	94,167
Long-term liabilities: Long-term debt, net of current portion Other long-term liabilities	818 2,357	910 1,017
Total Long-term liabilities:	3,175	1,927
Total Liabilities	115,445	96,094
Shareholders' equity: Common stock Retained earnings (deficit)	248,466 25,371	240,594 (7,488)
Total Shareholders' Equity	273,837 $ 389,282	233,106 $ 329,200