Fremont, CA, January 25, 2001 - Asyst Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq NM: ASYT), the world's largest semiconductor fab automation company, today reported results for its third quarter of Fiscal Year 2001 ended December 31, 2000. Net sales for the quarter were $127.4 million, a 100 percent increase over net sales of $63.8 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2000. Net income before amortization of acquired intangible assets was $14.3 million, or $0.42 per share, an increase of 123 percent compared to net income of $6.3 million or $0.19 per share in the third quarter of fiscal year 2000. All per share amounts in this release are stated on a fully diluted basis.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2000, the Company had net sales of $378.0 million, versus net sales of $131.6 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2000. Net income before amortization of acquired intangible assets for the first nine months of fiscal 2001 was $49.8 million, or $1.43 per share, compared to net income of $1.5 million or $0.05 for the same period last year.

Asyst Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mihir Parikh, commented, "Asyst experienced only a slight sequential increase in overall revenue, which is reflective of the dramatic softening of the semiconductor capital equipment market conditions. Nonetheless, we are pleased to note that Asyst's bookings for the quarter increased to a new record level. In addition to increased bookings, we are pleased with the sales growth of our latest products. While revenues from the historically predominant 200mm SMIF isolation technology product lines were down sequentially, revenues from the new elements of the Asyst model increased significantly quarter over quarter. Many of these products, which include robotics, substrate management systems and Plus Portals, are being deployed in the newest 300mm fabs around the world. Combined sales from these products grew 41 percent sequentially while sales of our mature 200mm products decreased, primarily due to the softness in the 200mm capacity buys on a worldwide basis. We believe that Asyst is increasing its position in both the 300mm and newly entered product areas."

"We view the acceptance of our new 300mm product offerings as very positive," said Doug McCutcheon, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "The early stage cost structures and margins for the new product lines, however, are below those of Asyst's mature lines. As a result, consolidated gross margins fell 2.2 percentage points on a sequential basis to approximately 45 percent. We are working to reduce our costs in these areas. To this end, we have combined product marketing, development and operations under a single focused executive, Stephen Schwartz, Senior Vice President of Product Groups and Operations, recently recruited from Applied Materials, Inc. In leveraging Steve's experience and leadership, we believe that Asyst is more optimally positioned to capitalize on its technology excellence combined with newly invigorated operational excellence."

Dr. Parikh added, "With the aforementioned shift in product mix occurring more rapidly than expected, we experienced a high inventory buildup. As expected, inventory and accounts receivable levels increased in the new, fast growing product lines. Meanwhile, a decline in revenues in the traditional 200mm SMIF and isolation product lines resulted in inventory increases due to expectations that could not be addressed rapidly enough. We have designated specific asset management teams and goals to return these metrics to historical levels."

Outlook
The following outlook is for ongoing business only. The outlook is prior to the adoption of SAB 101, and excludes any impact of acquisitions or other non-recurring items, most notably the acquisitions of Applied Machine Programming Inc. (AMP) and Semifab, Inc. Both of these acquisitions are expected to close during the current quarter.

Current market conditions are marked by volatility, and inherently bring challenges both on an operational basis and a forecasting basis. Few companies have been immune from the impact of global inventory and supply chain adjustment. The challenge is to fully exploit the benefits of the opportunities before us, in spite of the uncertainty of the market. We remain confident that Asyst's automation foundry model, predicated on the requirement by semiconductor equipment manufacturers to have a one-stop resource for their contract manufacturing and integration needs, provides us with an increased competitive advantage.

The company experienced record bookings in the fiscal third quarter. It is anticipated, however, that bookings will likely soften in the current fiscal fourth quarter. Therefore, the company expects revenues and earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter to be essentially the same as that reported in the fiscal third quarter for the continuing business.

"While we are being cautious in terms of our near-term outlook, we believe that Asyst is better positioned than ever to meet the anticipated needs of the world's 300mm semiconductor manufacturers. We have continued in our endeavors to further diversify our revenue stream through the addition of new products and a greater balance of growth geographically," concluded Dr. Parikh.

Highlights of the Quarter

New products success:
In November, Asyst announced that it had received an order for wafer sorters valued at more than $12 million from a leading U.S. supplier of semiconductors used in communications applications. The order's various installations represented a follow-on for Asyst products in one fab and new Asyst installations in three others. The win ensued through a rigorous technical evaluation of many products in which the Asyst SMS products outperformed competitive wafer sorters in key areas of the automation process. The success of this product line indicates that customers are seeing the benefits that Asyst's advanced automation solutions offer in protecting their valuable wafer assets throughout the fab.

Accelerated growth strategy:
In early December, Asyst announced its plan to pioneer the Automation Foundry Model through the acquisition of two semiconductor equipment-oriented contract manufacturers; AMP and Semifab, Inc. This new Automation Foundry Model is aimed at semiconductor equipment manufacturers and once again places Asyst in the forefront of the automation industry, providing an added value and unique service to its customers. AMP is a precision machining and assembly firm with revenues for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2000 of approximately $24 million. Semifab is a provider of process environmental-control systems and outsourcing capabilities with estimated annual revenues of approximately $21 million.

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:
A live webcast of the conference call discussing the third quarter fiscal year 2001 financial results for Asyst Technologies, Inc. will take place on January 25, 2001 at 5:00 p.m. EST. The webcast will be publicly available on Asyst's website at http://www.asyst.com/frame/confcall_frame.html A replay of the webcast may be accessed via the same address until February 2, 2001.

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet

			Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
			December 31,				December 31,
			2000		1999		2000		1999
Net sales			$ 127,439		$ 63,816		$ 378,033		$ 131,598
Cost of sales			70,451		34,505		205,514		72,672
Gross profit			56,988		29,311		172,519		58,926
Operating expenses:
	Research and development		12,042		5,298		32,614		13,989
	Selling, general and administrative		24,237		15,333		68,672		37,814
	Non-recurring charges		---		---		---		4,000
	Goodwill amortization		1,336		676		4,404		1,880
		Total operating expenses	37,615		21,307		105,690		57,683
Operating income			19,373		8,004		66,829		1,243
Other income, net			469		803		3,429		1,088
Income before provision for income taxes			19,842		8,807		70,258		2,331
Provision for income taxes			6,724		2,966		24,280		2,124
Net income			$ 13,118		$ 5,841		$ 45,978		$      207
	Basic Earnings (loss) per share:		$   0.40		$   0.20		$     1.42		$    0.01
	Diluted Earnings per share:		$   0.39		$   0.18		$     1.32		$    0.01
Shares used in per share calculation of:
	Basic earnings per share		32,416		28,964		32,295		26,358
	Diluted earnings per share		33,937		32,722		34,718		29,312

	December 31, 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	$  46,285 54,550 106,515 93,890 18,196 20,757	$ 12,638 93,450 74,278 49,482 20,501 15,368
Total current assets	340,193	265,717
Property and equipment, net Goodwill and other assets, net	34,154 34,924 $ 409,271	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 Customer deposits Income taxes payable Other current liabilities	$        461 25,953 46,386 24,074 7,702 14,311 1,008	$  5,285 22,816 38,638 14,294 8,144 4,990 ---
Total current liabilities	119,895	94,167
Long-term liabilities: Long-term debt, net of current portion Other long-term liabilities	720 480	910 1,017
Total long-term liabilities:	1,200	1,927
Shareholders' equity: Common stock Retained earnings (deficit)	249,686 38,490	240,594 (7,488)
Total shareholders' equity	288,176 $ 409,271	233,106 $ 329,200