Shares of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ:AEHR) climbed about 15% Wednesday morning after management announced an initial production order for the company’s Sonoma family of burn-in equipment from a major hyperscale customer developing next-generation AI accelerators.
The order comprises multiple Sonoma ultra-high-power package-level test and burn-in systems, alongside turnkey burn-in modules and device-specific sockets. Aehr said the systems will be deployed for production burn-in of the customer’s next-generation, higher-power AI processor intended for data center training and inference workloads.
The purchaser was described by Aehr as a "premier large-scale data center provider" that is developing proprietary AI accelerator ASICs and plans to make substantial capital investments in AI infrastructure. Aehr has scheduled delivery of the ordered systems for summer 2026.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, characterized the contract as "a key early production win for a next-generation AI processor with this world leading hyperscaler." Erickson added that the customer’s current-generation AI processor is already ramping into volume production and that the company forecasts "a very large expansion of Sonoma system purchases" in the second half of 2026 and continuing into 2027.
The company highlighted that the Sonoma Ultra platform is engineered to meet the demanding requirements of advanced AI processors, including extreme power density, high-current delivery and precise thermal management. Aehr positioned the order as a meaningful endorsement of its technology within the market for AI processors.
Investors reacted to the announcement with a notable intraday move in Aehr Test Systems stock. The combination of an initial multi-system order, the inclusion of turnkey modules and sockets, and the scheduled summer 2026 delivery date were cited in the company release as material details tied to this production win.
Market context and implications - While the announcement centers on a single initial order, it ties Aehr’s Sonoma Ultra platform directly to higher-power AI processors being developed by a leading hyperscaler and suggests potential for follow-on business if the customer’s planned expansion materializes in the stated timeframe.