STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: STRI) today announced its financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2012.

Third Quarter 2012 Financial Summary:

• Net sales of $23.1 million
• Diluted GAAP loss per share from continuing operations of $(0.09); Diluted non-GAAP loss per share from continuing operations of $(0.03)
• Finished the quarter with $70.6 million in cash and no debt

Financial Results

Net sales for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 were $23.1 million. This represents a decline of 8.1% sequentially and 58.9% from Q3 2011. On a sequential basis, the decline was driven primarily by a volume decline of approximately 7% and unfavorable foreign exchange impact of approximately 1%. On a year-over-year basis, volume declined by approximately 45% and ASP declined by approximately 20%.

“We believe that demand has softened considerably throughout the industry on the heels of negative policy revisions, primarily in Italy and Germany, and our sequential volume reflects this,” said Robert S. Yorgensen, STR’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We continue to execute our strategic objectives of reducing our cost structure and developing innovative products. The launch of our next-generation encapsulant is progressing well with favorable results obtained from our internal testing and the successful completion of damp heat testing with several prospective Chinese customers.”

Gross profit for the third quarter of 2012 was $0.6 million, or 2.5% of sales, compared to $1.6 million, or 6.3% of sales, from the second quarter of 2012, primarily driven by unfavorable cost absorption.

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2012 were $5.8 million compared to $6.7 million in the second quarter of 2012. The reduction was driven by lower non-cash stock-based compensation expense and continued cost reduction efforts.

Net loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2012 was $(3.6) million, or $(0.09) per diluted share. This compares to a net loss from continuing operations of $(2.4) million, or $(0.06) per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2012 and net earnings from continuing operations of $3.8 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2011.

Non-GAAP net loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2012, which excludes certain tax-effected adjustments (as disclosed following the non-GAAP reconciliation table at the end of this press release), was $(1.1) million, or $(0.0 3) per diluted share. This compares to non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations of $0.0 million, or $0.00 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2012 and non-GAAP net earnings from continuing operations of $8.8 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2011.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

During the third quarter of 2012, the Company had negative operating cash flow from continuing operations of $(0.7) million primarily due to unfavorable timing of foreign tax payments of $2.5 million. Free cash flow from continuing operations was $(1.8) million during the third quarter of 2012. The Company finished the third quarter of 2012 with $70.6 million of cash and no debt. In addition, the Company received approximately $8.0 million of cash from income tax refunds in October that will be reflected in its October cash balance.

Guidance

The Company today provided guidance for the fourth quarter and updated its full-year 2012 guidance as follows:

Third Quarter Conference Call and Presentation

The Company will discuss its financial results and guidance in a conference call today at 4:30 p.m. ET. A live webcast of the conference call and presentation will be available through the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at www.strholdings.com. Investors accessing the live call by phone from the U.S. should dial (866) 510-0707 and enter passcode: 57545208. Those calling from outside the U.S. should dial (617) 597-5376 and use the same passcode. A telephone replay will be available approximately two hours after the call concludes through Wednesday, November 14 , 2012, by dialing (888) 286-8010 from the U.S., or (617) 801-6888 from international locations, and entering passcode: 76494891. The webcast and presentation will be archived on the Company’s website for one year.

About STR Holdings, Inc.

STR Holdings, Inc. is a leading global provider of high-quality, superior performance encapsulants to the photovoltaic module industry. Further information about STR Holdings, Inc. can be obtained via the Company’s website at www.strholdings.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any oral statement made in respect of the information in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements present the Company’s current expectations and projections relating to its financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business and are based on assumptions that the Company has made in light of its industry experience and perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate under the circumstances. However, these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or financial or operating results. In addition to the risks and uncertainties discussed in this press release, the Company faces risks and uncertainties that include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) technological changes in the solar energy industry or the Company’s failure to develop and introduce or integrate new technologies could render its encapsulants uncompetitive or obsolete, particularly in China; (ii) excess capacity in the solar supply chain; (iii) its ability to increase its market share; (iv) demand for solar energy in general and solar modules in particular; (v) the timing and effects of the implementation of government incentives and policies for renewable energy, primarily in China and the United States; (vi) the effects of the announced reductions to solar incentives in Germany and Italy; (vii) trade complaints and lawsuits diminishing the growth of the solar industry; (viii) the extent to which it may be required to write-off accounts receivable, inventory or intangible assets; (ix) product pricing pressures and other competitive factors; (x) customer concentration in its business and its relationships with key customers; (xi) its ability to protect its intellectual property; (xii) volatility in commodity costs, such as resin or paper used in its encapsulants, and its ability to successfully manage any increases in these commodity costs; (xiii) its dependence on a limited number of third-party suppliers for raw materials for its encapsulants and materials used in its processes; (xiv) operating new manufacturing facilities and increasing production capacity at existing facilities; (xv) its reliance on vendors and potential supply chain disruptions, including those resulting from bankruptcy filings by customers or vendors; (xvi) potential product performance matters and product liability; (xvii) the extent and duration of the current downturn in the global economy; (xviii) the impact negative credit markets may have on the Company or its customers or suppliers; (xix) the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on financial results, and the geographic distribution of revenues and earnings; (xx) maintaining sufficient liquidity in order to fund future profitable growth and long-term vitality; (xxi) outcomes of litigation and regulatory actions; and (xxii) the other risks and uncertainties described under “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and in subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. You are urged to carefully review and consider the disclosure found in the Company’s filings which are available on http://www.sec.gov or http://www.strholdings.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of these assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement contained in this release, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements, which statements are prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (GAAP), the Company uses non-GAAP financial measures to facilitate better understanding of its operating results. In this press release, there are two non-GAAP financial metrics mentioned: Non-GAAP earnings per share from continuing operations (EPS) and free cash flow from continuing operations as defined below:

Non-GAAP EPS: The Company believes that non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations provides meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance by excluding certain expenses that may not be indicative of the core business operating results and may help in comparing current period results with those of prior periods as well as with its peers.

Non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations is defined as net (loss) earnings from continuing operations not including the tax effected impact of deferred financing costs, stock-based compensation, intangible asset amortization expense, goodwill impairment, accelerated depreciation, asset impairment plus interest expense from prior credit facilities divided by the weighted-average common shares outstanding. Please refer to the Company’s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 14, 2012, for detailed discussion on these adjustments.

Although the Company uses non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations as a measure to assess the operating performance of its business, non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations has significant limitations as an analytical tool because it excludes certain material costs. Because non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations does not account for these expenses, its utility as a measure of its operating performance has material limitations. Because of these limitations, the Company does not view non-GAAP EPS from continuing operations in isolation and uses other metrics to measure operating performance such as, but not limited to, net sales, gross margin, operating (loss) income, adjusted EBITDA, and net (loss) earnings from continuing operations.

Diluted GAAP Shares Outstanding: Due to a loss from continuing operations during the nine months ended September 30, 2012, the diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding for purposes of our diluted GAAP loss per share does not include 151 shares of unvested restricted common stock respectively, as these potential awards do not share in any loss generated by the Company and are anti-dilutive.

Free Cash Flow from Continuing Operations: The Company believes free cash flow from continuing operations is an important measure of its overall liquidity and its ability to fund future growth and provide a return to shareowners. Free cash flow is defined as operating cash flow from continuing operations excluding cash spent on capital expenditures. A limitation of using free cash flow versus the GAAP measure of cash provided by operating activities as a means for evaluating the Company’s business is that free cash flow does not represent the total increase or decrease in the cash balance from operations for the period because it excludes cash used for capital expenditures during the period.