Fifth-generation (5G) smartphones have hit critical mass as consumers buy devices supporting the latest wireless standard in huge numbers to take advantage of faster data speeds. Strategy Analytics forecasts that 624 million 5G smartphones could be shipped this year, a big jump from last year's shipments of 269 million units.
Qorvo (QRVO 0.80%) is benefiting big time from the spurt in 5G smartphone sales. The company supplies wireless chips to major smartphone OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) around the globe, including top players such as Apple and Samsung. Not surprisingly, Qorvo's revenue and earnings are growing at a fast pace.
The company recently delivered terrific results for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, and it seems all set to build upon that success and make investors richer in the long run. Let's look at a few solid reasons why that may be the case.
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Qorvo's impressive growth is sustainable
Qorvo's first-quarter revenue increased 41% year over year to $1.11 billion, while non-GAAP earnings jumped to $2.83 per share from $1.50 per share in the year-ago period. Those numbers were comfortably ahead of Qorvo's original earnings expectation of $2.45 per share on revenue of $1.08 billion. Its adjusted gross margin of 52.5% increased 3.9 percentage points year over year, exceeding the guidance for 50% that Qorvo had originally estimated.
Moving on to the Q2 guidance, Qorvo anticipates $1.25 billion revenue and adjusted earnings of $3.24 per share. Non-GAAP gross margin is expected to fall between 52% and 52.5%. The company earned $1.18 per share in the year-ago quarter on revenue of $1.06 billion, indicating that its streak of high growth is here to stay.
Qorvo should be able to surpass its expectations and sustain its impressive growth rate for a long time to come thanks to its mobile business, which produced 75% of its revenue last quarter. Qorvo's mobile products revenue shot up 79% year over year in Q1 to $836 million, driven by a combination of higher 5G smartphone content and unit volumes.
Qorvo CEO Robert Bruggeworth pointed out on the latest earnings conference call that "5G devices are adopting new architectures and adding functionality that enhance performance and create new challenges related to current consumption, or space and handset design resources." As a result, "handset manufacturers are selecting more highly integrated solutions that deliver superior performance. For Qorvo, the content opportunity in a 5G device increases by $5 to $7 when compared to a 4G device."
So the 5G smartphone era has created an additional revenue opportunity for Qorvo, as it can generate more revenue from each unit. This explains the impressive growth in the company's sales and margins in recent quarters.
QRVO Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts
The fact that Qorvo supplies its chips to the likes of Apple should also ensure the sustained growth of its mobile business in the 5G smartphone era. Apple was the leader in 5G smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2021, according to Strategy Analytics, thanks to the success of the iPhone 12.
The tech giant looks all set to build upon that success this year and beyond, which should bode well for Qorvo, as the iPhone maker accounted for 30% of its revenue last fiscal year. Apple is reportedly looking to boost the initial production of its 2021 iPhone models by 20% compared to the iPhone 12. More importantly, Apple's huge installed base should ensure that its iPhone sales momentum extends well beyond 2021.
With 5G smartphone shipments expected to hit 1.5 billion units by 2025, Qorvo's mobile business is sitting on a secular catalyst that could lead to robust growth over the next few years.
The stock is a terrific bargain right now
Qorvo is an ideal bet for investors looking to buy a growth stock at an attractive valuation. That's because the stock is trading at just 23 times trailing earnings and 15 times forward earnings, which is a nice discount to the S&P 500's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 31.2.
Additionally, Qorvo's price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 5 is a slight discount when compared to last year's average multiple of almost 5.6, even though the company's growth has taken off in the past year. All of this indicates that now is a great time to buy Qorvo stock, especially considering what the future holds for the company.
QRVO EPS Estimates for Current Fiscal Year data by YCharts
Analysts expect Qorvo's earnings to grow at an annual rate of 16% a year for the next five years, which is more than twice the rate at which its bottom line has increased in the last five years. It could do even better than that on the back of higher shipments and stronger revenue per unit as 5G smartphone sales increase in the coming years, which is why it would be a great idea to go long Qorvo before this 5G stock shoots higher.
