Skyworks Solutions (SWKS 1.21%) crushed Wall Street's expectations on Aug. 4 when it released its fiscal 2022 third-quarter results (for the three months ended July 1). Doing so may seem a tad surprising as the company gets most of its revenue by supplying chips to smartphone manufacturers.
The smartphone market has struggled this year as shipments have shrunk in the first six months of 2022 amid high inflation and weakening demand. But Skyworks did well despite the headwind last quarter and issued healthy guidance. Let's see what worked in the company's favor.
Skyworks Solutions' focus on the premium segment is paying off
Skyworks reported record fiscal Q3 revenue of $1.23 billion, up 10% over the prior-year period. The chipmaker's non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings increased 13.4% year over year to $2.44 per share, better than analysts' expectations of $2.35 per share.
The company's robust year-over-year growth was driven by "content expansion in premium 5G-enabled smartphones, along with growth in automotive, data center, and network infrastructure," as CEO Liam Griffin pointed out on the latest earnings conference call. Griffin added that Skyworks' 5G chips were selected by the likes of Alphabet and Samsung for their new smartphones, which allowed the company to offset soft demand from China where operations were affected by COVID-19-related lockdowns.
Samsung, for instance, was one of Skyworks' customers that accounted for a 10%-plus of the chipmaker's revenue last quarter as Skyworks supplied more content for the Korean giant's flagship phones. Also, Samsung's smartphone shipments were up 9.5% year over year in the second quarter, indicating that Skyworks may have benefited from a combination of higher volumes and more dollar content in each smartphone.
Skyworks management also claimed that it gained market share in 5G smartphone connectivity chips last quarter, which also explains the company's solid guidance. It anticipates $1.4 billion in revenue this quarter along with adjusted earnings of $2.90 per share. That would translate into a 7% year-over-year jump in revenue and an 11% increase in earnings. However, Skyworks could exceed its own expectations and close the fiscal year on a high.
This catalyst could send Skyworks soaring
While Skyworks' growth at Android original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) is good news, investors shouldn't forget that Apple is the company's largest customer. The iPhone maker accounted for 59% of Skyworks' revenue in fiscal 2021.
Though Skyworks didn't discuss its relationship with Apple on the latest earnings call, the company's indication that it is witnessing "content expansion in premium 5G-enabled smartphones" suggests that it may be on track to win more business in the upcoming iPhones. That won't be surprising as Skyworks had reportedly gained content in the iPhone 13 models last year.
More importantly, the demand for iPhones has remained solid even in a tepid smartphone sales environment. Strategy Analytics reports that Apple's shipments were up 3.3% year over year in the second quarter. With Apple expected to release its next-generation iPhones in a month's time, Skyworks could see a nice bump in revenue as the former ramps up production of its upcoming devices before the launch.
Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo points out that 90 million to 100 million iPhone 14 units could be shipped this year. That would be an improvement over last year when Apple had reportedly made 80 million iPhone units. Not surprisingly, Skyworks' CEO said on the earnings call he is confident of a strong "second half of the year, really buoyed by some of these content gains that we've been discussing."
So, potential content gains at Apple and a forecast increase in iPhone production suggest that Skyworks could finish the year strongly.
More reasons to buy Skyworks' stock
Skyworks Solutions has bumped up its quarterly dividend by 11% to $0.62 per share. The chipmaker now sports a forward annual dividend yield of 2.2%, which is higher than the technology sector's average of 1.37%.
What's more, Skyworks' dividend payout ratio stands at just under 20% even after the dividend increase. This suggests that the company's dividend has more room for growth. Skyworks has increased its dividend for seven years consecutively. It won't be surprising to see the company sustain that streak since its bottom line is expected to increase at a double-digit rate over the next five years, though it could grow at a faster pace thanks to content gains in the booming 5G smartphone market.
Finally, the stock is trading at just 14 times trailing earnings as compared to the S&P 500's multiple of 22.5. All this indicates that investors looking to buy a tech stock that could deliver a mix of price upside and a healthy dividend should consider buying Skyworks straight away as it is a steal right now.
