What chipmaker TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT +0.00%) has done this year is worth admiring. Even after posting miserable first-quarter results in April, management was confident that TriQuint will turn a profit in the second half of the year, and that's what it is about to do.
A promise delivered
TriQuint's total loss at the end of the second quarter was $0.24, but the company posted solid third-quarter results with earnings of $0.16 per diluted share. Considering that the outlook for the final fiscal quarter calls for earnings between $0.12 and $0.14 per share, it can be said that TriQuint is firmly on track to achieve profitability.
The company's convincing performance this year has led to gains of 65% as management has delivered on its promises so far. However, shares took a heavy beating after TriQuint's outlook failed to satisfy Street estimates.
A hiccup
TriQuint dropped 15% in a day as investors panicked. However, given the company's prospects and its solid client base, it won't be a surprise if TriQuint bounces back.
The weak outlook in the previous quarter was due to reduced orders from BlackBerry (BBRY 0.86%). According to CEO Ralph Quinsey, BlackBerry used to be a 10%-plus customer earlier, but now its share has come down to the mid-single digits. Now, this isn't surprising. BlackBerry's woes have been well-documented -- the company incurred a loss of $965 million in the previous quarter as sales plunged 45%.
Not much of a concern
BlackBerry is now looking to focus on its business customers, with the consumer space being dominated by Apple (AAPL +0.33%) and Google. BlackBerry's flagship device -- the Z10 -- reportedly witnessed return rates of as high as 20% in the U.S. and Western Europe. Thus, as BlackBerry bails out of the consumer market, it would probably see a decline in device sales.
But then, this won't have a big impact on TriQuint's performance in the long run as BlackBerry's revenue share at TriQuint is already down. Moreover, TriQuint witnessed a 42% year-over-year jump in mobile revenue in the previous quarter, with the segment accounting for 72% of total revenue. Hence, investors should forget BlackBerry and instead focus on heavyweight clients such as Apple and Samsung.
Opportunity ahead
Apple contractor Foxconn accounted for 35% of TriQuint's revenue in the previous quarter. As Apple ramped up production of its latest iDevices, TriQuint saw its order book overflowing with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.11. This was the third time this fiscal year that TriQuint has seen a book-to-bill ratio of more than 1, which means that it is consistently receiving more orders than it can satisfy.
TriQuint supplied the power amplifier module for the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c. The iPhone 5s was the best-selling smartphone in the U.S. in September, and Apple still has a strong backlog of orders to satisfy for the device. This is certainly a positive for TriQuint, as the backlog indicates that Apple still expects strong sales of the device going forward. The recent launch of the iPhone in 35 more countries should aid Apple's sales further, with the new iPads providing more tailwinds.
After Apple, Samsung is another important customer of TriQuint. TriQuint has supplied content for the last two Samsung flagships. With rumors flying about that Samsung might release its Galaxy S5 as early as February next year, TriQuint might start seeing more orders from the South Korean giant pretty soon.
The takeaway
TriQuint's primary business is growing at a pretty good pace and investors should look beyond just one bad outlook. Also, the fact that TriQuint's revenue grew an impressive 25% from the year-ago period while non-GAAP gross margin expanded 5.5% in the previous quarter shouldn't be ignored either. The stock trades at a forward P/E of around 16, which seems reasonable, and it has a pretty strong order backlog as well.
Hence, investors should consider TriQuint's recent drop as a buying opportunity as the company's prospects look strong.
