Cirrus Logic (CRUS 1.73%), a developer of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits, reported its fiscal first-quarter earnings after market close on July 22. The company handily beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings, posting strong revenue growth driven by demand for its portable audio products. Here's what investors need to know about Cirrus' earnings.
A solid quarter
Cirrus reported quarterly revenue of $282.6 million, up 85.3% year over year and about $22 million higher than the average analyst estimate. This growth was driven by both organic growth of the company's portable audio business and Cirrus' new 65nm smart codec.
Cirrus' largest two customers accounted for 80% of the company's quarterly revenue, with the top customer, assumed to be Apple, accounting for 62% of total revenue. Portable audio products brought in $235.9 million during the quarter, more than doubling year over year, while other products made up the remaining $46.8 million of revenue, growing by just 17%.
Cirrus reported non-GAAP EPS of $0.54, up from $0.37 during the same period last year, and $0.11 better than analysts were expecting. GAAP EPS more than tripled year over year, rising to $0.50 from just $0.16 in the same period last year. Part of this increase was driven by a $12.5 million reduction in operating expenses related to a patent agreement.
Gross margin decreased to 46.9% during the quarter, down from 49.4% during the same period last year. Both GAAP and non-GAAP operating margins rose year over year, coming in at 17.7% and 19%, respectively.
President and CEO Jason Rhode had this to say about Cirrus' quarter:
Q1 was a great quarter for Cirrus Logic. We delivered solid financial results as demand for our smart codecs and amplifiers pushed revenue above the high end of our guidance. FY16 looks to be an outstanding year with a significant increase in revenue being driven by new products. We expect strong demand for our audio and voice solutions to fuel additional growth in FY17.
In addition to easily beating analyst expectations, Cirrus' revenue guidance for the second fiscal quarter came in well above what analysts were expecting. The company expects revenue to be between $290 million and $310 million, significantly above the $274.3 million analyst consensus. This range implies year-over-year revenue growth between 38% and 48% in the third quarter. While the company didn't provide guidance for earnings, it expects the GAAP gross margin to be between 45% and 47% during the third quarter.
Strong growth continues
While Cirrus remains heavily dependent on Apple, the company expects its total available market to expand dramatically over the next few years, driven by smartphones and tablets as well as categories such as wearables and automotive. Cirrus expects its total market opportunity to grow at a 23% compound annual growth rate through 2018, providing the company plenty of runway for future growth.
A portion of this growth will be achieved by expanding the amount of content per device. The content opportunity per device could grow to about $4, according to Cirrus, up from about $1.25 in 2012, driven by high average selling prices for smart codecs and embedded software.
Cirrus is currently sampling its first smart codec targeting mid-tier devices, and it will be ramping up a smart codec over the next two quarters for a top Android smartphone OEM. Over time, the company expects Android smartphone OEMs to increasingly adopt functions that Cirrus' products enable, putting the company in a good position to capitalize on this trend.
Despite weak guidance from Apple when it reported earlier this week, Cirrus was able to handily beat analyst estimates and provide guidance that was well above analyst expectations. It was a strong quarter for Cirrus Logic.
