So what: Quarterly revenue fell 9% year over year to $583 million, which translated to adjusted net income of $124.1 million, or $0.43 per diluted share. Analysts, on average, were expecting lower adjusted net income of $0.39 per share, but on higher sales of $592.6 million.
In addition, Maxim increased its quarterly dividend 7% to $0.30 per share.
Finally -- noting its 90-day backlog at the beginning of the current quarter was $366 million -- Maxim anticipates fiscal-first-quarter 2016 revenue of $545 million to $585 million, and adjusted earnings per share in the range of $0.38 to $0.44. The midpoint of both ranges sits below Wall Street's models, which call for current-quarter earnings of $0.43 per share, and revenue of $603.8 million.
Now what: Though Maxim technically fell short on the top line in fiscal Q4 and issued light guidance, CEO Tunc Doluca credited cost initiatives for its earnings outperformance during the quarter.
But arguably most important, Doluca elaborated that thanks to Maxim's efforts in "transforming our manufacturing footprint to improve flexibility and profitability, and optimizing R&D and sales to drive growth ... we now expect to achieve $180 million in annual, long-term savings compared to our fiscal fourth quarter 2015 run rate."
That's certainly an ambitious goal, but if Maxim can make it happen it would go a long way toward bolstering the company's bottom line while revenue growth remains elusive. In the end, while I'm personally content watching Maxim's progress from the sidelines, I'm not surprised shares are trading higher today.
