News

IXYS Reports Rising Margins, Sales and Income

February 01, 2015 by Jeff Shepard

IXYS Corporation has reported results for its third quarter of fiscal year 2015, which ended December 31, 2014. Net revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 were $81.3 million versus $89.3 million in net revenues for the same period in the prior fiscal year. For the nine months ended December 31, 2014, IXYS reported net revenues of $255.8 million, an increase of $9.4 million, or 3.8%, as compared to net revenues of $246.4 million for the same period in the prior fiscal year.

Earnings per share (EPS) in the December 2014 quarter increased tenfold over the same period in the prior fiscal year. Gross profit margin for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 was 31.4%, an increase of 2.5 percentage points from the gross profit margin in the comparable quarter of the prior fiscal year.

“We continue to focus our company on higher gross margin products by making investments in R&D, especially in integrated circuits and microcontrollers, as they complement our global power semiconductor business. Our gross margins increased sequentially, and even with lower revenues, translated to strong growth in our quarterly and year-to-date net income and increased stockholder equity,” commented Dr. Nathan Zommer, Chairman, CEO and Founder of IXYS.

“Through the World of IXYS marketing campaign, we have improved selling efficiencies and better market penetration, as we present customers with a comprehensive product portfolio, replete with power semiconductors, ICs, MCUs and more. With these products, we are able to offer integrated solutions ranging from electrical controls to the broad spectrum of power semiconductors for ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) solutions,” noted Dr. Zommer.

Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 was $6.6 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, an increase of $6.1 million, or about 1,100%, as compared to net income of $552,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the same period in the prior fiscal year. Diluted earnings per share in the December 2014 quarter increased tenfold over the same period in the prior fiscal year.

Net income for the nine months ended December 31, 2014 was $15.9 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, an increase of $10.0 million, or about 170%, as compared to net income of $5.9 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the same period in the prior fiscal year.

The December 2014 quarter non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of expenses for the amortization of acquired intangible assets and stock compensation, was $8.7 million, or $0.27 per diluted share. This is an increase of $4.6 million, as compared to the non-GAAP net income of $4.1 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, for the same period in the prior fiscal year.

Gross profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 was $25.5 million, or 31.4% of net revenues, as compared to gross profit of $25.8 million, or 28.9% of net revenues, for the same quarter in the prior fiscal year.

Gross profit for the nine months ended December 31, 2014 was $76.7 million, or 30.0% of net revenues, an increase of $1.9 million, as compared to a gross profit of $74.8 million, or 30.4% of net revenues, for the same period in the prior fiscal year.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $113.0 million at December 31, 2014, an increase of $14.6 million as compared to March 31, 2014. In the December 2014 quarter, the company declared a $0.035 per share dividend, highlighting the ninth consecutive quarter of dividends.

“We are pleased that the December 2014 quarter surpassed prior year results in net income, EPS and gross profit margin. IXYS’ nine-month performance is equally encouraging. However, we experienced a decline in revenues for the December quarter, partially caused by the cyclical slowdown during the holiday season,” noted Uzi Sasson, President and CFO of IXYS. “Customers have been reluctant to place forward-looking orders, as foreign currency weakness and slowing growth in Asia have weighed on the economic outlook. However, we have maintained a healthy backlog and experienced strong bookings at the end of the December 2014 quarter. Despite these mitigating factors, we remain cautious and expect revenues in the March 2015 quarter to be relatively flat as compared to the December 2014 quarter.”