News

Vicor Reports Sales and Margins Up

April 28, 2015 by Jeff Shepard

Vicor Corporation reported financial results including evenues for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015, that increased to $64,017,000, compared to $53,233,000 for the corresponding period a year ago, and increased from $60,735,000 for the fourth quarter of 2014. First quarter bookings increased to $59,541,000 from $50,240,000 for the corresponding period a year ago, but decreased from $62,336,000 for the fourth quarter of 2014.

Gross margin increased to $28,891,000 for the first quarter of 2015, compared to $22,792,000 for the corresponding period a year ago, and increased from $26,116,000 for the fourth quarter of 2014. Gross margin, as a percentage of revenue, increased to 45.1% for the first quarter of 2015, compared to 42.8% for the first quarter of 2014, and increased from 43.0% for the fourth quarter of 2014. Total backlog at the end of the first quarter of 2015 was $49,838,000, compared to $54,249,000 at the end of 2014.

Net income for the first quarter was $3,371,000, or $0.09 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of ($5,378,000), or ($0.14) per share, for the corresponding period a year ago and a net loss of nil, or $0.00 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2014. Cash flow from operations totaled $5,070,000 for the first quarter of 2015 compared to cash used for operations of ($4,480,000) for the corresponding period a year ago. Cash and cash equivalents increased by $4,135,000 to approximately $59,322,000 at the end of the first quarter of 2015 from $55,187,000 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2014.

Dr. Patrizio Vinciarelli, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Vicor's first quarter performance was driven by contributions from VI Chip and Picor which led to improvements in profitability indicative of the potential of our business model. With the introduction of distinctly superior power component and system products taking place at an accelerating rate, our targets for revenue growth and financial performance are drawing near, and these will ultimately validate our strategy of leading a revolution in the power system market.

“Enthusiastic as I am about our future, I reiterate the caution highlighted during our February earnings call that bookings and shipments of VI Chip and Picor products will be volatile prior to completing an expansion of our footprint with a diversified base of customers. As discussed when we addressed fourth quarter performance and our expectations for the first quarter, with a limited initial customer base we will continue to experience shifts in demand, driven in part by subsequent generations of Intel processors. These changes in demand will make sequential quarterly comparisons difficult to predict until VI Chip and Picor products achieve traction with a mix of applications driving a statistical revenue mix.

"During the first quarter, we significantly expanded our line of innovative ChiP (Converter housed in Packageâ„¢) modules. These devices address applications in Data Centers, Telecom/Datacom, EV/HEV, Industrial and Aerospace/Defense. Consistently with our focus on product differentiation, ChiPs exhibit power density levels far greater than any competitive converters, enabling customers to optimize end systems for space and weight. With our FPAâ„¢ components and SiP ZVS regulators, power system architects are able to create complete, integrated power solutions offering far greater performance and ease of use with substantially lower total cost of ownership. ChiPs, as board mounted power components or in VIA systems, will be the primary drivers of future revenue and profit growth.

"During the first quarter, we started sampling VIA system products providing complete front end power solutions. Customers are responding enthusiastically, leading to initial design wins. While, given design cycles, substantial volumes of VIA shipments will not occur until 2016, it is becoming clear that VIA front ends and board mounted ChiPs and SiPs position Vicor as the unique provider of high performance, cost effective modular power solutions from the source to the Point-Of-Load," Dr. Vinciarelli concluded.