25 October 2013

TriQuint’s Q3 revenue grows 32% on Q2, driven by demand for LTE products and product ramp

For third-quarter 2013, RF front-end component maker and foundry services provider TriQuint Semiconductor Inc of Hillsboro, OR, USA has reported record revenue of $250.8m, up 25% on $200.8m a year ago and up 32% on $190.1m last quarter.

Fiscal	Q3/2012	Q4/2012	Q1/2013	Q2/2013	Q3/2013
Revenue	$200.8m	$233.6m	$184.2m	$190.1m	$250.8m

Subcontract assembly firms Foxconn Technology Group and ProTech Corp accounted for 35% and 13% of total revenue, respectively.

End-market revenue split was 72% Mobile Devices (up strongly from 62% last quarter), 16% Network Infrastructure (down from 24%), and 12% Defense & Aerospace (down slightly from 14%).

Mobile Devices revenue grew 53% sequentially and 42% year-on-year, driven by demand for new LTE products and a significant product ramp.

Revenue for the Defense & Aerospace end-market grew 11% sequentially and 28% year-on-year, due primarily to airborne radar (up 50% year-to-date, driven by program timing, increased content in radar systems, and more radar products are the revenue increase).

Revenue for the Network Infrastructure end-market was up 4% year-on-year but down 11% sequentially, due largely to a reduction in non-strategic foundry business.  

“Strong mobile demand drove improved factory utilization while expenses were managed closely,” notes president & CEO Ralph Quinsey. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 38%, up from 31.3% last quarter due to higher revenue and the improved factory utilization, as well as better product mix and efficient management of production ramp. Operating expenses were $68.6m, down on $69.6m last quarter.

Net income was $26.3m ($0.16 per diluted share, exceeding guidance by $0.06), an improvement on a net loss of $10.9m ($0.07 per share) last quarter.

Capital expenditures of $20.8m were well below quarterly depreciation and primarily for TriQuint’s premium filter products.

During the quarter, cash and investments fell by $62.4m, from $89.3m to $26.9m, due mainly to a $75m increase in accounts receivable (due to growth in revenue and the poor linearity in timing of shipments within the quarter) and repayment of the $20m balance on TriQuint’s revolving line of credit.

In August, TriQuint acquired CAP Wireless of Newbury Park, CA, USA and its patented Spatium RF power combining technology, which replaces travelling-wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs) in communications and defense systems. The acquisition “will leverage TriQuint’s strong position in gallium nitride (GaN) with very high-power solid-state amplifiers that deliver better reliability, efficiency, power density and bandwidth than tube-based solutions in the market today,” notes Quinsey.

Also during the quarter, TriQuint won business with multiple customers with its new bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filter products, announced 5G Wi-Fi reference designs with Broadcom, introduced the industry’s most integrated small-cell power amplifier (for increasing network capacity), and released new 100-200Gb/s solutions (to support the global build-out of optical fiber networks).

“RF content growth is being fueled by next-generation smartphones operating in a more crowded spectrum with expanding frequency requirements,” says Quinsey. “TriQuint is uniquely positioned to supply high-performance solutions for the most challenging and complex RF front-end requirements,” he believes.

For fourth-quarter 2013, TriQuint expects revenue to rise to $260-270m. However, gross margin should fall to 35-36%, as TriQuint’s factories slow down slightly in anticipation of a seasonally weaker Q1/2014. Operating expenses are expected to rise to $70-72m. Net income should fall to $0.12-0.14 per diluted share. “We currently expect to take a non-cash charge of $20-25m as we reduce our GaAs capacity to better align with projected demand for this process technology,” notes chief financial officer Steven Buhaly.

See related items:

TriQuint acquires CAP Wireless and its Spatium technology

TriQuint’s revenue returns to year-on-year growth in Q2

TriQuint’s revenue dives 21% in Q1 as Mobile Device revenue falls 30%

TriQuint’s sequential growth of 16% drives greater-than-expected revenue and income in Q4

TriQuint’s revenue grows 13% in Q3

Tags: TriQuint

Visit: www.triquint.com