News: Microelectronics
15 August 2023
Navitas’ revenue grows 35% in Q2
For second-quarter 2023, gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor of Torrance, CA, USA has reported revenue of $18.1m (exceeding the $16–17m guidance range), up 35% on $13.46m last quarter. This is also up 110% on $8.6m a year ago, although this is aided by the acquisition in August 2022 of silicon carbide power semiconductor device designer and manufacturer GeneSiC Semiconductor Inc of Dulles, VA, USA.
“As the only pure-play, next-gen, power semi company, our leading-edge GaN and SiC technologies are delivering extraordinary growth in both near-term revenue and our customer opportunity pipeline across all key markets including electric vehicles (EV), renewable energy, data-center, appliance/industrial and mobile segments,” says CEO & co-founder Gene Sheridan.
Cumulative shipments now exceed 100 million GaN and 12 million SiC devices.
On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 41.5% down from 41.6% a year ago but up from 41.1% last quarter.
Operating expenses have been cut slightly, from $17.8m last quarter to $17m.
Net loss was $8.65m ($0.05 per share), cut from $10.9m ($0.07 per share) last quarter.
Despite this, cash and cash equivalents rose from $100.8m to $177.7m during the quarter, after completing a $2m equity offering.
Specific market highlights in Q2/2023 are listed as follows:
- EV: Strong growth in both on-board and roadside fast chargers, with new EV consortium plans for 30,000 fast chargers in the USA alone, creating additional demand for high-voltage GeneSiC products. The number of customer pipeline projects is up by more than 50%.
- Data center: Artificial intelligence (AI) processing demands have been doubling every 3.4 months. Pipeline projects are up by more than 50%. The latest AI processors, such as NVIDIA’s GH200, consume up to 1000W of power. There is a significant opportunity for GaN power ICs to meet these dramatic increases in the required power, efficiency and density. A new 3.2kW GaN IC-based server power supply platform delivers what is claimed to be industry-leading power density of 100W/in3 and over 96% efficiency to surpass the EU’s ‘Titanium’ specification.
- Solar/ESS (energy storage systems): Despite some market softness, the firm is experiencing a rapid increase in GaN and SiC adoption in solar inverters and energy storage systems, with attach rates doubling, now up to 60%. The customer pipeline revenue per solar/ESS customer project has more than doubled.
- Appliance/Industrial: The major trend to electrification is leading to a doubling of customer pipeline projects based on demand for high-efficiency, motor drive applications including dishwashers, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, heat pumps, factory automation, robotics and HVAC systems.
- Mobile: Despite global consumer softness, the firm is experiencing significant growth in China and South Korea for mainstream models at Xiaomi, Oppo, Samsung and dozens of others as Navitas’ GaN-based chargers have achieved system-cost parity with silicon chargers.
During Q2/2023, Navitas’ customer pipeline rose by 30% from $760m to over $1bn, with growth in both the number of customer projects and revenue potential across all target markets.
For third-quarter 2023, Navitas expects revenue to grow to $21m plus or minus 2%. Given expected continued strength in the lower-margin mobile market, gross margin is expected to be relatively flat on Q2. Operating expenses should rise to $18.5–19.5m.
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