Parade Technologies Ltd (譜瑞), a leading high-speed interface, video display and touch controller IC supplier, yesterday posted an increase of 32.64 percent year-on-year in net income to US$21.87 million for last quarter, which translated into earnings per share (EPS) of US$0.28.
Revenue came in at US$101.45 billion, up 18.54 percent on an annual basis as gross margin slightly improved by 1 percentage point to 42.9 percent.
Despite such results, the San Jose, California-based company provided a conservative outlook for this quarter as it expects revenue to fall from US$101.24 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of last year to between US$88 and US$97 million.
“Although everybody [our clients] is putting in orders in a timely [fashion] this quarter, the situation is [still] changing,” Parade cofounder and chief executive officer Jack Zhao (趙捷) told investors yesterday in an online earnings conference.
Gross margin is expected to reach between 41 percent and 44 percent, while operating expense is estimated at between US$21.5 to US$22.5 million, the 14-year-old company said.
Zhao indicated that the gross margin guidance could also be applied to next year, as the company has adjusted its portfolio to enhance the performance of its high-speed interface product lines while shrugging off a few low-margin touch and display driver integrated products.
Parade last week introduced two new retimer chips, PS8925 and PS8926, which were developed for the 4G peripheral component interconnect express and support four and 16 bidirectional lanes respectively.
Parade’s embedded display port (eDP) business should remain stable on the back of steady orders for mobile phones and PCs, but orders for tablets would slow down this quarter following strong demand in the first three quarters of the year, Zhao said.
The eDP business is also expected to improve as the e-sports industry expands, a development that is expected to provide a new source of growth for the company, he said.
“They [the e-sports community] are demanding higher and higher refresh rates ... the maximum is now at 240 hertz, but we are working on a new device that supports a 360 hertz refresh rate,” he said.
However, “the dynamic from the panel industry is changing,” he added.
Net profit in the first three quarters rose 36.15 percent to US$58.02 million, from US$42.62 million a year earlier, while earnings per share reached US$0.76.
Ahead of the investors’ conference, Parade shares closed 1.51 percent lower at NT$589 in Taipei trading. They have risen 36.98 percent so far this year.
As Parade delivered strong third-quarter results and is optimistic about the recovery of the overall semiconductor industry into next year, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday reiterated its “buy” rating on the company’s stock.
“As demand for high-speed IC and high-quality display will continue to rise and expand to various end markets, we continue to like Parade’s relentless innovation and new product offerings, which will allow it to address more new markets in the longer-term,” Yuanta analyst Steve Huang (黃柏璁) said in an investment note.
Yuanta also raised its 12-month target price for the stock to NT$750, from the previous NT$660.
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