Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) Incurs Loss As Expected In Q1

Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:LSCC) reported first-quarter 2016 loss per share of 5 cents, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Revenues

Lattice’s revenues of $96.5 million declined 4.6% sequentially but increased 8.9% year over year. However, revenues were on the lower end of the company’s guidance range of $95 million to $101 million.

The decline was due to weak demand in the mobile and consumer markets, coupled with seasonal declines in the licenses and services segment.

Revenues by End Market

Communications and Computing segments contributed 34% to Lattice’s first-quarter sales, down from 35% in the last quarter; Mobile and Consumer segment brought in 26% of total sales, down from 30% in the previous quarter; Industrial and Automotive segment brought in 31% of total sales, up from 23% in the previous quarter; while the Licensing and Services segment generated the remaining 9%, down from 12% in the third quarter.

Revenues by Geography

Asia accounted for 68% of Lattice’s sales, down from 75% in the earlier quarter; Europe, including Africa, generated 17%, up from 12% in the previous quarter, while the Americas contributed the remaining 15%, up from 13% in fourth–quarter 2015.

Margins

Reported gross margin was 59.2%, up 520 basis points (bps) year over year and 50 bps sequentially. The increase was backed by a favorable product mix and manufacturing efficiencies.

Operating expenses — selling, general and administrative (SG&A) and research and development (R&D) — of $56.2 million increased 15.4% from $48.7 million in the year-ago quarter. As a percentage of sales, both SG&A and R&D expenses increased. So reported operating margin came in at (13.8%) compared with (30.4%) a year ago.

GAAP net loss was $19.7 million or a loss per share of 17 cents in the first quarter versus loss of $53.3 million or 46 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Excluding all special charges but including stock-based compensation expense, adjusted loss per share was 5 cents compared with a loss of 8 cents in the prior quarter.

Balance Sheet

Lattice exited the first quarter with cash and short-term investments balance of $116.5 million, up from $102.6 million in the past quarter. Trade receivables were $84.4 million, down from $88.5 million in the previous quarter. Day sales outstanding remained flat at 80 days. Inventories were $82.6 million compared with $75.9 million at the end of the fourth quarter.

Guidance

For the second quarter of 2016, Lattice expects total revenue in the range of $97–$103 million and gross margins of 57% (+/-2% sequentially). On a non-GAAP basis, total operating expenses are expected to be approximately $47.5 million (+/-3% sequentially).

Conclusion

Lattice Semiconductor designs, develops and markets high performance programmable logic devices and related development system software.

During the quarter, Lattice launched several products. Also, demand for FPGAs is increasing because these offer flexibility in terms of designs at lower R&D costs to electronic device manufacturing companies. Therefore, the company’s new innovations in the FPGA space, solid execution and design wins will likely drive demand, going forward.

Additionally, the acquisition of Silicon Image completed last year will expand the company’s revenue base and drive growth. The company expects to meet its profitability goals for this year, with $49 million in cost synergies from the buyout.

Currently, Lattice has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some stocks in the same space that have been performing well are Amkor Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMKR) , AXT Inc. (NASDAQ:AXTI) and Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (NASDAQ:SIMO) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).


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