Alpha and Omega Semiconductor - Q4 2024

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining today's Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Fiscal Q4 and Fiscal Year 2024 earnings call. My name is Tia, and I will be your moderator for today's call. All lines will be muted during the presentation portion of the call, with an opportunity for questions and answers at the end. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. I will now either pass the call over to your host, Steven Pelaio, with the Blue Shirt Group. Please proceed.

Steven Pelayo (Head of Investor Relations)

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Alpha and Omega Semiconductor conference call to discuss fiscal 2024 fourth quarter and annual financial results. I'm Steven Pelaio, Investor Relations Representative for AOS. With me today are Steven Chang, our CEO, and Yifan Liang, our CFO. This call is being recorded and broadcast live over the web. A replay will be available for 7 days following the call via a link in the investor relations section of our website. Our call will proceed as follows today: Steven will begin business update, including strategic highlights and a detailed segment report. After that, Yifan will review financial results and provide guidance for the September quarter. Finally, we will have a Q&A session. The earnings release was distributed over the wire today, August 7, 2024, after the market closed. The release is also posted on the company's website.

Our earnings release and this presentation include non-GAAP financial measures. We use non-GAAP measures because we believe they provide useful information about our operating performance that should be considered by investors in conjunction with the GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures is included in the earnings release. We remind you that during this conference call, we will make certain forward-looking statements, including discussions of the business outlook and financial projections. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially. For a more detailed description of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our recent and subsequent filings with the SEC. We assume no obligation to update the information provided in today's call. Now, I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Steven Chang. Stephen?

Stephen Chang (CEO)

Thank you, Steve. Welcome to Alpha and Omega's Fiscal Q4 earnings call. I will begin with a high-level overview of our results and then jump into segment details. We delivered fiscal Q4 results in line with our guidance for revenue and gross margin. Revenue was $161.3 million. Non-GAAP gross margin was 26.4%. Non-GAAP EPS was $0.09. As we mentioned last quarter, inventory corrections across the majority of our end markets are now largely behind us, and seasonality is returning to more normalized trends. While visibility on the slope of the recovery is limited, the increasing breadth of demand is encouraging.

For the June quarter, we saw sequential growth in each of our major segments, with relative strength coming from tablets, AI, graphics cards in our computing segment, gaming and home appliances within consumer, e-mobility, DC motors, and quick chargers in the industrial segment, and a regional shift towards a Tier One U.S. smartphone customer within communication. The PC segment, however, is taking longer to recover than originally expected. Looking into the September quarter, we expect PCs and servers to grow sequentially, while tablets sustain the strong current run rate within computing. The consumer segment will likely see continued strength in gaming and a strong seasonal pickup from wearables, offset by slower home appliances. Smartphones will drive sequential growth in communication, while AC-DC power supplies and quick chargers are relatively stronger in industrial.

Looking beyond 2024, AOS is transitioning from a component supplier to a total solutions provider in many areas where we can leverage our core strengths in high-performance silicon, advanced packaging, and intelligent ICs to penetrate new opportunities and drive higher BOM content. We are building on customer relationships to capture market share with a broader product portfolio. For example, we are leveraging our strength in graphics cards and introducing new VCore products for opportunities in advanced computing and AI data centers. Within smartphones, we expect to benefit from trends towards foldable, flexible, and multiple screens, increasing AI integration, as well as dual-cell batteries and higher charging currents for faster charging times. Beyond computing and communication segments, we remain optimistic on the underlying power trends in adjacent markets such as solar, motors, and e-mobility, gaming, home appliances, and power tools.

These examples all represent continued growth opportunities, primarily driven by the global shift towards more efficient and sustainable energy solutions. With that, let me now cover our segment results and provide some guidance by segment for the next quarter. Starting with computing. June quarter revenue was up 37.6% year-over-year and 4.4% sequentially, and represented 44.4% of total revenue. These results were slightly below our original expectation for mid- to upper single-digit growth. As mentioned before, we saw relative strength from tablets, AI, and graphics cards in the quarter, offset by a slower PC market recovery. Notably, tablet revenue was a record high, and the contribution from AI and data center-related applications continued to grow. We are excited about opportunities in AI. Demand for accelerator cards remains steady as the industry prepares for a platform transition ramping next year.

We are working on multiple opportunities, leveraging our existing relationship with a key graphics card maker, as well as our product portfolio, including new multi-phase VCore controllers and a power stage solutions for advanced computing. We're also seeing some ramp in September from a leading power supply maker that is a key supplier to the same AI graphics customer. We are selling our high-performance medium voltage MOSFETs that go into intermediate bus converters for DC to DC power conversion. Looking forward into the September quarter, we expect the computing segment to grow mid-single digits sequentially, as PCs see a seasonal pickup, while tablets, AI accelerators, and graphics cards remain strong. Turning to the consumer segment, June quarter revenue was down 35.5% year-over-year, but up 19.7 sequentially, and represented 17.5% of total revenue.

The results were in line with our forecast for double-digit sequential growth and were primarily driven by gaming and home appliances. It is now clear that the inventory correction in gaming is behind us, and a seasonal build is underway. The strength in home appliances was better than expected as government incentives in China drove demand. For the September quarter, we forecast low double-digit sequential growth in the consumer segment, driven by a strong seasonal pickup from wearables and continued strength in gaming, offset by slower home appliances. Next, let's discuss the communication segment. Revenue in the June quarter was up 59% year-over-year and 2.1 sequentially, and represented 17% of total revenue. These results were above our flatish sequential expectations as we began to see the seasonal pickup from a Tier 1 US smartphone customer, offset by sequential declines from Korea and China OEMs.

Looking ahead, we anticipate double-digit sequential growth in the September quarter on seasonal strength ahead of new smartphone launches in the U.S. and increasing demand from China smartphone OEMs. We are benefiting from a mix shift to more premium phones, and we anticipate rising growth in BOM content as phone makers increase battery charging currents. Now, let's talk about our last segment, power supply and industrial, which accounted for 17.1% of total revenue and was down 33.7% year-over-year, but up 11.3 sequentially. The results were slightly ahead of our forecast for mid to upper single-digit sequential growth, driven by strength in the e-mobility segment for e-bikes and e-scooters, and DC fans for applications in areas such as data centers. The inventory correction in quick chargers appears complete, as we also saw the beginnings of recovery in the June quarter.

Lastly, power tools continued at a steady pace in June. For the September quarter, we expect this segment to grow 15%-20% sequentially, primarily driven by a solid uptick from quick chargers, as well as strength from AC/DC power supplies tied to the seasonal build in PCs. In closing, the June quarter was in line with our expectations and marked a solid conclusion to our fiscal 2024 performance. The rolling inventory corrections we experienced over the past year in nearly every one of our end markets are now largely behind us, and some markets, like smartphones, are starting to return, while new markets like AI are emerging. We expect seasonal growth in the September quarter, primarily driven by PCs, smartphones, wearables, and gaming.

Looking to the next cycle, we are poised for growth, bolstered by advanced technology, a diversified product portfolio addressing a broadening array of end markets, and a premier customer base across all product lines. Power management underpins key trends such as AI, digitalization, connectivity, and electrification, especially as we move towards a sustainable low-carbon society. We are steadfast in executing our technology roadmap. Customers increasingly view us as a total solution provider, allowing us to capture a greater portion of the bill of materials and ultimately supporting growth that outpaces industry over the long term. With that, I will now turn the call over to Yifan for a discussion of our fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year financial results and our outlook for the next quarter.

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Thank you, Steven. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Revenue for the quarter was $161.3 million, up 7.5% sequentially and flat year over year. Seasonal demand was relatively broad-based in the June quarter and confirmed the inventory correction is largely complete. In terms of product mix, DMOS revenue was $102.1 million, up 8.8% sequentially and 6.7% over last year. Our IC revenue was $52.7 million, up 5.5% from the prior quarter and down 10.5% from a year ago. Assembly service and other revenue was $1.4 million, as compared to $1.2 million last quarter and $0.6 million for the same quarter last year.

License and engineering service revenue was $5.1 million for the quarter, versus $5.1 million in the prior quarter, and $6.3 million for the same quarter a year ago. Non-GAAP gross margin was 26.4%, compared to 25.2% last quarter and 28.5% a year ago. The quarter-over-quarter increase was mainly driven by the improved factory utilization. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $39.3 million, compared to $38.9 million for the prior quarter and $39.1 million last year. The slight quarter-over-quarter increase was primarily due to higher professional fees. Non-GAAP quarterly EPS was $0.09, compared to $0.04 loss per share last quarter, and $0.19 earnings per share a year ago. Moving on to cash flow.

Operating cash flow was $7.1 million, including $4.5 million of repayment of customer deposits. By comparison, operating cash flow was $28.2 million in the fourth quarter, and -$28.2 million last year. We expect to refund about $8.4 million customer deposits in the September quarter. EBITDA for the quarter was $16 million, compared to $11.6 million last quarter, and $17.7 million for the same quarter a year ago. Now let me turn to our balance sheet. We completed the June quarter with a cash balance of $175.1 million, compared to $174.4 million at the end of the last quarter. Net trade receivables decreased by $0.7 million sequentially.

Days sales outstanding were 12 days for the quarter, compared to 15 days for the prior quarter. Net inventory decreased by $2.3 million quarter over quarter. Average days in inventory were 148 days, compared to 153 days in the last quarter. CapEx for the quarter was $7.2 million, compared to $7.4 million for the prior quarter. We expect CapEx for the September quarter to range from $6 million to $8 million. Now I would like to discuss September quarter guidance. We expect revenue to be approximately $180 million, ±$10 million. GAAP gross margin to be 25%, ±1%. We anticipate the non-GAAP gross margin to be 26.4%, ±1%.

GAAP operating expenses to be in the range of $47 million ± $1 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be in the range of $40 million ± $1 million. Interest expense to be approximately equal to interest income, and income tax expense to be in the range of $0.9 million-$1.1 million. With that, we will open the call for questions. Operator, please start the Q&A session.

Operator (participant)

We will now begin the Q&A session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. If for any reason you would like to remove that question, please press star followed by two. Again, to ask a question, press star one. As a reminder, if you are using a speakerphone, please remember to pick up your handset before asking your question. We will pause here briefly to allow questions to generate in queue. The first question comes from the line of David Williams with Benchmark. Please proceed.

David Williams (Equity Research Analyst)

Hey, good afternoon, and congrats on the successfully navigating this volatile macro environment here. Certainly, you're doing a much better job than I think some of your peers have.

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Thank you.

David Williams (Equity Research Analyst)

With that, I guess, Steven, I wanted to ask—yeah, I wanted to ask a little bit just on the graphics card and some of the data center accelerator and DPUs. You know, you've talked about this before, starting to see those revenues, but I'm trying to understand what do you think the magnitude of maybe that could be over time? And maybe is there a way to size, understanding there's different flavors or varieties of those products, but is there a good way to think about what your content can be and maybe where you're at within that mid qualification process? Just any color around that would be, I think, incredibly helpful. Thank you.

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Sure. Yes. So our entry into artificial intelligence programs, a lot of it actually is built upon where we've already been with our graphics cards. And accelerator cards actually aren't that different from a graphics card in the sense that, you know, you're basically powering a high-performance GPU in both cases. And but with data center, that performance is requirements are being driven even higher. So when we look at the content, actually, the power solution isn't that different in that, you know, you have multiple power stages, usually driver MOSFETs, that surround that GPU. The same thing happens with the accelerator cards, but in a bigger scale.

So to quantify that, some of that, so for example, in a graphics card, you can have anywhere from, you know, 9 to 16, something in that range, of number of driver MOSFETs per GPU. But when you move to an AI accelerator card, that number actually jumps up to even up to 50 power stages to power that GPU. And those are the solutions that we are shipping today in our graphics card/AI customer in their existing platforms. And, you know, we are working with them on transitioning over to the new platform that they will be launching soon.

So, you know, we believe that, you know, for us, you know, the AI accelerator card will be the portion that will grow earlier than other areas, mainly because of our presence already in both graphics cards as well as the AI accelerator card business that we enjoy today.

David Williams (Equity Research Analyst)

Perfect. Good color there. Thank you. And then maybe just can you talk a little bit about the multi-phase controller? I know you've mentioned this last quarter, but it sounds like you're getting-

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Mm-hmm

David Williams (Equity Research Analyst)

Some nice adoption there and some good traction. Just how is that helping you out, I guess, across the breadth of your markets? What is the dollar opportunity there? And then maybe what are the benefits longer term as you've introduced that multi-phase controller?

Stephen Chang (CEO)

Sure. So our multi-phase controller, we first released and deployed that for our client PC business. And you remember that when now we've been talking about with Intel's latest platforms, that BOM content is increasing because of what they're doing with in bringing back more power rails. And our solution is actually a total solution. You know, we can offer both the multi-phase controller, which is new for us, in addition to the power stage, and that has helped us to expand the BOM content that we can address within a PC application. This is in a like a notebook or in a desktop type of application.

Because we have that foundation, we've been working on transitioning that over to the next generation of graphics as well as AI accelerator cards. So the business I talked about before, in the past, we were only shipping driver MOSFETs, and in the future, we're expecting to ship and be able to ship both as a total solution. So it's important for us not only to expand the BOM content within our current PC application, but it's also allowing us to step into the more advanced, you can say, advanced computing, high performance, you know, GPU area as well.

David Williams (Equity Research Analyst)

Great. And then maybe one last one for me, for Yifan. As you kind of think about the gross margin, you're seeing a bit of an uplift here, as we kind of move through the year, which is positive. But how do you think about the margin profile? And I'm sure I've asked you this almost every quarter, but just it seems like as that mix gets better, utilization comes back. And then especially as you become a larger player in some of these, the GPU market or the accelerator market, it seems like there's some nice room for margin appreciation. Is that fair to say? And maybe how do you think about the margin trending through, like, through your FY 25? Thank you.

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Sure. You know, as you know, our September quarter's margin guidance, we guided flattish than, you know, quarter-over-quarter. This is mainly because of, we expected similar quarter-over-quarter factory utilization. And then, you know, we plan to consume some inventories and reduce inventory balance in the September quarter. So other factors impacting the margin, like the product mix and the ASP solution, that we expect, they are similar to the current quarter. So overall, we expect, flattish than the margin quarter-over-quarter for the September quarter. So for the going forward, yes, then, I mean, I would expect and as we grow our revenue, then our product mix will continue to improve, and then our factory utilization will be higher.

So those factors will be contributing to our margin improvement.

David Williams (Equity Research Analyst)

Thank you. I'll get back to you. Appreciate it.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. The next question comes from Dildar Kapur with B. Riley. Please proceed.

Dildar Kapur (Senior Research Associate)

Hi. Yeah, I'm actually calling in for Craig Ellis. I was really just wondering to think about this AI data center ramp that's coming up in the second half. So you guys obviously have a lot of work in some very similar environments and can really pursue this, I think, with a really great angle. So with all the different configurations and approaches to building these AI data centers, are you guys seeing different design wins across the spectrum here with all the different ways that someone can approach these systems?

Stephen Chang (CEO)

Yes, and our customer, our big customer has, you know, a lot of different end products, and they're catering it to folks building systems. They're catering to folks that want the total solution, or they just want the accelerator card than by itself. So for us, you know, and we actually have quite a good number of opportunities at play, but we believe that the updated accelerator card will come first for us. Because that's again, we have, you know, we already have a track record there. We're already shipping in their older platforms, and, you know, going forward, I mean, both the graphics and the accelerator card is expected to share the same type of architecture.

You know, we believe that for us, you know, in terms of the design win turning to revenue, now, that portion, we will see first ahead of the other business. And at the same time, you know, we are working on, you know, the other, other sockets that that we're developing products for. We're, you know, we're working on design wins for at the same time in parallel.

Dildar Kapur (Senior Research Associate)

Okay. Yeah, that's great. Just to kind of follow up on that, do you guys have any, like, quantification, as far as kind of how many design wins you're on or, how many sockets you've kind of tried to pursue design wins upon?

Stephen Chang (CEO)

We're not- we don't really quantify that that way, and, but in general, you know, we are seeing design wins and progress on the accelerator card. This is why we're talking about that more now, because that's, you know, that's we believe is a much more tangible and near term for us, and it lines up the best for us with our end customer. I do also want to mention that, you know, and then, in addition to this business that we're, that our business with this customer, we're also working with one of their suppliers that's producing and helping to supply into, I think we mentioned on the call, their intermediate bus converters.

And we also have, you know, revenue even shipping today with our medium voltage MOSFETs. So powering, you know, this is the kind of power stage before it gets to the point of load. And our customer is a big supplier to the AI accelerator card, the AI/graphics card maker. So, you know, we also expect to see that business continue to grow beyond this year into next year, as, you know, as the AI customer moves into their new platform.

Okay, yeah, that's, that's really great color. If I could just ask one last thing, kind of just thinking about how margins are going to change as your business kind of picks up into this, into this new realm, are we going to see normalization back to kind of like historic peaks at around 30-ish%, or is this sort of the new normal now with, you know, 25%-28% kind of extending forward?

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Yeah. I mean, our overall midterm target model is still above 30% non-GAAP gross margin, with target and revenue goal of $1 billion, so that model will still stay. So we believe in, you know, when we continue to grow and then, and incremental business, we expect we can bring in the better product mix, so that would help us improve the gross margin gradually. Also, this incremental business would help us increase our utilization at factories.

Dildar Kapur (Senior Research Associate)

Okay, thanks so much.

Stephen Chang (CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Jeremy Kwan with Stifel. Please proceed.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Yes, good afternoon. Just wanted to, you know, there's a lot of interest, obviously, in the AI accelerator cards. Maybe a couple questions here. First would be, can you clarify if this is consumer cards that are being adapted for, you know, enterprise or small data center applications? Or is this, you know, this architecture designed from the ground up to be used in AI acceleration and data centers?

Stephen Chang (CEO)

Yeah, our business today is mostly the first in that, you know, they use a similar solution for their graphics cards from their previous platform to address some of the AI needs today. But what we're looking forward to, and what I'm talking about is that with the new platform that's coming out from this customer, you know, towards the end of this year, beginning of next year, that platform is a ground up, kind of completely designed for AI. And, you know, that portion also addressing AI accelerator cards, you know, and that portion, you know, this is what we're looking forward to, to seeing the transition for.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Got it. And then with this, the new architecture platform, it sounds like there's maybe three opportunities here, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but one would be the VCore, the core power, you know, multi-phase controller. The second one would be the multiple power stages. That's the 50 kind of VR MOSFETs that you've been talking about. And then the third would be this intermediate bus converter, which is that the 48 volt to, like, 12 volt step down power? Is... Am I framing that correctly?

Stephen Chang (CEO)

Actually, the first two are more of the same. So, and whether it's on an AI accelerator card or on a main, you know, on a main board, powering the GPU is, you know, still up to, you know, 50 power stages, powering that. So that's the one—the first two are the same, and our end customer will have different configurations, but in the end, it's still a point of load powering the GPU itself. So the second category, which I brought up just now, is yes, the intermediate bus converter, using our medium voltage products. We actually have a number of other products also, you know, addressing going after AI.

As a whole, you know, AOS is very well connected into this ecosystem already. Largely actually because we're already in the graphics as well as the computing ecosystem, and a lot of that is shared. And, you know, to support this OEM, and we're already working with the ODMs that are in Asia, that are actually, you know, producing both boards as well as systems for this end customer. We are also engaged with, you know, the power supply maker that's making these intermediate bus converters. We're even addressing various fan makers as well regarding thermal management.

So for us, you know, this is actually, you know, AOS is very well suited to go after this market, both directly with the OEM, as well as indirectly with their suppliers.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Got it. That's very helpful. And just to clarify again, just is the controller, the multi-phase controller, a piece of this, or is that focused mainly on the intermediate bus?

Stephen Chang (CEO)

It is indeed a product, and especially as they move into their new platform, we are selling the total solution controller, multi-phase controller, in addition to the power stage.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Got it. Did you, you know, size your opportunity here just from a potential SAM, you know, whether it's on a, you know, per GPU basis? That any insight there would be very helpful.

Stephen Chang (CEO)

Sure. What, I'll quantify more at the board level what the content increase is. And then, the SAM will really depend on how fast they deploy and how many models we extend our solutions to. But as I mentioned before, on a graphics card, we use anywhere from, you know, 9-16 of these on a board. This number can go up to 50, powering each GPU. So it really just depends on, you know, the performance requirements of the card that it's going into. So BOM content on a whole of tripling, at least per GPU, and then just based on configuration, that's how much the opportunity can increase.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Well, how about the intermediate bus converter opportunity as well as the controller opportunity?

Stephen Chang (CEO)

The controller as part of that, it's usually with one controller pairing with those, or multiple controllers pairing with those, power stages. With the module solution, we're selling medium voltage MOSFETs going into it. So there's... I don't really want to dollarize that here, but you know, it's becoming something that's significant enough for us to talk about it, you know, in each of the segment reports. Let me just put it that way.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Got it. Very good. Just switching gears a little bit to the license and engineering. Is this from the license payments that you're receiving? I think, I believe there was maybe $20 million left a couple quarters ago. Can you just give us an update, how much license payments is you're still to receive and, how much of this was, you know, engineering versus licensing? Thank you.

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Sure. I mean, this contract that is up to early 2025, so we still have like a couple quarters to go. So that's the length of this agreement. So this agreement in total is for a 24-month period.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Is the payment on a pretty consistent quarterly basis?

Yifan Liang (CFO)

No. Actually, some tied to the products, then, you know, once we qualified and fully verified by our customer, and some portion is paid for our engineering services, you know, which based on the annual basis, like every 12 months they will pay.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Got it. And is this figure included in the operating cash flow, or is that accounted for differently?

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Yes. Yes. Yeah, yes, that's in there. That's part of... You know, initially, when we received the payment and, we recorded as a deferred revenue. And then, because the revenue recognition is based on the engineering hours and, we spent, relative to the total estimated, engineering hours. So that's a kind of a varying each quarter. So we recognize the revenue from our deferred revenue.

Jeremy Kwan (Associate VP in Equity Research)

Great. Thank you. I'll get back in the queue. Thank you very much.

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Thank you.

Stephen Chang (CEO)

Thanks.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. There are no additional questions left at this time. I will now hand it back to the management team for closing remarks.

Steven Pelayo (Head of Investor Relations)

Okay, Steven Pelaio here. Before we conclude, I'd like to briefly mention four upcoming events. The management team will be participating in and will be available for one-on-one meetings at the 5th Annual Needham Semiconductor and Semicap Conference, August 21, virtually. The 2024 Evercore ISI Semiconductor IT Hardware and Networking Conference, August 27 in Chicago. The Jefferies Semiconductor, IT Hardware and Communications Tech Summit, August 28 in Chicago, and the 2024 Benchmark Tech Media and Telecom Conference, September 4 in New York. If you wish to request a meeting, please contact the institutional sales representative at each sponsoring bank. This concludes our earnings call today. Thank you for your interest in AOS, and we look forward to talking to you again next quarter.

Yifan Liang (CFO)

Thank you very much. Thank you.