Power Integrations - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Executive Summary

• Q1 2025 delivered modest upside: revenue $105.5M (+15% y/y), GAAP diluted EPS $0.15, non-GAAP EPS $0.31; non-GAAP gross margin 55.9% at the top end of guidance. Versus consensus, both revenue ($105.53M vs $105.44M*) and EPS ($0.31 vs $0.285*) slightly beat.*
• Mix skewed to consumer (44%) with industrial at 34%; sequential strength in appliances and air conditioning was aided by low channel inventory and some tariff-related pull-in, while computer and communications were seasonally softer.
• Management guided Q2 2025 revenue to $115M ± $5M, GAAP GM ≈55%, non-GAAP GM ≈55.5%, and raised non-GAAP OpEx to ≈$46M; other income expected to decline by ~$0.5M sequentially. Dividend maintained at $0.21/share and a new $50M buyback authorization announced after completing the prior $50M.
• Stock-relevant catalysts: continued buybacks, normalization of channel inventory (7.9 weeks), and accelerating GaN adoption in TVs, AI server auxiliary power, metering, and automotive; watch tariff policy for second-half demand risks.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Non-GAAP margin execution and EPS beat: non-GAAP GM 55.9% (top end) and EPS $0.31; CEO: “order trends have remained steady… channel inventories are at normal levels… we expect healthy sequential growth in the second quarter”.
• Consumer and computer y/y growth >20% each; TVs and game consoles wins with GaN-based InnoSwitch/InnoMux-2; appliances/air conditioning drove consumer upside.
• Strategic capital returns: 404K shares repurchased for $23.1M in Q1; completed remaining $25M in April; board authorized another $50M; dividend $0.21/share with next payment June 30, 2025.

What Went Wrong

• Sequential softness in industrial (–3%) due to seasonality in tools/home automation and timing of high-power program; communications and computer down mid‑20s and mid‑teens sequentially on seasonal dynamics.
• Inventory days remain elevated at 326 (expected to taper in 2H); CFO flagged Q2 non-GAAP OpEx step-up and lower other income, tempering EPS leverage.
• Macro/trade-policy uncertainty: management explicitly cited tariff volatility and potential demand pressure; Q2 consumer outlook modeled below-seasonal following Q1 pull-in.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Power Integrations first quarter earnings call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. If at any time during this call you require immediate assistance, please press star zero for the operator. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Joe Shiffler, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Joe Shiffler (Director of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Jenny. Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining us. With me on the call are Balu Balakrishnan, Chairman and CEO of Power Integrations, and Sandeep Nayyar, our Chief Financial Officer. During this call, we will refer to financial measures not calculated according to GAAP. Non-GAAP measures exclude stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, and the tax effects of these items. A reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to our GAAP results is included in today's press release. Our discussion today, including the Q&A session, will include forward-looking statements denoted by words like will, would, could, should, expect, outlook, plan, forecast, estimate, anticipate, and similar expressions that look toward future events or performance. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied.

Such risks are discussed in today's press release and in our most recent Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 7, 2025. This call is the property of Power Integrations, and any recording or rebroadcast is expressly prohibited without the written consent of Power Integrations. Now I'll turn it over to Balu.

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Thanks, Joe, and good afternoon. Our Q1 results were on target, with revenues in the middle of our guidance range, gross margin at the top end of the range, and non-GAAP EPS of $0.31. Cash flow in the quarter was healthy, and we are putting our strong balance sheet to work, buying back shares during recent market volatility. Since last month's tariff announcement, we have not seen any significant changes in business trends. Bookings have been stable, with no abnormal pull-ins, push-outs, or cancellation of orders. The proportion of short-term orders relative to revenue is in line with historical norms, and distribution inventory is healthy after declining again in the March quarter. All of the factors we typically consider when developing our revenue guidance point towards a seasonally higher second quarter, with some nuances among the end market categories, which I will discuss in a moment.

Revenues for the first quarter were $106 million, up 15% year over year. All four end markets were up from a year ago, led by the consumer and computer categories, with growth of better than 20% each. In consumer, we saw growth in TVs and game consoles, reflecting recent design wins in those applications with our GaN-based InnoSwitch and InnoMux-2 products. That includes a follow-on TV design win in Q1, with InnoMux-2 adding to three design wins at the same customer in the previous quarter. The primary drivers of growth in consumer were appliances and air conditioning, which account for the bulk of our consumer category. We had a better-than-seasonal quarter in appliances, reflecting the softer fourth quarter, below-normal channel inventories, and perhaps some benefit from incentive programs in China. Also likely contributing to the strength in consumer was front-loading of appliance shipments to the U.S.

from Asia ahead of tariffs. While this effect is difficult to observe directly, commentary by one of our appliance customers on the recent earnings call suggests that it contributed to the upside in Q1. Our revenue guidance for the second quarter incorporates a correspondingly below-seasonal outlook for consumer. In the computer category, year-over-year growth was driven by server auxiliary power, where our GaN products are helping meet the higher power density requirements of artificial intelligence server power supplies. We also saw growth in notebooks, as well as higher tablet revenues, reflecting the inventory correction that was underway in Q1 a year ago. The communications category grew slightly year-over-year following our exit from China cell phones last year. Our cell phone business is now dominated by non-Chinese, OEM-branded accessory chargers, and to a lesser extent, non-OEM aftermarket brands.

These customers value the innovation and dependable power supply that Power Integrations is known for. They also have roadmaps calling for higher power and wider use of GaN, which in turn increases the need and the opportunity for our products. In the first quarter, we won one of our largest GaN designs yet, a next-generation accessory charger at a major consumer device OEM scheduled to begin production later this year. Finally, industrial revenues grew 7% year over year. We expect industrial to be our fastest-growing market this year, driven largely by high-power design wins in high-voltage DC transmission, renewables, and locomotives. We added our strong position in India's locomotive market in Q1 with a new design win for our SCALE-2 gate drivers in a 6,000 hp electric locomotive.

We also have a healthy share of the metering opportunity in India, where the government plans to deploy 250 million meters as part of its efforts to modernize the country's infrastructure. We expect GaN to play an increasing role there over time, not just for its higher efficiency, but also its ability to withstand variations in grid voltage, which are common in India. Not only do our 750 V GaN transistors accommodate voltage spikes better than equivalent-rated silicon MOSFETs, but as the only GaN supplier with devices rated at 900 V, 1250 V, and 1700 V, we also offer products with even greater safety margin for customers in metering and three-phase industrial applications. Automotive will also contribute to our industrial category this year as we expand our customer base beyond China, where we now have more than two dozen designs on the road.

Our first production shipments for a Japanese customer are scheduled to begin this quarter, followed later in the year by designs at two European automakers. In the March quarter, we won our first GaN design in automotive, a drivetrain emergency power supply at a U.S. EV customer using a 900 V InnoSwitch product. We believe this design, which is scheduled to go into production later this year, will be the first-ever use of high-voltage GaN technology in automotive, and we are seeing increasing interest in GaN at customers looking for higher voltage capabilities, efficiency, and space savings. Looking ahead, our Q2 outlook is for revenues of $115 million, ±$5 million. At the midpoint of the range, that would be up 8% year over year and 9% sequentially. We expect sequential growth in the industrial, computer, and communications categories in Q2.

While we anticipate seasonal strength in air conditioning, we expect overall consumer revenues to be sequentially lower following the unusually strong first quarter in appliances. Obviously, the outlook for the second half of the year is highly dependent on the course of trade policy, and we would not expect to be immune from any reduction in end demand related to tariffs. Fortunately, channel inventories are at normal levels in terms of weeks and multi-year lows in terms of dollars. At a minimum, low channel inventories should cushion the effects of a trade-related downturn. In the event of a benign outcome to the trade situation, replenishment of inventories could become a priority for the supply chains. Most importantly, though, the big picture trends of energy efficiency, artificial intelligence, electrification, and a cleaner, more modern power grid continue to create demand for innovative high-voltage semiconductors, regardless of the macro and political turbulence.

We are meeting that need with current and future products as the leading innovator in the high-voltage space. I will now turn it over to Sandeep for a review of the financials.

Sandeep Nayyar (CFO)

Thanks, Balu, and good afternoon. I will quickly recap the numbers and the outlook, and then we will take questions. As usual, I will focus on non-GAAP results, which are reconciled to GAAP in our press release. First quarter revenues were $106 million, up 15% year over year, and flat sequentially. I will speak to the sequential changes in each category. Consumer revenues increased about 20% sequentially, driven by appliances, air conditioning, and TV. As Balu noted, the sequential growth partly reflects a rebound from the softer fourth quarter, as well as low channel inventory, but also some apparent front-running of tariffs in appliances. The upside in consumer was offset by industrial, with a sequential decrease of 3%.

That was below our expectation, driven by more pronounced seasonality in tools and home automation, as well as the timing of a high-volume program in high power, which we had expected to contribute in Q1 but is now beginning to ramp in Q2. Revenues from the computer and communication category were down mid-teens and mid-20s, respectively, largely driven by seasonality in tablets and cell phone chargers. We expect both categories to be up sequentially in Q2. Total channel inventory fell by half a week to 7.9 weeks, as distribution sell-through exceeded sell-in by about $2 million. The drawdown was primarily related to the industrial market, while consumer inventory held steady, remaining below normal in terms of weeks. Revenue mix for the quarter was 44% consumer, 34% industrial, 12% computer, and 10% communication.

Non-GAAP gross margin for the first quarter was 55.9%, up 80 basis points from the prior quarter, driven by the dollar-yen exchange rate and more favorable mix, driven by the strength in appliances. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $43.5 million, coming in below our guidance, driven by the timing of headcount additions and R&D spending. The non-GAAP effective tax rate was 5%, resulting in non-GAAP earnings of $0.31 per diluted share. Inventories on the balance sheet remain elevated at 326 days. Assuming a relatively benign demand environment, our expectation continues to be that inventory would start tapering down in the second half of the year. Cash flow from operations was $26 million for the quarter, while CapEx was $6 million. Major uses of cash during the quarter included $12 million for dividends and $23 million for share repurchases.

$25 million remained on our repurchase authorization at the end of March, and we utilized all of that in April. Year to date, including April, we have bought back 964,000 shares or nearly 2% of our outstanding shares for $48 million. Our board has authorized another $50 million for repurchases, subject to price volume thresholds specified by the board. Turning to the Q2 outlook, we expect revenues of $115 million, ±$5 million. I expect non-GAAP gross margin to be approximately 55.5%, down slightly from the first quarter, reflecting a less favorable end market mix, as well as higher input costs now flowing through our inventory. Non-GAAP operating expenses for Q2 should be around $46 million, up from $43.5 million in Q1, driven mainly by annual salary increases, which took effect around the start of the second quarter, as well as headcount additions deferred from the prior quarter.

Other income will decline compared to the first quarter, driven by lower interest income. Cash and investments on the balance sheet fell to $289 million at quarter end from $300 million the prior quarter and has come down further after the April buyback activity. A reasonable estimate for other income would be a sequential decline of about $500,000. Weighted average share count will also decline as a result of buyback. While the pace of buyback activity through the balance of the quarter will have some impact, I would estimate a sequential decrease of around 700,000 shares from Q1-Q2. Finally, I expect our non-GAAP effective tax rate for the second quarter to be around 5%. Now, operator, let's begin the Q&A.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question-and-answer session. Should you have a question, please press the star followed by the one on the touch-tone phone. Should you wish to cancel your request, please press the star followed by the two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift a handset before pressing any keys. Once again, that is star one. Should you wish to ask a question? Your first question is from Ross Seymore from Deutsche Bank. Your line is open?

Ross Seymore (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Hi, guys. Thanks for having me ask a question. Balu, I just wanted to get into a little bit of the stuff that you can control, some of the design wins that you have. You mentioned, I think, in industrial, there was a slight push out of some ramp, but taking all the tariff side out of the equation as best as possible, are you seeing any changes in the ramp timing or volume for some of the incremental design wins that gave you such confidence in areas like high power within industrial, etc.?

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

The high power delay is totally unrelated to any of the policies or even in general. This was very specific to a particular program, and it's going to ramp nicely in Q2. It's just a one-quarter delay. It has nothing to do with anything else. It's very specific to this particular customer. Overall, we have not seen any indication or anything that related to either tariffs or otherwise other than normal business. It's actually surprisingly straightforward. Our bookings in both the Q4 and Q1, our book-to-bill ratio is more than one, and it's very consistent with the guidance we are giving you for Q2. So far, we haven't seen any trends that would stand out.

Ross Seymore (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Gotcha. Thank you for that. I guess, Sandeep, you always do a good job, and I know crystal balls are difficult to look into, especially these days. As far as the trends for your margins, whether it be gross margin or OpEx for the rest of the year, any big changes from where you had us looking from last quarter?

Sandeep Nayyar (CFO)

No, I think for the year, I think I've been guiding this for about two quarters that we should, for the year, be 55.5%, approximately, give and take, for non-GAAP gross margin, and I think it's playing out pretty well. It kind of won't be steady from here. Obviously, as the revenue increases, especially towards Q3 and Q4, the operating margin gets the benefit, as you know, with the leverage we have in our model. I think you'll see the benefit of the operating margin going up towards the Q3, Q4 time period.

Ross Seymore (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Gotcha. Thank you.

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Thanks, Ross.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Your next question is from David Williams from the Benchmark Company. Your line is now open.

David Williams (Senior Equity Analyst)

Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. I guess maybe first, on the industrial segment, Balu, you talked about the strength in automotive and some really nice design wins that are ramping there. Can you talk a little bit about just how you're getting those design wins, how they ramp, and maybe just is that performing as well as you would have anticipated, just kind of given your latter entrance into the automotive market generally?

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Thanks, David. In terms of design wins, we are doing better than anticipated. In terms of the demand forecast from the customers, as you know, they all come down since a year ago, definitely two years ago, because the projection for EV cars have come down. Now, it does not affect us immediately because we are still in the early stages, but if you look at forecasts for next year and the following year, it has come down. Having said that, we are still feeling good that we will be at kind of a $100 million kind of revenue by about 2029 for automotive.

David Williams (Senior Equity Analyst)

That's certainly great to hear. I guess in terms of just industrial overall, you talked about it being that the path is growing this year. Can you talk maybe just a little bit about those drivers? You mentioned locomotives and a few other things, but just what gives you the confidence in industrial, just kind of given that weakness more broadly? It sounds like it's very specific to your business. Is that fair?

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

It is fair. Automotive, last year we did the low single-digit millions. This year we'll do high single-digit millions. Next year we'll be in the low tens of millions, and that's still on track. In terms of the high power revenue, we have won a number of designs. We talked about some of them already. Even the one that gets now delayed to Q2 will not impact our overall revenue for the year. They're just going to consume it between Q2, Q3, and Q4. It really doesn't change our total revenue for the year. That's for a high-voltage DC transmission system. These are systems that will be installed in the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and also in Japan. The high-power HVDC is doing very well. The other area that's doing really well is locomotives.

We have won a number of designs in India, specifically for electric locomotives that will generate revenue this year. Renewables, of course, are doing very well, the wind and solar. That is what gives us the confidence. Now, some of the areas that were seasonally down in Q1 should come back. These are things like tools and HBA or home and building automation. They should come back. I think overall, industrial is going to be the strongest growth this year.

David Williams (Senior Equity Analyst)

Thanks so much for the color. Certainly appreciate it.

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

You're welcome, David.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Your next question is from Tore Svanberg from Stifel. Your line is now open.

Tore Svanberg (Managing Director and Senior Analyst)

Yes, thank you, Balu, Sandeep, and great job on the buyback. My first question is on that consumer segment. Sounds like that's the only area where, from an end product perspective, maybe there was some buy ahead of the tariffs. Could you just elaborate a little bit more on that? I mean, did customers actually suggest to you that that was the case, or is it sort of reflected in your orders sort of between this Q1 and Q2 period?

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Sorry, this is Balu. Not from the customer. The customers have not told us anything. We can clearly see the demand is better than we originally anticipated. Our comments are based on earnings call comments made by Whirlpool in the U.S. They had made comments that they have seen a significant pull-in of large appliances, major appliances, into the U.S. before the tariffs. That is where it comes from now. We do not think that is a significant factor. There are other factors why I think they were stronger in Q1, but we are thinking it is in the order of a few million dollars additional revenue in Q1 because of the pull-in related to tariffs.

Sandeep Nayyar (CFO)

Yeah, sorry. It was slightly ahead of what we were anticipating, and that is why what Balu is saying, the few million dollars that we saw better, and it was mainly in the major appliances.

When you hear commentary from the others, you just correlate that maybe that was the reason.

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

By the way, we have subtracted that from the Q2 numbers because we do anticipate, or at least we are projecting, that it will be down by that amount. So far, based on our backlog, that appears to be the case.

Tore Svanberg (Managing Director and Senior Analyst)

Very good. No, that makes sense. My second question is on automotives. You talked about that design win with a North American company for auxiliary power supply, 900 V. First of all, is that an exclusive win, meaning you're sole source there? Related to that question, are you starting to, now that that customer is committed to launching the technology, are you seeing other customers being interested in 900 V GaN as well?

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Absolutely. One of the reasons we introduced 900 V GaN is because with the 400 V battery, to do a power supply, you really need 900 V. 750 V is not sufficient. Similarly, with the 800 V battery, you need a 1700 V switch product, which we have, obviously. As far as this design goes, yes, we have 100% of the design. Also, there is a possibility that a European company will also adopt this design because it is really a kind of a standard design for inverters, a platform design, I should say. We will see, I believe, a significant penetration of the 900 V in the 400 V systems. Of course, we already have a significant penetration at the 1700 V part for the 800 V systems. We expect this to broadly be accepted by worldwide OEMs in automotive.

Tore Svanberg (Managing Director and Senior Analyst)

Sounds good. Congrats on that breakthrough. That's great. Thank you.

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Thanks, Tore.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Your next question is from Christopher Rolland from Susquehanna. Your line is now open.

Christopher Rolland (Senior Analyst)

Hey, guys. Thanks for the question. I guess I certainly understand your comments around trade policy, and it adds volatility for sure. How are you thinking about the second half now? I think seasonality is up nicely in 3Q and then down in 4Q. How's the order book filling out? How are you thinking, putting all the pieces together here, how things might actually trend in 3Q and 4Q, the back half?

Ross Seymore (Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst)

Thanks, Christopher. Obviously, it is hard to predict how the tariffs are going to impact the second half. Having said that, so far, we haven't seen anything unusual. We haven't seen the—of course, it's too early to tell for Q3 in terms of backlog, but for this time in the quarter, it looks normal for Q3 in terms of backlog growth and so on. We haven't seen any impact of tariffs so far. Who knows what's going to happen over time? As you know, the tariff situation changes every day. It's really hard to predict. I would say that without the impact of tariffs, we should do quite nicely this year. We have been thinking that we would have mid-teens growth, and that should still happen as long as tariffs don't impact that.

Christopher Rolland (Senior Analyst)

Excellent. Thank you, Balu. Just as we think about inventories across the four segments, where are they normalized now? I know you mentioned you thought industrial would grow the most. Some people are saying industrial inventories are lagging. Where are you on inventories across the four segments, and are there any that might actually be ripe for replenishment?

Sandeep Nayyar (CFO)

If you look at it, our average inventory is at 79. So we're pretty much what I would say normal. Within the different segments, the consumer segment is below the normal. That is where I think the continued strength that we have seen there. Even if there is some adjustment, there would be more replenishment, I would see, in the consumer segment.

Christopher Rolland (Senior Analyst)

Excellent. Thank you, Sandeep. Thank you, guys.

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Thanks, Christopher.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, once again, should you wish to ask a question, kindly press star one. Your next question is from Gus Richard from Northland Capital Markets. Your line is now open.

Gus Richard (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Yes, thanks for taking the question. Just thinking about geographic demand, I was curious how the OEMs in China are behaving, and are you starting to see a shift in demand from India in particular, and maybe the other Southeast Asian countries as well?

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Hi, Gus. This is Balu. In terms of consumer behavior in China itself, they are very pragmatic, as you know. They were pragmatic during the COVID times. They are still pragmatic with the tariffs. They do what is right for their business. They continue to use our product. There are no tariffs on our product, as you know, because, first of all, they're not manufactured in the U.S. They're manufactured in Japan, as defined by China, where the diffusion occurs. There is no impact there. In terms of the manufacturing getting transferred outside of China, that's not something that can change dramatically in such a short time. Obviously, many of our end OEMs are beginning to shift out of China. There is certainly going to Vietnam and India. Part of our growth in India is actually basically manufacturing shifting there.

I believe that will continue, probably even more vigorously going forward, given all these challenges we've had from a policy point of view.

Gus Richard (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Got it. In terms of currency, there is an impact of the dollar to the yen and the dollar to the euro, the impact on the gross margins. I was just wondering if you could remind us what that impact is. A 10% swing in either of those currencies, what does that do to your gross margins?

Sandeep Nayyar (CFO)

Yeah. Mainly, in gross margin, the impact really comes from the yen because most of our wafers come from there. A 10% change in yen pretty much impacts us about 100 basis points-120 basis points, depending on the direction. As you've seen, the movement in yen has been quite a bit. Considering the inventory that we have been carrying, we've been getting the benefit of the yen and would have continued, and we would have started seeing the impact with the yen strengthening only after a year from now. As you see what happened in the last few days, yen has weakened again. I think we're getting about 200 basis points of benefit right now because we normally think the yen to be somewhere in the 120 basis points-125 basis points, and it's been fluctuating anywhere between the 140 basis points-148 basis points range.

Gus Richard (Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst)

Got it. Thanks for the update. All right. That's it for me.

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Thanks, Gus.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Your next question is from Tore Svanberg from Stifel. Your line is now open.

Tore Svanberg (Managing Director and Senior Analyst)

Yes, thank you. Just a quick follow-up. Sandeep, China inventory is 7.9 weeks. What should we assume for Q2? Do you think it will hold around this level?

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Yeah. Right now, I think we are thinking sell-in and sell-through should equal.

Tore Svanberg (Managing Director and Senior Analyst)

Got it. So 7.9 for Q2 as well. Thank you.

Balu Balakrishnan (Chairman and CEO)

Thanks, Tore.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I will now hand the call back over to Joe Shiffler for the closing remarks.

Joe Shiffler (Director of Investor Relations)

All right. Thanks, everyone, for listening. There will be a replay of this call available on our investor website. That is investors.power.com. Thanks again, and good afternoon.

Operator (participant)

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our conference call for today. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.