WEB NEWS Comments & Business Outlook
Fourth Quarter 2019 Financial Results
The Company recorded net revenues of $174.9 million, an increase of 6.5% sequentially and a decrease of 8.4% compared to the same period last year.
Fourth quarter non-IFRS profit was $1.5 million, or 0.9 cents per diluted ADS, compared to non-IFRS loss of $6.9 million, or 4.0 cents per diluted ADS last quarter and non-IFRS profit of $8.7 million, or 5.0 cents per diluted ADS for the same period last year. Non-IFRS earnings per diluted ADS exceeded prior guidance of a loss per diluted ADS of around 2.7 to 4.2 cents. The better-than-expected earnings were due to the reasons mentioned above. Excluding the revaluation gain, non-IFRS loss for the quarter was $2.2 million, or 1.3 cents per diluted ADS, compared to non-IFRS loss of $6.9 million, or 4.0 cents per diluted ADS last quarter and profit of $5.8 million, or 3.3 cents per diluted ADS for the same period last year.
“We pre-announced preliminary key financial results for the fourth quarter on January 7, 2020 as the revenues, gross margin and EPS of the quarter all exceeded our guidance issued on November 7, 2019. Revenues and gross margin were in line with the pre-announced results while EPS were at the high end of the range. When we hosted our third quarter earnings call this past November, we were facing trends in the marketplace that created headwinds for us. Specifically, at that time our performance and forecast reflected challenges we faced in our smartphone TDDI business. This was exacerbated by an oversupply of panel capacity in the LCD industry that negatively impacted our display driver IC sales and margin. As a result, our overall sales and outlook were weak. Since that time, we have started to see major turnaround in literally all aspects of our businesses,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.
“Looking at the overall company, historically, the first quarter has seasonally been the lowest quarter of the fiscal year, often down by over 10% on a sequential basis. At this time, we expect to deliver a sequential sales increase in the first quarter. The strength we are seeing in Q1 is expected to extend into Q2 and throughout 2020, despite the coronavirus impact. Notwithstanding the uncertainty arisen from the coronavirus, we are confident that we will see decent growth across the board for all our major product categories in 2020. Our large display driver IC business is benefiting from numerous factors - customers revamping inventory levels, the fulfillment of rush orders, recovery of large panel prices, a tightening of foundry capacity and the market share gains of China, our key customer base, who are gaining as a result of fab restructuring that is occurring in Korea.”
“Our smartphone TDDI business is also expected to deliver strong growth in 2020 despite the impact of the coronavirus. Our smartphone TDDI product roadmap, new end customer design-wins and a foundry capacity advantage all position us well to gain significant market share as we move through 2020. In addition, we expect our other TDDI applications to deliver strong growth in 2020 as well. Specifically, the tablet business is expected to be a major growth area for Himax starting Q1, throughout 2020 and beyond. This is being driven by in-cell TDDI for tablets that is becoming the mainstream technology being rapidly adopted by all major end customers. Given the fact that Himax is the primary partner for non-iOS tablet TDDI solutions, we are well positioned to benefit from this trend.”
“On the non-driver side, starting from WLO, based on our anchor customer’s shipment forecast, we expect very strong Q1 with shipment volume to double from the same period last year, although the volume is expected to decrease slightly on a sequential basis to reflect seasonality. Additionally, we continue to make great progress across our broader non-driver portfolio including 3D sensing, the ultra-low power smart sensing solutions, the CMOS image sensor and our LCOS technology. The adoption of new technologies is expected to drive growth in the second half of 2020 and become significant source of long-term growth opportunities for Himax,” added Mr. Jordan Wu.
“We continue to execute on our strategic plans that have positioned Himax to be uniquely able to take advantage of many opportunities that we see are arising in the marketplace,” concluded Mr. Jordan Wu.
Q1 2020 Outlook
When Himax hosted its third quarter earnings call this past November, the Company was facing trends in the marketplace that created headwinds for the Company. Specifically, at that time the Company’s performance and forecast reflected challenges Himax faced in its smartphone TDDI business. This was exacerbated by an oversupply of capacity in the LCD industry that negatively impacted its display driver IC sales and margin. As a result, the Company’s overall sales and outlook were weak. Since that time, the Company has started to see major turnaround in literally all aspects of its businesses and is seeing strength across all major product lines for the first quarter. The strength the Company is seeing in Q1 is expected to accelerate into Q2 and throughout the rest of 2020.
Display Driver IC Business
On the supply side, the Company reported during the last quarter’s earnings call that Himax and some of its major panel customers were already seeing foundry capacity shortage of 8-inch silicon wafers for display driver ICs. In anticipation of this, the Company has strategically prepared to ready its 12-inch foundry, as well as associated backend packaging and testing, ahead of its peers to cover the potential 8-inch capacity shortfall. The Company’s design project coverage is strong across all leading Chinese panel makers. Himax is very positive on the business outlook for its large display driver for 2020.
Looking at technology development, the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be broadcast in 8K resolution. All top-tier TV brands have been trying to boost sales for 8K models ahead of the event. At CES last month, many of these brands showcased 8K TV’s that contained Himax’s technology. Although the penetration of 8K TV’s is still low, the Company expects this to be a strategic opportunity for Himax as 8K TV sales will boost demand for not just its driver IC but also timing controller contents.
SMDDIC
The smartphone market continues to embrace new technologies and are moving toward higher frame rate displays to enable smoother screen viewing and gaming experience. This will drive the adoption of next generation high frame rate TDDI solutions, for which Himax is a leading technology provider. Also, the demand for 5G in China is expected to drive worldwide smartphone growth in 2020 which will in turn stimulate the growth for TDDI. All these trends will benefit Himax. However, as indicated in the First Quarter 2020 Guidance section, the small display business, among which smartphone TDDI is the major item, will be most impacted by the coronavirus outbreak in the short term. Again, the Company is working with its customers extremely closely, adjusting its operations to support their short term needs in combating the coronavirus outbreak. Regardless of the coronavirus, we are confident that our smartphone TDDI business will grow strongly from last year.
The price erosion of TDDI the Company has seen over the past year is expected to abate in 2020. This is not only because the new high frame rate products enjoy a higher ASP but also due to the industry-wide tightening of foundry capacity for TDDI. As a reminder, during 2018 the Himax TDDI business was negatively impacted by a severe foundry capacity shortage that resulted in its inability to meet customers’ delivery requirements. Although the capacity constraint was resolved toward the end of 2018, the delay limited the Company’s ability to participate in major design-in opportunities that would have driven the business in 2019. The actions Himax took in 2018-2019 to develop and enable an additional qualified foundry partner ahead of its peers, combined with the Company’s superior technology and customer collaboration, now uniquely position Himax to benefit from a tightening of overall TDDI foundry capacity in 2020. The Company is well-prepared to meet TDDI production demands and continue to move forward with plans to enable additional capacity this year to capitalize on the strong opportunities for smartphone TDDI, as well as other TDDI applications such as tablet, in 2020.
As expected, the Company’s traditional discrete driver IC sales into smartphones posted a sequential decline for the fourth quarter. This was primarily due to the traditional discrete driver ICs’ addressable smartphone market is quickly being replaced by TDDI and AMOLED.
As Himax discussed previously, a major development the Company is seeing in the marketplace is increased utilization of the OLED display for smartphone. This is due to expanded AMOLED capacity as well as increased demand for under-display fingerprint technology that is only available in the AMOLED display for the time being. The Company is encouraged by the progress it has made, collaborating closely with leading panel makers across China for AMOLED product development. The Company believes AMOLED driver ICs will soon become one of the major growth engines for its small panel driver IC business.
In the automotive display segment, the number of displays per vehicle continues to rise as the overall automobile display market is set to increase from 2020 onward, despite that the global car sales are forecast to decline again this year. More importantly for Himax, the market is quickly shifting towards a number of new technologies including higher resolution, in-cell touch, slim border, giant pillar-to-pillar screen, local dimming for higher contrast, and plastic AMOLED for free form design, all of which are contributing to an increase in market size and demand for automotive display driver ICs. Himax commands more than 30% of the global automotive display driver IC market and is the primary partner for most of the world’s automotive panel makers to enable the new technologies above. It’s worth mentioning that Himax is also the dominant automotive TDDI technology provider, working as the sole supplier on numerous TDDI design-in projects across different leading panel makers. While the Company expects only small volume shipments in 2020, it anticipates meaningful volume of automotive TDDI as it moves into 2021.
Himax expects the tablet business to be a major growth area for the Company during 2020 with a significant volume of tablet TDDI shipment starting from Q1. The strong momentum will accelerate into Q2 and throughout 2020. The business growth will be driven primarily by leading non-iOS brands’ rapid adoption of the newly developed in-cell TDDI solutions. In-cell TDDI is quickly becoming mainstream for tablets due to its lower cost and a simplified supply chain as well as faster and easier integration for display manufacturers. At the same time, consumer demand is expected to accelerate for these cheaper, slimmer, lighter and more stylish tablets. Himax is the primary partner for all non-iOS tablet in-cell TDDI products right now and is already making shipments of its new in-cell TDDI products for tablet to a number of leading end customers, some of which include active stylus. Additionally, the Company continues shipping its traditional display driver IC with CoF packaging for larger-sized tablets with slim bezel design to a leading Chinese brand customer and expect the momentum for these high-end designs to accelerate throughout 2020.
For the first quarter, revenue for the small and medium-sized driver IC business is expected to increase by around 10% to 20% sequentially.
Non-Driver Product Categories
3D Sensing
The Company’s non-smartphone 3D-sensing engagements have focused on smart door lock and industrial automation segments where it provides structured light-based 3D sensing total solution. Himax has been collaborating closely mainly with two types of partners: those with industry-leading expertise in facial recognition algorithm and those offering application processors with strong AI capability. The Company has started design-in projects with several smart door lock end customers. Separately, as the Company previously mentioned, it is working with partners who wish to take advantage of the Company’s 3D sensing know-how to automate traditional manufacturing to improve efficiency and reducing cost. One market opportunity the Company is pursuing is shoe factory automation. Himax is pleased to report that prototypes of 3D sensing enabled automatic robotic cementing system are available now for production optimization testing.
Ultra-low power smart sensing
Previously the Company has mentioned that, in addition to total solution, Himax is also able to offer ultra-low power smart sensing on the basis of individual parts so as to address the market’s different needs and maximize the potential opportunities for Himax. It will elaborate on this in the CMOS image sensor discussion below.
CMOS Image Sensor
In addition, Himax recently announced the commercial availability of an industry-first ultra-low power and low latency, backside-illuminated CMOS image sensor solution with autonomous modes of operations for always-on, intelligent visual sensing applications such as human presence detection and tracking, gaze detection, behavioral analysis, and pose estimation for growing markets such as smart home, smart building, healthcare, smartphone and AR/VR devices.
Himax is collaborating with leading partners within the ecosystem to reduce time to market for intelligent edge vision solutions. Notably, the Company is working closely with Google and has become the reference design for its world-leading TensorFlow Lite AI framework targeting low power edge devices.
For the traditional human vision segments, Himax sees strong demand in notebooks, where the Company is one of the market leaders, and has experienced increased shipments for multimedia applications such as car recorders, surveillance, drones, home appliances, and consumer electronics, among others. Additionally, Himax has seen increased shipments and new design-wins in the automotive segment covering before-market solutions such as surround view and rear-view camera.
LCOS
For non-driver IC business, the Company expects revenue to decrease by single digit sequentially in the first quarter. Aside from the WLO sales which are expected to be down slightly, the CMOS image sensor sales for multimedia markets have been affected by the coronavirus incident as the operations of many of the customers here are still not back in order.
First Quarter 2020 Guidance
Historically, due to the Lunar New Year holidays, the first quarter has seasonally been the slowest period of the year in terms of sales, often down by more than 10% sequentially. At this time, however, based on the Company’s current pipeline, Himax is experiencing strong sales in the first quarter, brushing aside the seasonal factor.
However, the coronavirus outbreak currently taking place in China and all over the world does represent a major uncertainty to Himax’s operations, especially for the short term. The Company is working extremely closely with both its customers and suppliers in joint efforts to mitigate the risks. Himax has started to see some downward adjustments of Q1 forecast over the past week, mainly from certain China-based customers for smartphone display drivers and CMOS image sensors who are still scrambling to restore their operations into order. Himax’s Q1 guidance has taken into account those downward adjustments. In comparison, Himax is seeing relatively little impact of forecast from large display customers who are demanding that Himax’s supply be uninterrupted by the incident. With vast majority of operations located outside of China, the Company’s suppliers are largely unaffected by the coronavirus outbreak. The focus there is primarily the logistics management including the customs operations in various ports in China. It is worth pointing out that, Himax has very little short-term exposure, on both customer and supplier sides and in terms of its own operations, to Wuhan and the Hubei Province, the epicenter of the outbreak.
The situation is still evolving. On top of the downward adjustments of forecast the Company has seen, Himax has deliberately widened and reduced the low end of this quarter’s guidance to reflect the potential risk associated with the coronavirus outbreak.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today pre-announced preliminary unaudited key financial results for the three months ended December 31st, 2019. The fourth quarter results exceeded its revenues, gross margin and EPS guidance issued on November 7th, 2019.
Revenues were $174.9 million, an increase of 6.5% sequentially versus the guidance of approximately flat to the previous quarter.
The Company will provide its full financial report at the next conference call with investors and analysts in February. The exact date will be announced soon.
Comments & Business Outlook
Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results
Net revenues of $164.3 million, a decrease of 3.0% sequentially and a decrease of 12.8% year-over-year.
IFRS loss for the third quarter was $7.2 million, or 4.2 cents per diluted ADS, compared to loss of $5.2 million, or 3.0 cents per diluted ADS, in the previous quarter and IFRS profit of $0.9 million, or 0.5 cents per diluted ADS, a year ago.
Third quarter non-IFRS loss was $6.9 million, or 4.0 cents per diluted ADS, compared to non-IFRS loss of $4.8 million, or 2.8 cents per diluted ADS last quarter and non-IFRS profit of $4.5 million, or 2.6 cents per diluted ADS the same period last year.
Q4 2019 Outlook
As the Company mentioned last quarter, 2019 has been a challenging year for Himax. Uncertainty in the global economy continues to overshadow the marketplace, where the Company is seeing waning demand in all industries that consume display. This, combined with the prevailing LCD industry capacity oversupply, has led to severe pricing pressure for panels which inevitably affected the sales and margin of display driver IC across all major product segments including TV, smartphone and automotive. As the Company looks forward, although at this time it has limited visibility, the Company does not anticipate the business environment to improve in the near term. The Company’s strategy is to focus on delivering P&L improvement by executing on the technologies it already developed for both driver IC and non-driver IC areas.
One of Himax’s major focus areas for business during 2019 has been TDDI for smartphone. This business was negatively impacted by the severe foundry capacity shortage that occurred during 2018 and resulted in the Company’s inability to meet customers’ delivery requirements. Although the capacity constraint was resolved toward the end of 2018, the delay eliminated the Company’s ability to participate in major design-in opportunities that would have driven the business in 2019. While it expects the 2019 smartphone TDDI sales to increase more than 40% against last year, the growth will be below the target the Company set for itself. Even the outlook for smartphone TDDI remain weak in Q4, the Company does anticipate a strong rebound for Q1 2020 and robust growth for 2020.
Comments & Business Outlook
Comments & Business Outlook
SEATTLE and TAINAN, Taiwan, Sept. 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lumotive, the Bill Gates-funded startup developing LiDAR systems for autonomous vehicles, and Himax Display, Inc., a subsidiary of Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX), today announced a first-of-its-kind, jointly-developed solution to enable disruptive beam steering technology in LiDAR systems that marries Himax’s proven Liquid-Crystal-On-Silicon (LCOS) technology with Lumotive’s patented Liquid Crystal Metasurfaces™ (LCMs) to significantly improve the performance, reliability and cost of LiDAR systems. In the automotive industry, Lumotive’s LiDAR solution will enable both advanced driver-assistance systems (or ADAS) and fully autonomous vehicles such as “robo-taxis” and self-driving trucks.
LiDAR, a key 3D-sensing technology for autonomous driving systems, requires advanced beam steering to deliver high performance and commercial viability. Traditionally, LiDAR relied on bulky spinning assemblies, while newer breeds of LiDAR sensors utilize MEMS mirrors or optical phased arrays. However, both of these approaches lack performance due to the small optical aperture of MEMS mirrors and the low efficiency of phased arrays. In a first for LiDAR, Lumotive leverages Himax’s unique, tailor-made LCOS process to convert semiconductor chips into dynamic displays that steer laser pulses based on the light-bending principles of metamaterials.
“Himax’s industry-leading LCOS technology and in-depth LC know-how perfectly complement our LCM technology,” said Lumotive co-founder and CEO, Dr. William Colleran. “Our combined approach is an innovative technological advance that lowers cost, improves performance and ultimately speeds time-to-market for reliable LiDAR systems that make self-driving cars viable and safe.”
“We are very excited to be working with Lumotive to deliver a true breakthrough in the development of LiDAR systems for the autonomous vehicle market,” said Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies. “While the approach is unique, our industry-leading LCOS technology and tailor-made service are market-proven and, when combined with Lumotive’s patented LCM technology, represent a significant advance in an increasingly important industry.”
Comments & Business Outlook
Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results
The Company recorded net revenues of $169.3 million, an increase of 3.7% sequentially and a decrease of 6.6% year-over-year.
Non-IFRS EPS (Per Diluted ADS, USD) was ($0.030) vs. last years of $0.012.
“Our second quarter 2019 revenues, gross margin and EPS all met our guidance issued on May 9. Our revenue came in at the midrange of our guidance. As expected, our smartphone segment recorded a significant sequential growth while automotive business declined amidst worldwide sluggish car sales. Our large panel driver ICs also experienced lower shipment and pricing erosion as a result of our panel customers facing industry-wide overcapacity and uncertain economic outlook. IFRS gross margin for the second quarter declined sequentially due to less favorable product mix,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.
“Market conditions have been challenging and we do not see them improving in the near term. Uncertainty in the global economy continues to overshadow the marketplace, where we are seeing softness in all industries that consume display. This combined with prevailing industry-wide capacity oversupply, has led to severe pricing and cost pressure for panels, which has directly affected our sales and margin.”
“Against the backdrop of an unfriendly market environment, we have faced multiple challenges that have had an adverse effect on our overall financial performance over the past twelve months. First, the large display driver IC and small/medium driver IC markets experienced chip-on-film (COF) and wafer capacity shortages, respectively. The severe shortages significantly affected our ability to fulfill customer orders in the back half of 2018, which not only impacted our 2018 sales but also jeopardized our ability to win new projects with customers at the time. While these constraints were resolved towards the end of 2018, we are still suffering from the repercussions of the loss of new projects as we did not get to take part in the mass production of those projects, many of which started in the second or third quarter this year. Second, beginning earlier this year, there has been a major pullback in demand for our DDICs as panel makers, facing an industry-wide overcapacity and uncertain economic outlook, cut back their production and, in the meantime, attempt to lower the DDIC inventory which they built earlier to address the IC shortage concern. The combination of these two factors has negatively impacted our performance in the second half of 2018 as well as full-year 2019. Separately in the smartphone segment, new model opportunities, which we count on to boost our new generation TDDI product shipment, have been limited so far in 2019 due to a slow smartphone market. In summary, while we expect strong TDDI growth in 2019, its contribution to our overall sales will be offset by decreases in large panel and automotive DDICs, which have been negatively impacted by the unfavorable market environment.”
“Notwithstanding the current business headwinds, we are committed to the long-term strategy of achieving a balanced portfolio of DDIC and non-DDIC products. Looking forward, we believe that as a market and technology leader in DDIC, we are positioned well to regain market share in both large and small/medium display segments where we have seen major new project opportunities emerging with our customers. At the same time, we are working towards capitalizing on the unique non-driver technologies where we have invested heavily in the last few years, particularly 3D sensing and ultra-low power smart sensing.”
“In the past, our structured light-based 3D sensing total solution was designed to target the Android smartphone’s front-facing facial recognition and payment certification. The project was unsuccessful and we have since adjusted our structured light-based 3D sensing technology development to focus on applications for non-smartphone segments which are typically less sensitive to cost and always require a total solution. For the smartphone market where many customers are exploring time-of-flight (ToF) solutions for world-facing 3D sensing, we are an active participant by being a key optical component provider. Another key area of our non-driver R&D efforts has been the AI-based smart sensing. Our WiseEye solution contains Himax’s industry leading CMOS image sensor and ASIC designs with Emza’s AI-based algorithm, all built with ultra-low power design. WiseEye will enable next generation AI-based computer vision technology with ultra-low power for notebook and many other markets,” said Mr. Jordan Wu.
“Last but not least, while we are making good progress in the development of strategic technologies, we have kept R&D expenses approximately flat compared to last year. These include next generation display driver technology for 8K TV and AMOLED, 3D sensing for both mobile phone and non-mobile phone applications and the ultra-low power smart sensing solutions. We are committed to our overall strategy and continue to invest in technology to drive our long-term growth,” concluded Mr. Jordan Wu.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, May 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, announced today the Company has launched its flexible OLED automotive display driver and timing controller for BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd., China’s largest display manufacturer. Himax’s technology has been featured in BOE’s industry-leading automotive applications presented at the Society for Information Display (SID) Display Week 2019.
Compared to traditional TFT LCD displays, OLED displays’ superior image quality, light weight, slim design and form factor advantage, have contributed to its increasing penetration in the smartphone market over past few years. With more OLED capacity becoming available, OLED displays are gaining traction in the automotive market as they provide better display performance and greater design flexibility to attract more consumers. The commercialization of flexible OLED displays has further enabled automotive makers to create a design revolution in cars that is not limited only to the dashboard and the center console. There are many new applications that displays can address as they become thin, light, shatterproof and conformable to any surface.
Leveraging its chip-on-film (COF) packaging, Himax’s flexible OLED display driver technology was adopted by BOE in its pioneering 12.3-inch three-unit curved flexible OLED automotive displays for cockpit areas with only 0.99 mm bezels. This brand-new in-vehicle display application aims to provide better audiovisual experience for car users. In addition to its OLED driver, Himax has also developed a customized timing controller for BOE to manufacture its curved flexible OLED automotive displays thinner and lighter.
“Himax’s automotive display driver IC grew 44% year-over-year in 2018, and we now command more than 30% of the global automotive display driver IC market,” began Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies. “We are the leader in all key technologies including TDDI, AMOLED and local dimming timing controllers. The collaboration with BOE on flexible OLED automotive displays not only represents a new growth opportunity, but also a clear conviction of our technology leadership. We expect shipment to start 2H 2019 for customers’ new product launches in 2020,” concluded Mr. Wu.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, May 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, announced today the Company has launched its flexible OLED automotive display driver and timing controller for BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd., China’s largest display manufacturer. Himax’s technology has been featured in BOE’s industry-leading automotive applications presented at the Society for Information Display (SID) Display Week 2019.
Compared to traditional TFT LCD displays, OLED displays’ superior image quality, light weight, slim design and form factor advantage, have contributed to its increasing penetration in the smartphone market over past few years. With more OLED capacity becoming available, OLED displays are gaining traction in the automotive market as they provide better display performance and greater design flexibility to attract more consumers. The commercialization of flexible OLED displays has further enabled automotive makers to create a design revolution in cars that is not limited only to the dashboard and the center console. There are many new applications that displays can address as they become thin, light, shatterproof and conformable to any surface.
Leveraging its chip-on-film (COF) packaging, Himax’s flexible OLED display driver technology was adopted by BOE in its pioneering 12.3-inch three-unit curved flexible OLED automotive displays for cockpit areas with only 0.99 mm bezels. This brand-new in-vehicle display application aims to provide better audiovisual experience for car users. In addition to its OLED driver, Himax has also developed a customized timing controller for BOE to manufacture its curved flexible OLED automotive displays thinner and lighter.
“Himax’s automotive display driver IC grew 44% year-over-year in 2018, and we now command more than 30% of the global automotive display driver IC market,” began Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies. “We are the leader in all key technologies including TDDI, AMOLED and local dimming timing controllers. The collaboration with BOE on flexible OLED automotive displays not only represents a new growth opportunity, but also a clear conviction of our technology leadership. We expect shipment to start 2H 2019 for customers’ new product launches in 2020,” concluded Mr. Wu.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan and GIV'ATAYIM, Israel, May 22, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIR E) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Emza Visual Sense, a pioneer in AI-based algorithm for intelligent ultra-low power image sensing, announced today the release of their WiseEye 2.0 NB, an intelligent vision solution for notebook computers. It is the industry’s first ultra-low power, AI-based intelligent visual sensor that adds the advanced human presence awareness functionality for notebooks while supporting always-on operation. The solution has been tested and well received by the leading global chipmaker and Quanta Computer, the world’s largest original design manufacturer (ODM) of notebook computers, for inclusion in their next-generation mainstream notebook platforms. The solution will be showcased by Quanta at the 2019 Computex trade show, May 28 - June 1, in Taipei.
In response to notebook users’ demands for an always ready, adaptive and interactive device, notebook vendors can now provide always-on human presence sensing functionality using artificial intelligence as a key technology for enhancing the user experience.
"We are excited that the WiseEye 2.0 solution’s coverage has expanded from IoT devices to notebook computers as it opens up new growth opportunities in the high-end notebook ecosystem. It’s a real win-win situation for OEMs, ODMs and Himax/Emza. Our unique technology consists of Himax’s CMOS image sensor and Emza’s AI-based computer vision algorithm running on an Himax-designed ASIC, all catered for ultra-low power consumption to enable always-on operation of the end device. The partnership with the world’s leading chipmaker and notebook ODM allows us to closely engage with multiple global notebook OEMs, targeting their next generation product launches for the 2020 back to school season,” said Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies.
The Himax/Emza WiseEye 2.0 NB intelligent vision solution for notebooks is built on Emza’s unique AI-based machine learning computer vision algorithms and Himax’s proprietary processor as well as its ultra-low power CMOS image sensor – this enables seamless integration of sensing user context awareness for an improved notebook user experience. The always-on camera enables multiple computer vision applications such as device wake-up when user is present, screen lock when absent, screen dimming when disengaged, and privacy alerts when a second person is identified in the field of view.
"Quanta is proud to be at the forefront of notebook innovation with the inclusion of the Himax/Emza WiseEye 2.0 NB visual solution in its next generation devices," said Alan Chia, Senior Vice President of Quanta Computer, "the advanced sensing of human presence is sure to lower notebook’s energy consumption and add to overall enhanced user experience."
The key features of the WiseEye 2.0 NB intelligent visual sensor for human presence detection include:
Enhanced AI-enabled User Experience: Unique combination of ultra-low power image sensor and energy efficient CV image processing algorithm, augmented with AI-based machine learning, enable advanced intelligence for automatic wake up of the notebook from standby mode or locking the screen based on specific human behavior or movements. This is a significant improvement over the existing solutions that do not function when the notebook is in sleep mode.
Extended Battery Life: AI-based always-on camera (AoS) can detect user engagement levels based on presence and face posing, enabling power management of the display and maximizing battery life.
Improved Privacy and Security: WiseEye 2.0 NB can detect the presence of additional humans in the field of view and send an alert to the user.
Expanded Field of View (FOV): Optimized for 60-90 degree horizontal FOV and flexible vertical FOV as opposed to currently used simple sensors which are sensitive to screen angles. Wider FOV can enable early detection and sensing of flexible movement even when users are close to the screen.
Increased Distance Detection: High accuracy sensing of human presence from up to 5 meters away enables a quick response to user detection even when approaching the device at high speeds.
Production Friendly Technology: Does not need strict tolerances in mounting versus solutions that require calibration due to limited FOV.
Tiny Form Factor: The Himax 2-in-1 (AoS and RGB) CMOS image sensor is the first hybrid CMOS sensor specifically for notebook computers. The sensor combines high quality HD image capabilities with ultra-low-power visual sensing, for AI context awareness applications. The new CMOS sensor will be available at end of 2019
Privacy Awareness: The sensor image is processed entirely on the dedicated WiseEye 2.0 processor, co-located with the CMOS image sensor, so that the image is never transmitted to the main platform. This architecture is specially designed to meet the highest privacy standards.
“Expanding our industry leading intelligent vision solutions into notebook computing is a great achievement,” said Yoram Zylberberg, CEO of Emza Visual Sense, “applying ultra low-power machine learning AI for notebooks is the key especially while device operation is suspended to extend the life of the battery. Leveraging the AI benefits that we developed for IoT and now applying it to notebook is a great demonstration of the agility of our solution and our readiness to adapt the technology for specific customer requirements.”
Comments & Business Outlook
First Quarter 2019 Financial Results
Net Revenue for first quarter 2019 was $163.3 million vs last years same quarter of $162.9 million.
Non-IFRS EPS (Per Diluted ADS, USD) was ($0.011) vs last years same quarter of ($0.015).
“Our first quarter 2019 revenues, gross margin and EPS all met our guidance issued on February 19. The anticipated decline in revenue was primarily a result of several factors that include the impact of seasonality, customers’ inventory correction on smartphone and the worldwide sluggish automotive sales. IFRS gross margin for the first quarter declined sequentially due to less favorable product mix,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.
“As the current market conditions, including global economy, oversupply of TV panel markets, weak global smartphone demand and automotive sales, and customers’ ongoing downward inventory adjustment in smartphone TDDI, have not shown signs of improvement, we will continue to experience pricing and cost pressure. For the second quarter, we expect revenue to increase sequentially, driven primarily by the shipment increase of TDDI and traditional driver IC for smartphone. Gross margin, however, is expected to decline for three major reasons: higher material cost resulting from an industry-wide material shortage for the large panel driver IC, reduced WLO shipment per an anchor customer’s demand which leads to lower capacity utilization, and the product mix change in smartphone segment due to shipment increase of TDDI for lower-end market and traditional driver IC, both generate gross margin lower than the corporate average.”
“Looking ahead into the second half, among our major product segments, we expect TDDI and WLO shipments to increase significantly, offset by shipment decline of the traditional discrete driver ICs for smartphones and automotive display drivers. Notably, our TDDI solutions made good progress in diversifying into other leading smartphone end customers, winning more strategic projects and expanding to other applications beyond smartphone. Such new design-wins, new end customers and new markets will contribute to our TDDI sales in Q2 and a strong growth for the remainder of 2019. In terms of WLO business, we were informed of a product replacement decision by our WLO anchor customer after our last earnings call on February 19, 2019. Foreseeing that WLO shipment volume in 2019 will decline significantly starting from the third quarter, we disclosed the information in our 20-F filing in March. The filing also warned of the additional negative impact the anticipated volume fall-off would cause to our 2019 margin and profitability as the substantial cut-back of WLO fab capacity utilization would lead to higher equipment depreciation and fab overhead on a per unit basis. As it turns out, we have very recently been notified by the anchor customer of their new decision. Contrary to our earlier warning, we now expect the second half WLO shipment to increase significantly to a scale comparable to that of the same period last year with therefore similar amount of equipment depreciation and fab overhead charges on a per unit basis. In parallel, we expect the traditional discrete driver ICs for smartphone to decline substantially in the second half 2019 as its addressable market in smartphone continues to be quickly replaced by TDDI and AMOLED. Moreover, in automotive display segment, on the backdrop of a feeble car market, the penetration of displays into vehicles is also maturing. Therefore, we may not be able to see the same kind of growth that we enjoyed in the past several years. However, we are still the leader in this space and we are leading the market in the introduction of new technologies including TDDI, AMOLED and local dimming timing controller. We believe such new technologies will rejuvenate the industry and bring it back to a growth trajectory. As to our large-panel driver IC business, while the large display market is still clouded with concerns of oversupply and waning demand, our current forecast for the second half is showing signs of revenue rebound thanks to certain of our product upgrades and earlier design-wins and, most importantly, our efforts to secure additional COF capacity which is leading to more allocation from our panel customers and even more design-wins. The margin for large panel driver will likely still be under pressure during the second half but we are working on ways to improve the costs and margin,” said Mr. Jordan Wu.
“On 3D sensing, we continue to participate in most of the smartphone OEMs’ ongoing 3D sensing projects covering structured light and time-of-flight (ToF). At present, Android smartphone’s front-facing 3D sensing adoption is still hindered by the high hardware cost, long development lead time, and the lack of killer applications. Reacting to their lukewarm response, we started to work on the next generation SLiM™ 3D sensing, aiming to leapfrog the market by providing high performance, easy to adopt and yet cost friendly total solutions, targeting the majority of Android smartphone players. Currently, we have completed the feasibility study for Gen 2 SLiM™ solutions covering detailed specifications, performance and cost. We will seek feedback from Android smartphone OEMs to determine the way forward for 3D sensing total solution strategy. For the avoidance of doubt, we remain and are committed to be the leader in the optics for structured light 3D sensing where we are currently engaged in multiple development projects from multiple customers. Being a leading provider of 3D sensing technology, we are also an active participant in smartphone OEMs’ design projects for new devices involving ToF technology. Unlike structured light 3D sensing where we provide total solution or just projector module or optics depending on customers’ needs, with ToF, we will only focus on transmitter module by leveraging our WLO related expertise.”
“Last but not least, we fully realize that this quarter will mark the second consecutive quarter that we will make a bottom line loss, the first in our corporate history. While we remain committed to our big picture strategy, we are actively taking measures to get back to steady profitability,” said Mr. Jordan Wu.
Q2 2019 Outlook
Himax expects the second quarter gross margin to decline around 3% with slightly increasing revenue from the previous quarter. The Company fully realizes that this quarter mark the second consecutive quarter that it will make a bottom line loss, the first in the Company’s corporate history. While Himax remain committed to its big picture strategy, Himax is actively taking measures to get back to steady profitability. The second quarter gross margin will decline for three major reasons. Firstly, the higher material cost of the large panel driver IC resulting from an industry-wide material shortage will lead to lower gross margin. The Company’s large-size panel customers are going through a difficult period of increasing supply and lackluster demand right now. Himax thought it was prudent not to pass on the rising material cost to its customers as it used to for the consideration of long term relationship. Secondly, the gross margin of the WLO business would also fall because of reduced shipment per an anchor customer’s demand which will lead to lower capacity utilization. The Company expects the gross margin of WLO to return to a much-improved level in the second half when orders are expected to come back strongly, reflecting the anchor customer’s demand seasonality. Finally, smartphone segment gross margin would likely shrink a little for product mix change. Himax anticipates significant sequential increase in the second quarter shipment of TDDI for lower-end market and certain traditional discrete driver IC for smartphones. Both will generate gross margins lower than the corporate average.
Based on its Q1 results and Q2 outlook, Himax’s 1H19 revenue would experience year-over-year decline as the current market conditions have not shown signs of improvement. The uncertain market conditions, including global economy, oversupply of TV panel markets, weak global smartphone demand and automotive sales, have led to pricing and cost pressure for Himax. Customers’ ongoing downward inventory adjustment in smartphone TDDI was also outside of the Company’s expectation. However, looking ahead into the second half, among its major product segments, the Company expects TDDI and WLO shipments to increase significantly, offset by shipment decline of the traditional discrete driver ICs for smartphones and automotive display drivers. Automotive display drivers are expected to stay relatively weak following several years’ strong and continuous growth.
Last but not least, Himax continues to tighten its cost and expense controls. The Company is in the process of bringing inventory down from an unusually high level which was built up in response to material shortage. It expects to begin to see reduction in inventory days and in absolute value in Q2. The Company is also putting close control in R&D expenses, targeting to continuing R&D activities across its strategic areas without raising R&D expenses from the last year. These include next generation display driver technology for 8K TV and AMOLED, 3D sensing for both mobile phone and non-mobile phone applications and AI-based ultra-low power smart sensing solutions. Total opex for 2019 is budgeted to be at around the same level as that of the last year excluding the anticipated increase of $4.9 million in depreciation arising primarily from the construction of the new fab.
Comparing to the First quarter 2019 revenues, Himax expects large display driver ICs to decline by mid-teens, small and medium-sized display driver IC to increase by more than 20% and its non-driver IC business to increase by mid-single digit in the second quarter 2019.
Contract Awards
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced an in-cell Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI) design win for a major Korean smartphone maker. Following the Company’s November 8th, third quarter 2018 conference call, Himax has secured several, additional design wins for leading smartphone OEMs, automotive displays and other applications, most of which the Company expects to ship in 2019.
“We are very pleased to have secured another marquee design win and multiple others over the past two months,” began Jordan Wu, President and CEO Himax Technologies. “Smartphones are refreshing their designs and capabilities beginning with widespread TDDI adoption. TDDI is cost-effective, saves space needed to add new technologies such as 3D sensing technologies for smartphones. We have developed applications across many of our business segments. Our TDDI sales to an expanding list of customers will be one of our strongest growth drivers this year and into next.”
According to a 2018 report published by IHS Market, TDDI sales are expected to increase from 380 million units in 2018, to 510 million units in 2019, representing 34.2% growth year-over-year. As announced on the Company’s third quarter 2018 conference call, Himax secured its TDDI capacity with existing and new fabricators to fully support its rapidly growing TDDI business.
Himax’s TDDI ASPs are higher than traditional display drivers. TDDI sales are expected to significantly contribute to Himax’s year-over-year revenue and profitability growth.
Himax’s TDDI design win at this major Korean smartphone maker is expected to begin shipping in the first quarter of this year and may expand to more models. This design win is one of many additional design wins secured with tier-1 smartphone OEMs and several other customers. Himax expects to more than double its TDDI sales and market share year-over-year.
Notable Share Transactions
TAINAN, Taiwan, Nov. 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced that its Chairman Dr. Biing-Seng Wu intends to use his personal funds to purchase up to approximately $5 million of the Company's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") in the open market, subject to market conditions and other factors.
As of September 30, 2018, Dr. Biing-Seng Wu beneficially owns approximately 20.7% of the total outstanding shares of the Company.
Dr. Biing-Seng Wu’s share purchase plan will be executed in accordance with the manner, timing, price and volume conditions of Rule 10b5-1 and Rule 10b-18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The share purchase plan demonstrates the management's tremendous confidence in the Company's long-term prospects.
Comments & Business Outlook
Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results
The third quarter revenues of $188.4 million represented an increase of 3.9% sequentially and a decrease of 4.4% year-over-year.
Third quarter non-IFRS profit was $4.5 million, or 2.6 cents per diluted ADS, compared to $2.3 million, or 1.3 cents per diluted ADS last quarter and $8.9 million, or 5.2 cents per diluted ADS the same period last year.
The Company’s third quarter 2018 revenues, gross margin and EPS all exceeded guidance as it previously announced on October 5th. The revenues increase in the quarter was attributed to greater-than-expected production outputs of the new foundries for both large display driver ICs and TDDI chips that allowed Himax to fulfill more customer orders. As anticipated, its WLO shipment volume to an anchor customer also increased significantly against that of Q2 2018. Gross margin was 23.4%, up 40 basis points sequentially, outperforming the guidance by 90 basis points. A more favorable product mix and stronger-than-expected engineering fees from project engagements enhanced the gross margin.
“As indicated in the last earnings call, we are confident that we are moving out of the trough and will deliver better performance in the fourth quarter and next year. We are seeing solid growth momentum in the areas of TDDI, WLO and large display driver IC in the fourth quarter, despite the prevailing weak sentiment in the overall consumer electronics and in particular the smartphone market. Traditional discrete display driver for smartphone, however, will continue to decline in Q4 as it is being quickly replaced by TDDI and AMOLED as we mentioned repeatedly. The other area of decline in Q4 will be the display driver for tablet, a sector which is still experiencing weak market demand,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.
“We expect our large display driver IC business will grow sequentially benefiting from Chinese panel makers’ strong demand and our newly added foundry capacity to improve order fulfillment, despite the new emergence of an industry wide capacity constraint in large panel display driver’s packaging. For the small and medium-sized business, we expect our TDDI revenue of fourth quarter to double from the last quarter, attributed to the ramping of the new foundry capacity to fulfill more customer orders. We target to completely resolve our TDDI foundry capacity issue in the third quarter of next year. As expected, our traditional discrete driver IC sales into smartphone is set to decline by close to 50% sequentially in the fourth quarter as the market is being quickly replaced by TDDI and AMOLED. This segment will account for less than 5% of our total sales in the fourth quarter. Combining TDDI and discrete smartphone driver, our Q4 sales into the smartphone market is expected to grow more than 20% sequentially.”
“For the non-driver areas, we expect the WLO shipment for the fourth quarter will have a very significant sequential growth thanks to the customer's large-scale adoption on more models. As to our 3D sensing business, we have participated in most of the smartphone OEMs’ ongoing 3D sensing projects covering all three types of technologies, namely structured light, active stereo camera (ASC) and time-of-flight, where we provide 3D sensing total solution or just the projector or optics inside the module, depending on the customers’ needs. By offering either the projector or critical optics, we are already collaborating with a small handful of smartphone names that have in-house capability to come up with their own customized 3D sensing solutions. We already have one such end customer using our technology for mass production with two more in the pipeline targeting 2019 product launch. For most Android smartphone makers who don’t have such in-house capability, however, we aim to provide total solution to enable their 3D sensing. At present, the 3D sensing adoption for this market remains low. The adoption is hindered primarily by the prevailing high hardware cost of 3D sensing, the long development lead time required to integrate it into the smartphone and the lack of killer applications. Instead of 3D sensing, most of the Android phone makers have chosen the lower cost finger print technology which can achieve similar phone unlock and online payment functions with somewhat compromised user experience. Reacting to their lukewarm response, we are working on the next generation 3D sensing with an aim to leapfrog the market by providing high performance, easy to adopt and yet cost friendly total solutions, targeting most of the Android smartphone players. We believe that 3D sensing will be widely used by more Android smartphone makers when the ecosystem is able to substantially lower the cost of adoption while offering easy to use, fully integrated total solutions, for which Himax is playing a key part,” said Mr. Jordan Wu.
Q4 2018 Outlook
The Company is confident that its moving out of the trough and will deliver better performance in the fourth quarter and next year. Himax is seeing solid growth momentum in the areas of TDDI, WLO and large display driver IC in the fourth quarter, despite the prevailing weak sentiment in the overall consumer electronics and in particular the smartphone market in the fourth quarter. Traditional discrete display driver for smartphone, however, will continue to decline in Q4 as it is being quickly replaced by TDDI and AMOLED as Himax mentioned repeatedly. The other area of decline in Q4 will be the display driver for tablet, a sector which is still experiencing weak market demand.
Comparing to the third quarter revenues, Himax expects a high single digit growth for large driver ICs; a low single digit decline for small and medium-sized driver IC and a low single digit growth for its non-driver IC business.
Comments & Business Outlook
Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results
Revenues were $188.4 million, an increase of 3.9% sequentially versus guidance of around flat from the last quarter.
Non-IFRS earnings per diluted ADS were 2.6 cents, higher than the Company’s guidance of around 1.5 cents.
Company Rebuttal
TAINAN, Taiwan, Sept. 10, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today responded to a false and misleading article, Why Himax Technologies Is Struggling, published by Motley Fool, an online stock commentary blog, dated September 6, 2018. The article has subsequently been picked up by major public portals such as Nasdaq, Yahoo Finance, etc, and spread out in the investor community. The Company cautions investors that the Motley Fool article contains false and misleading information.
The Company expects TDDI will contribute substantial year-over-year growth for 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, Himax expects its WLO shipment to its anchor customer will increase substantially throughout the second half of this year and represent significant growth versus 2H17 and sequentially, versus the first half of 2018. Contributing to its growth expectations, Himax citied its strong pipeline of new WLO R&D projects with the anchor customer and other tier-1 customers.
For Android smartphones, Himax also believes its recently announced Active Stereo Camera (ASC) 3D sensing solution, jointly developed with MediaTek and Megvii for mass market models, and the Qualcomm/Himax jointly developed structured light 3D sensing solution for high end smartphone models will facilitate a broader adoption of 3D sensing on Android smartphones during 2019. The Company targets to begin 3D sensing product shipment towards the end of the year or early 2019 with major ramp in 2019.
“Our business is strong and strategic initiatives remain on track. In fact, our shipments of WLO products are accelerating in 3Q18 and the shipment of 3D sensing products will start towards the end of the year or early 2019. We are very excited about the promising outlook for TDDI, WLO and 3D sensing businesses in the second half of 2018 and leading into 2019. We are more optimistic than ever about the growth opportunities of all three product segments. TDDI, WLO and 3D sensing will significantly contribute to the Company’s top and bottom lines as they represent higher average sales prices (ASPs) and profitability than its traditional display driver IC business,” said Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax.
Comments & Business Outlook
Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results
The second quarter revenues of $181.4 million represented an increase of 11.4% sequentially and an increase of 19.5% year-over-year.
Second quarter non-IFRS profit was $2.3 million, or 1.3 cents per diluted ADS, compared to a loss of $2.6 million, or 1.5 cents per diluted ADS last quarter and a loss of $0.3 million, or 0.2 cents per diluted ADS the same period last year.
“The Company’s second quarter 2018 revenues and gross margin met our guidance while IFRS earnings per diluted ADS exceeded guidance. The anticipated sequential growth in revenue was mainly driven by accelerating TDDI shipment in the smartphone sector and further growth in the automotive sector in the small and medium-sized display driver business. Furthermore, our WLO business in the non-driver IC business rebounded as anticipated. Shipment volume increased and WLO capacity utilization improved subsequently,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.
“Looking into the third quarter, we expect our large display driver IC business will grow sequentially benefiting from Chinese panel customers’ capacity expansion and the ramping of new fabs. Our small and medium-sized business is likely to decline as our growth in the automotive segment will be offset by the significant decline of smartphone sales. The soft smartphone sales was caused by our limited TDDI shipment due to the constraint of industry pervasive capacity shortage issue and the traditional discrete driver IC is being replaced quickly by TDDI and AMOLED. To capture the TDDI opportunity, we have been working very hard to source and qualify additional foundry capacity. We expect the addition of new foundry capacity for TDDI will start mass production toward early fourth quarter and will substantially grow our TDDI revenue starting from Q4 2018.”
“For the non-driver areas, we expect the WLO shipment for the second half of 2018 will increase significantly versus the first half. As to our 3D sensing business, we are in partnership with several leading smartphone names to enable their 3D sensing by providing optics, projector or total solution, depending on customer’s needs and their in-house capabilities. The projects we are involved in cover all three types of 3D sensing technologies, namely structured light, active stereo camera (ASC), and to a lesser extent, time-of-flight (ToF). 3D sensing for Android smartphone market is still at a nascent stage with very limited adoption in 2018. We expect the market adoption will pick up starting 2019. With our comprehensive technology coverage, proven manufacturing expertise, new solutions roadmap and alliances with leading AP platform providers, we believe we are best positioned to be the partner of choice for Android smartphone makers in their 3D sensing projects,” said Mr. Jordan Wu.
Q3 2018 Outlook
Comparing to the second quarter revenues, Himax expects single digit growth for large driver ICs; mid single digit decline for small and medium-sized driver IC and around 15% growth for its non-driver IC business.
Regular Dividend News
TAINAN, Taiwan, June 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today declared a cash dividend of 10 cents per ADS, equivalent to 5 cents per ordinary share, for the year of 2017.
The cash dividend will be payable on July 31, 2018 to all the shareholders of record as of July 19, 2018. The ADS book will be closed for issuance and cancellation from July 12, 2018 to July 19, 2018. Typically, Himax pays out its yearly dividend at approximately the middle of its current calendar year based on the Company's previous year's financial performance.
"Since our IPO in 2006, we have remained committed to a dividend policy," said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies, Inc. "This year's dividend represents a payout ratio of 61.7% based on our fiscal year 2017 profit. The high payout ratio demonstrates our continued support of our shareholder base and strong confidence in the outlook for 2018 and beyond. As reported in the last few earnings calls, we are investing a total of $105 million of the Phase I capital expenditure for new building’s construction, WLO capacity expansion and installation of active alignment equipment to support our 3D sensing business. Our decision for the high dividend payout ratio, notwithstanding the high capital expenditure this year, reflects our confidence on the healthy balance sheet, cash flow and the strong return expected of such expansion."
Comments & Business Outlook
First Quarter 2018 Financial Results
The first quarter revenues of $162.9 million represented a decrease of 10.1% sequentially and an increase of 4.9% year-over-year.
First quarter non-IFRS loss was $2.6 million, or 1.5 cents per diluted ADS, compared to non-IFRS profit of $23.8 million, or 13.8 cents per diluted ADS last quarter and non-IFRS profit of $1.6 million, or 1.0 cent in the same period last year.
“The Company’s first quarter 2018 revenues came in at the high end of our guidance while gross margin and IFRS loss per diluted ADS were both better than guidance. The anticipated sequential decline in revenue was mainly due to lower sales in the smartphone segment in the small and medium-sized display driver business reflecting seasonality and the overall weak smartphone market, as well as the much reduced WLO shipment in the non-driver businesses per the anchor customer’s demand forecast. Despite the decline in the first quarter of 2018, Himax expects a solid rebound in the second quarter overall and sequential growth across all three major product categories,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.
“Going into the second quarter, while our large display driver IC business will continue benefiting from Chinese panel customers’ ongoing capacity expansion and in-cell TDDI shipment for smartphone in the small and medium display driver IC business will benefit from the new model launches, the growth in both segments would be somewhat offset by the foundry capacity shortage issue. We are working very hard to source and qualify additional foundry capacity in addition to securing more capacity from the existing foundries. As to automotive segment, we continue to have new projects going into mass production which were design-wins of the prior years.”
“For the non-driver areas, we are optimistic that WLO shipment to the anchor customer for the second quarter will rise from that of the first quarter per customer’s forecast. SLiM™, our structured light based 3D sensing total solution, which we announced jointly with Qualcomm for Android-based smartphone last August is ready for mass production. The Qualcomm/Himax solution is by far the highest quality 3D sensing total solution available for the Android market right now. However, because each smartphone maker’s design and requirement for facial recognition and online payment are somewhat different and therefore the integration of structured light 3D sensing technologies into end products, typically flagship or premium models, is taking longer than we anticipated. We are now targeting the end of the year for shipment to customers for their smartphones’ sales in the first quarter of next year. As to the active stereoscopic camera (ASC) 3D sensing solution plan that we unveiled in the last earnings call, the joint development with an industry leading AP platform player is well under way. The ASC 3D sensing solution, a lower cost alternative to structured light 3D sensing solution for its relatively simple projector, is targeting more mass market smartphone models for facial recognition. Our goal is to have ASC 3D sensing solution ready for mass production by the end of this year. Overall, we believe the 3D sensing adoption on Android smartphone in 2018 would be limited but foresee the market demands will increase substantially starting 2019. With our leading technologies, proven manufacturing expertise, new solution roadmap and alliance with leading AP providers, we believe we are well positioned to be the partner of choice for Android smartphone makers in their 3D sensing projects.”
“Last but not the least, we are pleased to report an emerging optical fingerprint opportunity for the non-driver CMOS image sensor business. Combining the leading fingerprint solution design of our partner and a low-power CMOS image sensor with superior sensitivity which we fully customized for this purpose, a number of design-in projects are already ongoing and we expect more to come,” added Mr. Wu. “Along with the new smartphone designs featuring edge-to-edge displays, structured light 3D sensing and ASC 3D sensing, both for facial recognition, as well as under-display optical sensor for fingerprint authentication are three new approaches for phone unlock and online payment to replace the traditional home button with capacitive fingerprint technology. Himax is uniquely positioned in that we offer critical technologies in all of the three solutions and are already a key player by forming different collaboration partnerships for each of the three alternatives. They represent immense revenue opportunities with much higher ASP and gross margin versus our mainstream display driver IC business.”
Second Quarter 2018 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the second quarter of 2018:
Acquisitions
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced the acquisition of certain advanced nano 3D masters manufacturing assets and related intellectual property and business from a US-based technology company. The transaction is expected to be closed in February 2018. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The advanced nano 3D manufacturing masters are primarily used in imprinting or stamping replication process to fabricate devices such as diffractive optical element (DOE), diffuser, collimator lens and micro lens array. The acquisition brings Himax the very upstream master tooling capability to supplement the company’s world leading wafer level optics (WLO) technology, which is critical in its efforts to offer 3D sensing total solutions. In addition, certain intellectual properties such as those related to true grey scale image and micro lens arrays will enable Himax to enter into new markets such as biomedical, computational camera and niche displays, and develop more sophisticated DOE and diffuser for future generation 3D sensing solutions.
Himax IGI Precision Ltd. (“Himax IGI”), a wholly owned subsidiary, has been established for the said acquisition. Himax IGI, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, will continue to invest in the development of state-of-the-art nano 3D mastering technology and solutions. The fact that the operation is US-based will be an additional advantage for many of Himax’s US customers who are leading technology breakthroughs and would appreciate a strong local-based, early-stage R&D collaboration partner.
Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax, said, “The team that are joining us along with the acquisition are true experts in what they do and are arguably the best talents in the world in the small but very technically challenging field of nano 3D mastering. We sometimes got frustrated by the less than satisfactory result in our WLO product development, unsure whether the issue was caused by the quality of the master or our own product design or manufacturing. By adding mastering know-how into our family, we can surely enhance the overall WLO product quality and shorten our development cycle. I am sure many of our innovation driven customers will be thrilled to hear that finally someone has taken the right move to bring nano 3D mastering, design and manufacturing of high precision optical structure product all under the same roof.”
Company Rebuttal
TAINAN, Taiwan, Dec. 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today responded to a tweet published by Citron Research, an online stock commentary blog, dated December 6, 2017.
The Company reaffirms its commitment to transparent and reliable shareholder communication, and its adherence to the highest standards of corporate governance. Himax cautions investors that Citron Research has never made any contacts with the Company and that the tweet did not contain any input from the Company. Himax categorically denies any and all allegations of fraud.
“Himax welcomes an open dialogue with any and all shareholders,” said Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax. “The accusations made by Citron Research are baseless and both the management team and board of directors strongly disagree with their comments.”
Comments & Business Outlook
Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results
The third quarter revenues of $197.1 million represented an increase of 29.9% sequentially and a decrease of 9.6% year-over-year.
Third quarter non-GAAP net income was $9.0 million, or 5.2 cents per diluted ADS, compared to non-GAAP net loss of $0.3 million, or 0.2 cent per diluted ADS, in the previous quarter and non-GAAP net income of $21.3 million, or 12.4 cents per diluted ADS, a year ago.
“Despite the decline in the first half in our business, we delivered solid results in the third quarter, achieving both top and bottom line growth across all three major product categories. One of the highlights of our third quarter business is the joint announcement with Qualcomm to unveil our 3D sensing total solution. The announcement detailed the two companies’ collaboration in the development and commercialization of high resolution, low power active 3D depth sensing solutions for the Android smartphone ecosystem. The Qualcomm/Himax SLiM™ (Structured Light Imaging Module) solution is state-of-the-art and the only true 3D sensing total solution available for the Android market right now,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. “The Company’s SLiM™ total solution brings together Qualcomm’s industry leading 3D algorithm with Himax’s advanced diffraction optical element (DOE) design and mass-production-proven wafer level optics for the projector and cutting-edge NIR sensors with superior quantum efficiency for the receiver. To complete the Company’s turn-key solution for the Android market, Himax has put together an A team by partnering with a few top players in their respective industry, covering laser, NIR camera lens, IR filter, semiconductor foundry and module assembly. This strong alliance will ensure that the Company’s SLiM™ 3D sensing total solution will be an accountable and competitive total solution for customers’ volume ramping. The SLiM™ total solution represents a very high barrier of entry for any potential competition and a much higher ASP and profit margin for us. We are targeting to have the SLiM™ 3D sensing total solution and production capacity ready for mass production and shipment by the end of the first quarter of 2018 with an initial capacity of 2 million units per month. The initial capacity is part of our Phase I investment of $80 million. We will ramp as needed to meet our customers’ launch timetable,” Mr. Wu further said.
Himax believes 3D sensing is among the most significant new features for the next generation smartphone. It is a game-changing opportunity for the Company and will be the Himax’s biggest growth engine for the next few years. “We are excited that Apple has pioneered the 3D sensing technology on iPhone X and is paving the way for smartphone to become a major AR platform. In the Android market, we are seeing leading players also aggressively looking to adopt 3D sensing. We are in close collaboration with multiple top tier Android smartphone OEMs, aggressively aiming to launch flagship smartphone models with 3D sensing total solution during the first half of 2018. By the time we started shipping our 3D total solutions, they will be major contributor to both our revenues and profit, consequently creating a more favorable product mix for us,” said Mr. Wu.
Fourth Quarter 2017 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the fourth quarter of 2017:
Company Rebuttal
TAINAN, Taiwan, Sept. 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today responded to a research report issued by Andrew Uerkwitz, an analyst from Oppenheimer & Co., dated September 7, 2017. While Himax respects the research analyst’s own opinions, the Company reaffirms its financial and operational prospects and would caution investors that the report did not contain any input from the Company.
“Our business and strategic initiatives remain on track,” said Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax. “We have publicly presented management’s view on our businesses including display driver IC segment and 3D sensing opportunities with very consistent messages to the investment community. We also recently announced 3D sensing total solution on August 30, 2017. We remain optimistic in our leading position in the 3D sensing supply chain, and have strong confidence that we will achieve the deliverables on the existing and new growth opportunities.”
The Company would like to caution investors that the Oppenheimer analyst has not spoken to the company in the past four months despite multiple offers. The Company disagrees with the analyst's view on our business prospects and his statements regarding the Company’s position within the 3D sensing supply chain.
Comments & Business Outlook
Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results
The second quarter revenues of $151.7 million represented a decrease of 2.2% sequentially, and 24.5% year-over-year.
Second quarter non-GAAP net loss was $0.3 million, or 0.2 cent per diluted ADS, compared to non-GAAP net income of $1.7 million last quarter and non-GAAP net income of $20.2 million the same period last year.
Mr. Wu said, “We have refreshed our product roadmap and delivered better product cost to our existing and newly added customers in the large display driver IC segment. Moreover, sales into smartphones already rebounded in June as customers have started to replenish inventories for new product release. Our FHD+ solutions for 18:9 displays and TDDI have drawn tremendous interests from top tier brands, not to mention that our discrete touch panel controller ICs and driver ICs for automotive applications continue to grow strongly in the small-and-medium display driver segment. Last but not the least, we have delivered AMOLED product samples to some customers in the second quarter.” Mr. Wu continued, “Judging by the on-going design-in activities and schedules of mass shipment for key projects across all product lines, we have high confidence that our display driver IC business will resume strong growth momentum in the second half.“
“We are also optimistic about the growth prospects for our non-driver business, most notably with our industry leading structure light integrated solution for 3D sensing and WLO. Our 3D sensing solution consists of several critical in-house technologies, including advanced optics utilizing our world leading WLO technology, laser driver IC, high precision active alignment for the projector assembly, high performance near-infrared CMOS image sensor and an ASIC chip for 3D depth map generation. These building blocks enable us to react quickly and tailor our solutions to customers’ specific needs. While we prefer to offer a total solution, we can also provide those critical in-house technologies individually to select customers so as to best accommodate their specific needs. We are in close collaboration with select leading smartphone makers and partners, aiming to bring our total solution to mass production as early as early 2018 to meet our top-tier customers' aggressive launch timetables. 3D sensing total solution represents a very high entry barrier for potential competition and much higher ASP for Himax. By the time we start shipping our total solutions, it will contribute greatly to our revenue and profit, and consequently a more favorable product mix for us,” said Mr. Wu.
“In the last earnings call, we reported that this year’s capex will be significantly higher than usual. We also reported the urgent addition of new WLO capacity to meet the rush demand of a certain customer. This new capacity is located in our existing headquarters in which we retrofitted space to make room for the new equipment. The project is going smoothly as planned. A major ramp of the new WLO capacity has already started at the beginning of the third quarter and will accelerate throughout the remainder of 2017 and beyond,” Mr. Wu continued.
Mr. Wu further said, “For the other major capex project of this year, we reported the construction of a new building is going well and everything is proceeding according to schedule. The new building, located near our current headquarters, will house additional 8” glass WLO capacity and provide the extra office space we desperately need. The new building will be completed and ready for personnel and equipment move-in by the end of 2017 or early 2018. Its timely completion is particularly critical for our 3D sensing total solution business as it will house the new WLO capacity needed for multiple smartphone customers.”
“Judging from our customers’ enthusiasm, we are planning to kick-start the phase II capital expansion beyond the phase I’s $80 million mark that we announced earlier much sooner than expected in order to fulfill the strong 3D sensing demand for the next 2-3 years. The phase II capacity will still be located in the new building, which has sufficient room to house capacity much in excess of the phase II expansion. We expect the phase II investment to provide a handsome return and will entrench Himax as top tier customers’ 3D sensing go-to supplier for our leading technology and reliable capacity support in this up and coming industry with tremendous growth potential,” said Mr. Wu.
With regards to CMOS Image Sensor, Himax said its NIR sensor is a critical part in its structured light 3D sensing total solution. Its NIR sensors deliver superior quantum efficiency in the NIR range, especially over 940nm band which is critical for outdoor applications. On the LCOS product line, in addition to AR application, Himax said it’s making great progress in developing high-end head-up-display for automotive applications.
Third Quarter 2017 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the third quarter of 2017:
Net Revenue: To increase 23.0% to 30.0% sequentially
Regular Dividend News
TAINAN, Taiwan, June 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today declared a cash dividend of 24 cents per ADS, equivalent to 12 cents per ordinary share, for the year of 2016.
The cash dividend will be payable on August 14, 2017 to all the shareholders of record as of July 31, 2017. The ADS book will be closed for issuance and cancellation from July 24, 2017 to July 31, 2017. Typically, Himax pays out its yearly dividend at approximately the middle of its current calendar year based on the Company's previous year's financial performance.
“Since our IPO in 2006, we have remained committed to a dividend policy," said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies, Inc. "This year's dividend represents a payout ratio of 81.4% based on our fiscal year 2016 profit. The high payout ratio demonstrates our continued support of our shareholder base and strong confidence in the outlook for 2017 and beyond. As reported in the last few earnings calls, we are enlarging our WLO capacity within the current headquarters to meet certain anchor customer's strong demand starting 2017. We are also constructing a new building to house further WLO capacity, the next generation LCOS production lines, and additional office space. Our decision for the high dividend payout ratio, notwithstanding the high capital expenditure this year and next, reflects our confidence on the healthy balance sheet, cash flow and the strong return expected of such expansion."
Comments & Business Outlook
First Quarter 2017 Financial Results
Net revenue for the first quarter decreased 23.7% sequentially to $155.2 million, in line with the Company’s guidance.
Q1 2017 GAAP net income was $1.4 million, or 0.8 cents per diluted ADS, versus GAAP net income of $4.4 million, or 2.6 cents per diluted ADS, in the fourth quarter of 2016, in line with the Company’s guidance of 0.5 to 2.0 cents.
“Our first quarter revenue, gross margin and GAAP earnings per diluted ADS all met our guidance previously issued on February 16th,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. “The decline in revenue was primarily a result of several factors that include fewer working days in China and Taiwan, decreased sales in large-sized driver IC business from the phase-out of certain customers’ old models, lower smartphone driver IC sales due to weak China market demand, customers’ continued inventory adjustment and increasing TDDI and AMOLED adoption causing the shrinking addressable market for pure TFT-LCD driver ICs for smartphone; and to a less extent, discontinuation of LCOS and WLO shipment to one of our leading AR device customers. Despite the temporary slowdown experienced in our driver IC business, we continue to work closely with our customers across China, Taiwan and Korea, of which the design-in activities all remain robust.”
Mr. Wu continued: “As we move through 2017, we are seeing ongoing weakness in China smartphone market and the temporary slowdown of our large-size driver IC business. In spite of the short-term headwind, we are positive on DDIC business outlook because of expected shipments for certain customers’ 4K TV models and TDDI products. Various areas of the non-driver IC businesses are also expected to contribute to the improvement of our overall financials from second half of the year. With respect to the non-driver business, particularly in the WLO and CMOS Image Sensor products of 3D scanning solutions, we believe it is one of the most significant new applications for the next generation smartphone. Himax is well recognized to be the front runner and world leader in this important technology. Our SLiMTM product line is the state of the art total solutions for 3D sensing and scanning based on structured light technology, of which we can also provide individual technologies separately to selected customers to accommodate their specific needs. We are seeing strong demand for 3D scanning products from multiple top name customers who are either collaborating with us or engaging us for advanced stage discussions. In light of the promising new business opportunities around the corner, we will continue to invest heavily in R&D and customer engineering regardless of the prevailing unfavorable business conditions. We are aware that this will hit our short-term bottom line, but we believe such investment is extremely important and will bring in very handsome return in the next few years. Our confidence on our strong growth prospects is also evidenced by the unprecedented heavy CAPEX plan for 2017. As announced previously, this year’s CAPEX will be significantly higher than usual. In the last earnings call, we reported the urgent addition of new WLO capacity to meet the near term demands of certain customers. We are pleased to report that the project is going smoothly as planned. Major ramp of the new WLO capacity is scheduled to start from the third quarter of 2017. With regards to AoSTM solutions, we believe our strategic investment in Emza announced in April will enable us to provide turn-key solution and transform AoS sensor to an information analytics device. On the LCOS product line, in addition to AR application, we are pleased to report that we are making great progress in developing high-end head-up-display for automotive applications. As excited as we are on the prospect of non-drive IC products and notwithstanding driver IC’s short term pressure, driver IC has been a core part of our business and will remain so in any foreseeable future. Our technology strength, total solution capability and long term customer relationships in driver IC business remain intact. Overall, we are committed to diversify our product portfolio and customer base with innovative technologies. We believe these will significantly increase shareholder value ultimately.”
Second Quarter 2017 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the second quarter of 2017:
Net Revenue: To be down around 5.0% to flat sequentially
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, April 13, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced that it has made a strategic investment in cash in exchange for a 45.1% equity ownership of Emza Visual Sense Ltd. (“Emza”), with a one-year option to acquire the remaining 54.9% of Emza’s equity and all outstanding stock options. Purchase price to acquire the remaining equity and all outstanding stock options of Emza if Himax elects to exercise the one-year option includes an all-cash initial purchase amount, along with earnout payments contingent on the performance of Emza. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Emza Visual Sense Ltd. is an Israeli company dedicated to the development of extremely efficient visual sensors that include proprietary machine-vision algorithms and specific architectures that deliver always-on visual sensing capabilities, achieving orders of magnitude improvement in power consumption.
“This strategic investment in Emza compliments our previously announced ultra low power CMOS image sensor product and initiatives in delivering turn-key solutions for ‘always-on’ smart camera that enables devices capable of real-time contextual awareness, such as face detection and human presence detection and motion,” said Jordan Wu, CEO of Himax. “Together, we can transform our AoS sensor from a simple ‘image capturing device’ to an ‘information analytics device’ that offers significantly more value to our customers. This exciting new computer vision market demands highly efficient sensors, algorithms, camera and processor architectures capable of delivering extremely low power consumption in a small form factor so that it can be easily integrated into TVs and smartphones, as well as AR/VR, IoT, and AI devices.”
“Our partnership with Himax, who shares our vision of sub-milliwatt always-on visual sensors, provides Emza with access to a unique technology of ultra low-power CMOS and semi-conductors,” said Yoram Zylberberg, CEO of Emza. “Achieving the breakthrough of advanced computer vision at ultra low-power consumption requires tight integration between the silicon and algorithms. Our partnership with Himax gives us the opportunity to efficiently achieve and commercialize these breakthroughs.”
Comments & Business Outlook
Fourth Quarter 2016 Financial Results
Net revenue for the fourth quarter of 2016 decreased 6.7% sequentially to $203.4 million, in line with the Company’s guidance.
Q4 2016 Non-GAAP net income was $4.8 million, or 2.8 cents per diluted ADS, versus Non-GAAP net income of $21.3 million, or 12.4 cents per diluted ADS, in the third quarter of 2016. Excluding the additional inventory write-down, Non-GAAP net income would have been $15.1 million, or 8.8 cents per diluted ADS.
"Our 2016 fourth quarter revenue, gross margin, GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted ADS were as pre-announced on January 26th. We reported net revenues of $203.4 million, representing a 6.7% sequential decrease and in-line with our original guidance of a 4.0% to 9.0% sequential decline issued on November 10, 2016 while gross margin and EPS were below the guidance due to an additional inventory write-down. Nevertheless, we still delivered solid results to achieve both top and bottom line growth during 2016 as our driver and non-driver business segments both performed strongly,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. “Notably, we increased market share in our core driver IC business in 2016 and continued to solidify our leading position through technology advancement and customer engagement. We continued to lead the market in major new driver IC technology trends, including higher display resolution, AMOLED and in-cell TDDI. We have collaborated closely with leading panel makers across China for AMOLED product development. On the TDDI front, we made volume shipments to a leading Chinese smartphone customer and were busy with design-in activities with Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese panel makers. Our non-driver businesses experienced tremendous growth during 2016, primarily driven by the LCOS and WLO businesses due to shipments to one of our leading AR device customers. We also made solid progress in new territories such as 3D depth scanning, IoT and machine vision with our latest CIS and WLO products, evidenced by more design-ins and engagements with certain heavyweight partners.”
Mr. Wu continued: “In the first quarter of 2017, we are seeing weaker seasonality and market demand in associated with our core driver IC business and anticipating near-term headwinds in our non-driver business mainly due to lower LCOS and WLO revenues resulted from our major AR customer’s shift in focus to the development of future generation devices. We also expect our gross margin to be under pressure in the short term due to continuous pricing pressure and less favorable product mix of driver IC products, lower revenues from high-margin AR/VR related businesses and lower NRE income. That being said, looking into 2017, we will leverage our total solution capabilities and focus on major new technology trends to maintain our leading position in our core driver IC business. We also remain positive on the long-term growth prospect of our non-driver business. We are particularly excited about recent developments especially in WLO and CIS product lines where we offer unique and market leading technologies and solutions for IoT and machine vision applications. We have proceeded with the expansion plan for our next generation LCOS and WLO production lines and will start to construct the new office/fab soon. In addition, to meet the strong demand of new customers for our WLO technology, we are accelerating our WLO capacity expansion. After many years of R&D and product development, we may see significant business progress in our non-driver business to contribute to both top and bottom lines out of WLO and CIS areas as early as the second half of 2017. Taken together, we remain committed to our long-term strategy to diversify our product and customer base with innovative technologies, which ultimately, should increase shareholder value.”
First Quarter 2017 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the first quarter of 2017:
Net Revenue: To be down 18.0% to 25.0% sequentially
In providing the above earnings guidance, Himax has assumed a 16.5% income tax rate for 2017, calculated based on exchange rate of NTD 31.0 against the USD, which is also the exchange rate as of beginning of February 2017.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today pre-announced preliminary unaudited financial results for the three months ended December 31, 2016. Revenues in the fourth quarter were in-line with the Company’s previous guidance issued on November 10, 2016, while gross margin and EPS were below the guidance.
Revenues were $203.4 million, a sequential decline of 6.7% from $218.1 million in the third quarter of 2016 and in-line with the Company’s guidance of a 4.0% to 9.0% sequential decline.
Gross margin was 19.1% versus guidance of “slightly down” from 25.6% reported in the third quarter of 2016. The lower gross margin is the result of an additional one-time, non-cash inventory write-down totaling $12.0 million. Excluding this additional inventory write-down, gross margin would have been 25.0% and met the guidance. The $12.0 million inventory write-down is on top of the $2.7 million original inventory write-off estimate for the fourth quarter. In comparison, the inventory write-off amounts were $2.5 million, $3.0 million and $2.5 million for the first, second and third quarter of 2016, respectively. The vast majority of the additional write-down was related to certain aged inventories of traditional human vision CMOS image sensors (“CIS”) with smaller amounts also covering driver IC and other products. Earlier in 2016, we decided to switch our strategy of the CIS business to focus on smart sensor, machine vision segments, as opposed to the traditional human vision segments. As part of this new strategic direction, we made a decision recently to expedite the sales of some aged inventories of human vision sensors. We believe it is appropriate that we write-down the inventory at this time, as we anticipate the need to offer discounted prices to accelerate the sales of some products and, for some other products where the potential revenues do not justify the efforts, stop the sales all together. Our new CIS strategy is backed by new products such as the Always-on-Sensor (AoS) and the structured light 3D scanning total solution which offer unique and market leading features. The new strategy is also backed by close collaboration and intensive development activities with certain heavyweight partners and customers.
Following this one-time write-down, we believe our inventory position to be healthy across CIS, driver IC and all other product areas.
The impact to Earnings per Diluted ADS of the aforementioned inventory write-down is 6.0 cents. After the write-down, GAAP Earnings per Diluted ADS became 2.6 cents, below the Company’s guided range of 8.5 to 11.0 cents. Non-GAAP Earnings per Diluted ADS became 2.8 cents, below the guided range of 8.7 to 11.2 cents. Excluding the additional inventory write-down, GAAP and Non-GAAP EPS would have been 8.6 cents and 8.8 cents, respectively and met our original guidance.
In addition to the CIS product line, we are also seeing exciting developments in other key non-driver areas such as wafer level optics (WLO) and LCOS microdisplay. As early as the second half of the year, we may see significant business progress to contribute to both top and bottom lines out of these non-driver areas. We will host a conference call with investors and analysts in February when we will provide full financial reports and further elaborate on our business prospects.
Comments & Business Outlook
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire / -- CEVA, Inc. (CEVA), the leading licensor of signal processing IP for smarter, connected devices, together with Himax Imaging, Inc., a subsidiary of Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) and emza Visual Sense, today announced that the companies have developed the industry's first intelligent always- on visual sensor specifically designed to overcome the power- and cost -constraints of vision processing for IoT applications. The companies will showcase the WiseEye IoT sensor at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017, January 5-8, 2017 in Las Vegas.
The WiseEye IoT sensor solution is purpose-built from the ground up with always-on, low power visual sensing in mind. By integrating Himax' unique low power CMOS Imager Sensor, CEVA's low power vision DSP technology and emza's unique machine vision algorithms, the result is a powerful solution capable of detecting, tracking and recognizing its environment in an extremely efficient manner using a few milliwatts of power. This disruptive sensor allows low-cost IoT systems to employ advanced always-on intelligence which can, among other things, detect, track and identify objects, people and animals. This intelligence is applied locally on the device, passing only relevant information up to the network. This is fundamental to reducing the bandwidth and cost of deploying visual sensing networks. Target applications include virtual assistants, wearable devices, connected home sensors, residential security, protection of elderly, automotive, smart buildings systems and smart city infrastructure.
"Our image sensors have long been among the leanest in the industry in terms of power consumption. We have leveraged our vast expertize to develop an ultra-low power sensor specifically for IoT," said Amit Mittra, CTO of Himax Imaging. "Our collaboration with CEVA and emza tightly integrates our sensor with the best-in-class processor and machine vision that allows us deliver a truly unique always-on, contextually aware sensor solution that is affordable for almost every application."
"Machine vision based sensors enhance the intelligence and functionality of any device, and our WiseEye IoT solution aims at bringing these capabilities to the vast and largely untapped IoT space," said Yoram Zylberberg, CEO of emza Visual Sense. "In Himax and CEVA we have two of the leading experts in sensors and vision processing, and the ideal partners to realize the industry's first always-on intelligent visual sensor."
"At CEVA, low power intelligent vision processing is a key component of our strategy to enable a smarter, connected world, and we're excited to work with emza and Himax to introduce a unique and revolutionary solution for always-on intelligent visual sensing," said Ilan Yona, vice president and general manager of the Vision Business Unit at CEVA. "A purpose-built solution such as the WiseEye IoT will help to truly realize the potential of machine vision in IoT by delivering the performance and battery life at a price point that supports mass deployment."
Comments & Business Outlook
Third Quarter 2016 Financial Results
Net revenue for the quarter increased 8.5% sequentially to $218.1 million, in line with the Company’s reiterated guidance.
Non-GAAP net income was $21.3 million, or 12.4 cents per diluted ADS, exceeding guidance of 10.0 to 12.0 cents.
"The momentum we established during the first half of the year continued into the third quarter of 2016, as evidenced by our top and bottom line growth during the first three quarters of the year as our driver and non-driver business segments both performed strongly,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. “We continue to see increased market share in our core driver IC business, in both large panel driver ICs as well as small and medium-sized driver ICs, which is a direct result of our ongoing technology advancements and strong customer relationships. Our total solution capabilities and our continued focus on major new technology trends including higher display resolution, AMOLED and in-cell TDDI will continue to solidify our dominant position in the market.”
Mr. Wu continued: “We also remain positive on the long-term growth prospect of our higher-margin non-driver business; however, we are anticipating near-term headwinds. Notably, our LCOS and WLO product lines are expected to experience sales declines starting the fourth quarter 2016 and the next few quarters of 2017, primarily due to our major AR customer’s shift in focus to the development of future generation devices. That being said, we still remain uniquely positioned in this market as the provider of choice for critical enablers to AR devices. To support anticipated growth in this segment, we have proceeded with the expansion plan for our next generation LCOS and WLO production lines, which will enable higher end product design and offer far better product quality for mass production and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017 or early 2018. We remain committed to our long-term strategy to diversify our product and customer base with innovative technologies, which ultimately, should increase shareholder value.”
Fourth Quarter 2016 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the fourth quarter of 2016:
Net Revenue: To be down 4.0% to 9.0% sequentially, representing an 11.5% to 17.6% year-over-year growth
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Sept. 29, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today reiterates the Company’s Q3 guidance and its business outlook for the remainder of 2016. In light of the recent unusual volatility of the share price and the abnormally high trading volume, the company highlights its confidence that the overall business prospects remain intact as CEO iterated from the last earnings call.
Regards to the AR/VR business that many investors believe to offer the most exciting long term growth prospect, with little competition, the Company continues to work with 30+ customers for various AR devices using LCOS microdisplay and/or WLO with the list of customer still growing. The Company’s design engagements cover leading companies in a wide variety of industries as well as niche players with innovative product ideas. More of the Company’s customers are expected to bring their AR products to the market next year.
Having invested in related technologies for over 15 years, Himax is uniquely positioned as the provider of choice for microdisplay and related optics, both critical enablers to the AR device. The Company remains positive about its future prospects and technical feasibility of the AR/VR business.
Joint Venture
TAINAN, Taiwan, Sept. 08, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today co-announced a partnership with NUVIZ, Inc. to develop a head-up display (“HUD”) product. With headquarter in San Diego, USA and research team in Finland, NUVIZ is mostly well-known in the industry as a leading HUD provider for motorcycle helmets. Dedicating in the HUD sector for over 3 years, NUVIZ has developed groundbreaking wearable products utilized by the motorcycling business. Under the partnership, NUVIZ will incorporate Himax’s LCOS microdisplays into its flagship product, the first connected HUD for any motorcycle helmet. Himax's LCOS manufacturing facility is currently shipping NUVIZ’s customized displays for assembly in preparation of the company’s pending product launch in the second half of 2016.
Himax's LCOS microdisplay technology is the leading application for HUD and Augmented Reality (AR) devices. Its reflective LCOS display provides bright, high-definition imaging and low-power consumption for a variety of AR and HUD applications. Himax's LCOS technology is also preferred for its durability and resistance to elements, particularly for exterior use such as NUVIZ’s model. NUVIZ is one of the 30-plus customer brand leaders with whom Himax is currently working and includes leading multinationals in a wide variety of industries such as software, gaming, search, mobile, social media, military, automotive, wearable, and toy.
"We are pleased to be part of another HUD product launch and believe NUVIZ has designed an excellent application warranting high adoption rates by their target customers," began Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax Technologies. "Our LCOS team is currently working with dozens of companies and product designs set to launch in the coming months, and many more for the years ahead. After more than a decade of development of our LCOS display technologies, we believe it is the superior product for HUD applications for motorcyclists and automobiles and variety of other applications. Our LCOS solution has set the standard in the wearable marketplace which is leading us into an exciting new phase of our growth."
“This partnership with Himax underscores NUVIZ’s commitment to creating a superior product for motorcyclists around the world,” said Jari Niemela, Chief Executive Officer of NUVIZ. “Himax’s LCOS microdisplays will play a key role in revolutionizing the riding experience as we deliver HUD technology and connected driving solutions to motorcycling.”
On the Company's second quarter earnings call, Himax detailed its new expansion plan for next generation LCOS and wafer level optics ("WLO") production lines that will significantly enlarge its capacity for mass production and also offer a major technology advancement for very high end products of the future. In addition to several companies launching products in 2016, the Company expects further new launches of AR and HUD products from more customers, as well as increasing shipment of existing customers in 2017 and beyond.
Comments & Business Outlook
Second Quarter 2016 Financial Results
Net Revenue was $201.1 million compared last years same quarter of $169.2 million.
Non-GAAP EPS (Per Diluted ADS, USD) was $0.117 compared to last years same quarter of $0.054.
We are pleased to report that we achieved both top and bottom line growth during the quarter as preannounced on July 5th. Our 2016 second quarter revenue was $201.1 million. Gross margin for the quarter was 26.1%. Second quarter GAAP earnings per diluted ADS came in at 11.5 cents. Both our 2016 second quarter revenues and gross margin reached the high end of our guidance while EPS exceeded our guidance provided in May,� began Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. �The sequential revenue growth was due mostly to strong sales in small and medium-sized driver IC business from our Chinese smartphone customers. Accelerating AR/VR related business from LCOS and WLO shipments to our leading US customer also contributed to the second quarter growth.�
Mr. Wu concluded: �We are very encouraged to experience the continuous growth in both our driver and non-driver business segments as we have started to benefit from new business opportunities not enjoyed by many of our competitors. Notably, we saw increased market share of our large panel driver ICs, shipment increases from our small and medium-sized driver IC customers and the phenomenal performance of AR/VR related products which increased by several folds. Two of the key achievements of our smartphone driver IC business are the shipments of our OLED driver IC design and the successful launch of our TDDI (Touch and Display Driver Integration) products. Both products were actively sought after by mobile device makers, module houses, and panel makers. Lastly, the staggering success of Pok�mon Go highlights the most revolutionary technologies in our LCOS and WLO product line and AR/VR, their key applications. Some of the world�s largest and most impactful technology companies have continued to work closely with us on their AR/VR devices using our LCOS, WLO and/or driver IC solutions. Some of them have announced the launch of their products in 2016. We have just kick-started our expansion plan for next generation LCOS and WLO product lines backed upon our customers' demands and feedbacks. The next generation expansion will substantially enlarge our existing capacity and lift our technology to another level, thereby further strengthening our leadership position in the AR sector worldwide. We expect the expansion project will enjoy a phenomenal return on investment in the years to come. In summary, we are seeing strong momentum across all our major product lines and feel excited about the growth prospect of 2016 and beyond.�
Third Quarter 2016 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the third quarter of 2016:
Net Revenue: To be up 5.0% to 10.0% sequentially, representing a 27.5% to 33.6% year-over-year growth
Non-GAAP EPS(1):10.0 to 12.0 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to 1.0 cents reported in the third quarter of 2015
As the Company has done in the past, its third quarter GAAP earnings per diluted ADS guidance has taken into account its expected 2016 grant of restricted share units, or RSUs, to the Himax team at the end of September. The 2016 RSUs, subject to Himax�s Board approval, is now assumed to be around $11.5 million, of which approximately $8.1 million, representing 4.0 cents per diluted ADS, will be vested and expensed immediately on September 30th, the grant date. In comparison, the 2015 RSUs totaled $5.0 million, out of which $4.5 million, representing 2.0 cents per diluted ADS, was vested immediately. The grant of RSUs would lead to higher third quarter GAAP operating expenses compared to the other quarters of the year.
In providing the above earnings guidance, the Company has assumed a 13.5% income tax rate for 2016, calculated based on exchange rate of NTD 31.4 against the USD, which is also the exchange rate as of beginning of August 2016.
Comments & Business Outlook
Second Quarter 2016 Financial Results
Revenues were $201.1 million, an increase of 11.5% sequentially versus guidance of up 7.5% to 12.5% and an increase of 18.8% year-over-year. Revenue increases in the quarter were attributed to strong sales in the Company’s small and medium-sized driver business. Smartphone driver ICs experienced phenomenal growth due to Chinese end brand customers gaining share from new model launches.
GAAP Earnings per Diluted ADS was 11.5 cents, exceeding the Company’s guided range of 8.5 to 10.5 cents. GAAP diluted earnings per ADS increased 51.3% sequentially and increased 125.5% from the same period last year.
TAINAN, Taiwan, July 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today provided more insights into the Company's organizational structure and technology development following the previously announced long-planned retirement of its Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Chih-Chung Tsai.
The Company believes that the retirement of Mr. Tsai will not impact the Company’s business and technology development. The Company’s organization has been that each product line is led by individual general managers ("GM") and respective chief technology officers of business units and subsidiaries. All product line GMs and CTOs interact closely with the Company's Founder and Chairman, Dr. Biing-Seng Wu, who sets the Company’s overall technology direction. Dr. Wu has been and remains the Company's head technologist leading the Company’s various industry-leading technology innovations.
"Our organizational structure is flat which allows us to gather ideas directly from our business units and subsidiaries," said Dr. Wu. "This organizational structure has provided optimal efficiency for our Company’s operations. We believe that it has been a strong contributor to our ability to deliver numerous breakthroughs and maintain our technology lead in the display and optic fields. Looking forward, as we expect growth from all of our product segments, this organizational structure is even more critical to the overall success of our business.”
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, July 01, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President Mr. Chih-Chung Tsai has retired from his current position effective June 30, 2016 after 15 years of service and 11 years as the Company’s CTO. Mr. Tsai will remain with the Company and assume the position of vice chairman of Himax Technology Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company in Taiwan.
Mr. Tsai has transferred his duties to designated company-wide functional business segment leaders who will report directly to Chief Executive Officer and President Jordan Wu. The Company currently has no plan to announce a replacement CTO role.
"Chih-Chung is a founding member and has represented technological excellence at the cutting edge of semiconductor innovation during his 15 years with Himax," stated Jordan Wu, Chief Executive Officer and President of Himax Technologies, Inc. "As CTO for the past 11 years, his leadership, intelligence and commitment ensured our success in providing valuable solutions to our customers and maintaining our competitive advantages. Chih-Chung will remain with our Himax family and we believe that we will continue to benefit greatly from his experience and expertise."
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, May 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today responded to its post-earnings share price movement.
The Company is aware of the recent major share price decline following its earnings call on May 12th and would like to reiterate its confidence in the positive outlook for revenues and earnings growth in 2016. Himax is seeing strength in all of its three product categories, namely large-sized panel driver IC, small and medium-sized panel driver IC and non-driver products, from market share gains and new product launches. The Company is especially excited about the business prospects in the Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) segments where it has a solid and unrivaled top notch customer portfolio. The company remains committed to its strategy to diversify its customer base and product portfolio to generate the highest value for its shareholders.
Comments & Business Outlook
First Quarter 2016 Financial Results
Net revenue for the quarter increased 1.3% sequentially to $180.3 million, meeting previously issued Company guidance.
Q1 2016 GAAP net income was $13.1 million, or 7.6 cents per diluted ADS, exceeding guidance of 5.5 to 7.5 cents. GAAP net income increased 113.5% from Q4 2015 and increased 4.2% from Q1 2015.
"We are pleased to report that we delivered sequential revenue growth despite 9 less working days during the quarter. Our 2016 first quarter revenue was $180.3 million. Gross margin for the quarter was 26.2%, marking the highest gross margin since our inception due to favorable product mix. First quarter GAAP earnings per diluted ADS came in at 7.6 cents. Both our 2016 first quarter gross margin and EPS exceeded our guidance provided in February while revenues came in within our guided range. However, the earthquake that hit in Tainan on February 6th did cause some delayed shipments of large panel driver ICs to one of our major customers during the quarter. Without the earthquake, we could have been at the high end of, if not beat, our revenue guidance. We do not expect further negative impact from the earthquake as that customer’s facilities have recovered entering the second quarter,” began Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. “The strong result was due mainly to China’s panel capacity expansion and in-sourcing of local TV set makers, coupled with our large panel driver IC share gains. We also benefited from stronger than expected small and medium-sized driver IC momentum due to more positive end demand in China, the addition of a new major smartphone customer since the fourth quarter of 2015, and new shipment of AMOLED driver ICs. On top of that, accelerating AR/VR related business and other non-driver products lifted the revenues of our non-driver product segment.”
Mr. Wu concluded: “We are very encouraged to experience growth in both our driver and non-driver business segments as we have started to benefit from new business opportunities not enjoyed by many of our competitors. Our growth momentum stems from the successful implementation of a multi-year plan to diversify our products and customer base. Looking ahead, we expect these growth catalysts mentioned above to continue in 2016 and beyond, and we remain committed to our growth strategy.”
Second Quarter 2016 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the second quarter of 2016:
Net Revenue: To be up 7.5 to 12.5% sequentially, representing a 14.6 to 19.9% year-over-year growth
Gross Margin: To be around 26%, representing an increase of 220 basis points year-over-year
GAAP EPS: 8.5 to 10.5 cents per diluted ADS, representing a 66.7 to 105.9% year-over-year growth
In providing the above earnings guidance, the Company has assumed a 15% income tax rate, calculated based on exchange rate of NTD 32.4 against the USD, which is also the exchange rate as of beginning of May 2016.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, April 15, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced Himax’s display driver IC of Quad HD (“QHD”) resolution family, HX8396-C, has been adopted by HTC, one of the world’s leading mobile manufacturers, to power its new flagship smartphone HTC 10.
Himax’s HX8396-C is by far the smallest QHD display driver IC for high-end TFT-LCD smartphones in the industry with outstanding power efficiency and ultimate display performance. Through integrated frame buffer and proprietary memory compression technologies, HX8396-C reduces power consumption of the application processor and device for extended battery life. As a leading innovator of display solutions, Himax’s QHD resolution display driver ICs are backed by the built-in Optimal Display Synthesizer (ODS) to deliver advanced features, including Color Enhancement (CE), Content Adaptive Brightness Control (CABC) and Sunlight Readability Enhancement (SRE) to make displays brighter and wider color gamut. These features optimize both battery life and image quality. HX8396-C supports the latest VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) Display Stream Compression standard and MIPI DSI 2-port interface. It is compatible with all mainstream application processors, and adopted by international panel makers with mass production started in 2015.
"We are happy that HTC has adopted our product in their latest flagship smartphone HTC 10," stated Jordan Wu, Chief Executive Officer and President of Himax Technologies, Inc. "Viewing experience is critical to smartphones nowadays and Himax has always been working side by side with panel makers and mobile brand companies and manufacturers on next generation displays to enable better devices. I’m glad to also announce that leading LTPS panel makers have been actively adopting Himax’s QHD display driver solutions."
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Feb. 08, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today reported the Company's headquarters and manufacturing facilities were little affected by the 6.4 magnitude earthquake which hit Tainan area at approximately 4:00 am local time, February 6.
"Amidst this tragedy, we are fortunate to report all Himax personnel and their homes are safe and were not directly impacted by the quake," began Jordan Wu, CEO and President of Himax Technologies. "Our headquarters and our in-house manufacturing facilities for LCOS and WLO products, both located in Tainan, were also little affected. Vast majority of our ICs are manufactured by third party subcontractors located outside Tainan. Those products were naturally unaffected by the quake. As for those small quantities of goods handles by Tainan-based vendors, their manufacturing is being recovered quickly. It will not cause meaningful interference to our business operations. We would like to thank the many suppliers and customers who expressed concern and checked in with us."
Himax Technologies also announced an immediate donation of NT$10 million to an earthquake relief fund by the Tainan Municipal Government.
Comments & Business Outlook
Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Results
Net revenue for the quarter increased 7.5% sequentially to $178.0 million, exceeding previously issued Company guidance .
Non-GAAP EPS (Per Diluted ADS, USD) $0.038 (1) $0.094 (2)
"Our 2015 fourth quarter results beat our guidance as preannounced on January 7. Our 2015 fourth quarter revenue was $178.0 million, representing 7.5% sequential increase. It is in line with our preannouncement and outperformed the original guidance of flat to 5% up quarter-over-quarter. Gross margin for the quarter was 22.9%, also beating the original guidance of flat to slightly up sequentially. Fourth quarter GAAP earnings per diluted ADS came in at 3.6 cents, reaching the high end of our preannounced GAAP EPS range of 3.3 to 3.8 cents and beat our initially guided 1.0 to 3.0 cents. The strong result came from all three product categories, began Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. Notably, we saw increased market share of our large panel driver ICs, new addition of a major smartphone customer for small and medium-sized driver ICs and shipments of AR/VR related products. 2015 was a difficult year with different challenges every quarter. Despite hints of a continued market softness and tougher competition in mobile devices and TV, we were able to exit the year of 2015 with decent sequential growth. We believe such strength will continue into 2016. During 2015, our increased large panel driver IC market share in China has helped us solidify the foundation of our core business, and has brought in a strong flow sales and new opportunities as our Chinese customers continue to expand their panel capacities while Chinese TV makers are sourcing more panels locally. Equally important, following quite a few quarters of sales decline in small and medium-sized driver ICs, we finally saw smartphone order rebounds coming from the industrys restocking and new model launches in the last quarter, especially from our leading brand customers. Two of the key achievements of our smartphone driver IC business are the completion of our qualification by a primary Korean customer for our OLED driver IC design and the successful launch of our TDDI (Touch and Display Driver Integration) products in 2015. Both products were actively sought after by mobile device makers, module houses, and panel makers. Lastly, some of the worlds largest and most impactful technology companies have continued to work closely with us on their AR/VR devices using our LCOS, WLO and/or driver IC solutions. Some of them have announced the launch of their products in 2016. We are seeing strong momentum across all our major product lines and feel excited about the growth prospect of 2016, despite the uncertain economic environment.
First Quarter 2016 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the first quarter of 2016:
Net Revenue: To be down 1% to up 4% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2015
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Imaging, Inc., a subsidiary of Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (Himax or the Company), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced the HM01B0, an ultra-low power QVGA CMOS Image Sensor that consumes less than 700�W when operating at QQVGA resolution of 30 Frames Per Second (FPS), and less than 2mW when operating at QVGA resolution with support for even lower power modes. Himax is planning to deliver samples to selected customers and partners in the first quarter of 2016.
The HM01B0 ultra-low power consumption allows the sensor to be placed in a constant state of operation, enabling always on, contextually aware, computer vision capabilities such as feature extraction, proximity sensing, gesture recognition, object tracking and pattern identification. To address the broad requirements of computer vision systems and applications, the HM01B0�s unique low power architecture gives camera integrators and developers the flexibility to find the right balance of sensor resolution, speed, noise, and power consumption that is best-suited to the system.
The HM01B0 integrates a motion detection circuit with an interrupt output pin, and an automatic exposure and gain control loop to minimize host processor computation as well as data communication to reduce system power. The sensor utilizes an advanced 3.6�m pixel technology that offers sensitivity of below 1 lux, eliminating the need for additional light source, thereby further reducing system power consumption. The sensor�s reflowable chip scale package measures less than 5mm2 and requires only three passive components to support a highly compact camera module and miniature wafer level module assembly that can be easily integrated into next-generation power-efficient devices for context sensitive computer vision applications.
"Our image sensors for notebook and smartphone applications, such as our �" 8MP MIPI sensor, have been among the lowest power in the industry," stated Jordan Wu, CEO of Himax Technologies. "We believe that the HM01B0 is the lowest power CMOS image sensor in the industry with similar resolution, while offering outstanding sensor performance and high level of feature integration. We are excited to build upon our core competence to develop a new class of sensors that will support very low power computer vision to enable new applications across smartphones, tablets, AR/VR devices, IoT, and artificial intelligence for consumer, medical, and industrial markets. With this new ultra-low power sensor, Himax has been working with leading consumer electronic brand customers and major platform providers to help develop innovative features and reduce power consumption of existing cameras. We have received a good level of interest from quite a few of the industry�s leading players."
Himax believes its HM01B0 is the best solution on the market to meet the ever-growing computer vision and power saving expectations and can be universally adopted for mobile devices, AR/VR devices, IoT, and artificial intelligence applications. The HM01B0 will be available in both monochrome and color options. The sensor can also integrate into Wafer Level Modules to be available for selected customers and partners in the first quarter of 2016.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) (Himax or Company), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced the Company is seeing customer additions and encouraging mass production shipment of its liquid crystal on silicon ("LCOS") microdisplays and wafer level optics ("WLO") products for augmented reality ("AR") applications thanks to significant technology advancement and breakthrough. Himax additionally announced its new design-ins in the next generation panels of virtual reality (�VR�) devices for two brand-leading VR companies.
Himax's AR/VR design engagements with current and new customers now cover leading companies in the technology, software, gaming, consumer, search, social media, military and mobile sectors. The Company is increasing manufacturing and shipping of LCOS microdisplays and WLO products for several industry leading customers� AR systems and devices.
For VR applications, Himax has won new design-ins in the next generation panels of virtual reality (VR) devices for two top-notch VR companies. Himax's expertise in OLED DDIC, timing controller, power management IC, and ASIC provide its VR customers with customized system-on-chips (SoC), enabling fast refresh rates and high-resolution imaging essential for VR products. These new VR products have received great interests and positive feedbacks at 2016 CES, clearly establishing itself, along with AR devices, as a new product category.
�At CES last week, Himax's display and optical expertise in the field of AR/VR and technology readiness in machine vision have enabled multiple customers� applications across glasses, automotives, toy, artificial intelligence, holographic computing, and IoT markets,� began Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies, Inc. "Since 2006, we have invested more than $100 million in the development and manufacturing of these technologies, which has led to our unique leadership in the sector. We are excited about the business opportunities in AR/VR in 2016 and beyond as our customers are launching their products. We are also encouraged by the additional design-in flow in various next generation product segments mentioned above. These business opportunities resemble significantly higher content value in each device, and will contribute to gross and operating margins for Himax in the long run. It�s a strong testament to the excellent and visionary work being executed by our team. Currently, we see our core DDIC business benefiting from a combination of market share gains, China's panel manufacturing capacity expansion, new customer acquisitions, and existing customer restocking. Looking into the future, our AR/VR sales can meaningfully grow our revenues and profits. We expect operating expenses will be a minimal increase for such additional sales.�
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX ) (Himax or Company), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced its Wafer Level Optics (�WLO�) laser diode collimator with integrated Diffractive Optical Element (DOE) has been integrated into laser projectors for next-generation applications. Himax has significantly reduced the size of laser projectors, enabling the integration of technologies, such as active 3D scanners, into mobile devices, automobiles, augmented and virtual reality devices, and IoT applications.
Himax's WLO creates a unique hybrid optical system to combine the collimator and the DOE into a height profile of less than two millimeters. Himax's component is then stacked on top of a laser diode to reduce the overall height of a coded laser projector assembly to five millimeters. The WLO laser collimator provides high alignment accuracy and both the collimator and DOE can achieve system and algorithm customization.
"We have supplied WLO in high volumes to leading camera module integrators for top tier smartphone and camera OEMs since 2009," began Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax Technologies. "We are currently collaborating with several major OEMs' product developments using our WLO as our expertise in WLO design and manufacturing enables significant size and cost reduction of coded laser projectors. For example, in an active sensing 3D camera projector, our technology can reduce the size of the incumbent laser projector module by a factor of 9, actually making it smaller than conventional camera modules. This breakthrough allows our WLO collimator to be easily integrated into next-generation smartphones, tablets, automobiles, wearable devices, IoT applications, consumer electronics accessories and several other products to enable new applications in the consumer, medical, and industrial marketplaces."
The WLO laser collimator and DOE will be manufactured by Himax�s Wafer Optics production facility in Taiwan. The first production run for 3D camera applications is scheduled for delivery and sampling by Himax's partners and select customers in the first quarter of 2016.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Nov. 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX ) ("Himax" or "Company"), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today introduced the Multi-Level Force Touch controller as the new member of its HiTouchTM G series capacitive multi-touch, high performance single chip family. Himax's Multi-Level Force Touch already enables three levels of pressure, touch, peek and pop, in customers' early designs. In terms of its technical capability, it can actually support more than three levels of pressure - a feature that is expected to be explored by smartphone and tablet makers for their future designs to further enrich user experience. This cutting-edge controller supports all mainstream displays, including a-Si and LTPS TFT-LCD, and AMOLED. It is compatible with both out-cell and on-cell touch panel modules.
The Company's Multi-Level Force Touch controller has secured design-wins from leading smartphone makers for models to be launched in the first half of 2016, and will eventually be inside tablets and wearable devices as well.
Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies, Inc., commented: "We are proud to have a very comprehensive touch product portfolio especially with the addition of the latest Multi-Level Force Touch technology into our product portfolio. Early adopters of this product will be leading smartphone and panel makers seeking technology advancement and enhanced user experience. The introduction of Force Touch technology illustrates our leading edge competitiveness in the touch panel controller market. This is particularly important at a time when the market is moving toward in-cell touch display requiring integration of display driver and touch panel controller."
Comments & Business Outlook
Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results
Net revenue decreased 2.1% sequentially to $165.6 million, exceeding guidance.
Q3 2015 Non-GAAP net income decreased to $1.7 million or 1.0 cent versus $9.3 million or 5.4 cents in Q2 2015.
"Our 2015 third quarter revenue exceeded guidance, gross margin, GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted ADS all met at the low end of our guidance for the quarter," stated Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. "During our second quarter earnings call, we stayed conservative given economic instability continued to add uncertainty to consumer electronics demands. As a consequence, we anticipated gross margin to be under pressure as panel prices has softened."
Mr. Wu concluded: "Areas of sales that exceeded guidance is aligned to our continued success in gaining market share in China, and rush orders that emerged in later part of the quarter. While still maneuvering carefully in a market with low visibility, we remain optimistic about our active and ongoing design-in activities with leading customers in both driver IC and non-driver products. Moreover, our confidence in our LCOS and WLO product offerings for the AR market never waned with current and prospective design clients which include brand leading US and global companies."
Fourth Quarter 2015 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the fourth quarter of 2015:
Net Revenue:
To be flat to 5% up from the third quarter of 2015
Gross Margin:
To be flat to slightly up from the third quarter of 2015
GAAP EPS:
1.0 to 3.0 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to -1.4 cents reported in the third quarter of 2015
As of November 9th , 2015, the NTD stood at 32.66 against the USD, significantly depreciated from the 30.86 at the end of June. This would lead to approximately $5.4 million more income tax charge for Himax than otherwise for 2015 full year. As it has already made approximately $3.7 million, or 2.2 cents per diluted ADS, of adjustment in the third quarter, the Company has included another $1.7 million, or 1.0 cents per diluted ADS, of additional income tax charge in the fourth quarter guidance, assuming that the exchange rate at the end year stands at exactly the same level as that of today. Obviously, the final outcome will depend on the actual exchange rate at the end of the year.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Aug. 18, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced design-ins with key panel makers and OEMs for its best-in-class single-chip touch and display driver integration ("TDDI") solution, HiSIT(TM). In addition to the existing shipment of out-cell and on-cell solutions, Himax's "HiSIT(TM)" TDDI solution is ready for mass production and is expected to start shipping by the fourth quarter of 2015.
HiSIT(TM) could lower system level costs for panel makers and simplify supply chain management for OEMs. This single-chip solution will help handset makers deliver thinner, lighter, and sleeker designs with significantly enhanced performance. The industry is seeking cost effective and innovative display and touch solutions for smartphones and tablets, and HiSIT(TM) offers a state-of-the-art combination of Himax's highly recognized display driver and proven touch solution in a sophisticated structure that supports full in-cell touch displays for HD resolution smartphones and WXGA resolution tablets.
Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies, Inc., commented: "The industry is moving towards full in-cell panels driven by top-tier TFT-LCD makers seeking to introduce value-added innovations. Himax is one of the pioneers in offering one-chip TDDI solutions that requires significant integration complexity. We are excited about the projects awarded from these top tier customers, which demonstrates Himax's technological advancement and leading position in the latest full in-cell technology. We anticipate shipping our TDDI solution by the fourth quarter this year. Himax is in partnership with essentially all of the leading panel manufacturers for joint technological development of TDDI solutions, and we believe the Company will benefit from the rising TDDI trend, which should generate a more significant revenue contribution in 2016."
Comments & Business Outlook
Second Quarter 2015 Financial Results
Net revenue decreased 5.5% sequentially to $169.2 million, meeting high end of guidance.
Non-GAAP earni ngs per diluted ADS decreased to 5.4 cents from 7.6 cents in Q115 , but beating guidance.
"We are pleased to report that our 2015 second quarter revenue, gross margin, GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted ADS all met at the high end or exceeded our guidance for the quarter," stated Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. "During our first quarter 2015 earnings call, we mentioned the industry's low visibility, especially in China's smartphone market. Yet, we were able to arrive at top end of our revenue guidance and beat EPS guidance because our driver IC business came in better than expected across all applications. We were pleased to see a snapback during the second quarter from our Chinese branded smartphone end customers. TV, as projected, was another bright spot among our driver IC products."
Mr. Wu concluded: "Recent instability in the Euro zone and unease in the Chinese stock market have added concern, however we believe these macroeconomic factors will be a temporary setback. As a diversified company, we are committed to our growth strategy and have continued to add new customers, advance through new design-wins, and introduce new technologies such as TDDI and AMOLED driver IC. Lastly, we are making significant progress in our non-driver business and look forward to providing updates as we reach inflection points for both LCOS and WLO."
Third Quarter 2015 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the third quarter of 2015:
Net Revenue:
To be down 5% to 9% as compared to the second quarter of 2015
Gross Margin:
To be down about 1.5% from the second quarter of 2015
GAAP EPS:
-1.5 to -0.9 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to 5.1 cents reported in the second quarter of 2015
Non GAAP EPS(1) :
1.0 to 1.6 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to 5.4 cents reported in the second quarter of 2015
(1) Non-GAAP EPS excludes share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges
As the Company has done in the past, its third quarter GAAP earnings per diluted ADS guidance has taken into account its expected 2015 grant of restricted share units, or RSUs, to Himax team at the end of September. The grant of RSUs would lead to higher third quarter GAAP operating expenses compared to the other quarters of the year.
Comments & Business Outlook
First Quarter 2015 Financial Results
Net revenue decreased 8.0% year-over-year to $179.0 million.
First quarter 2015 Non-GAAP net income decreased to $13.1 million, down 19.3% from the first quarter of 2014; Non-GAAP earnings per diluted ADS was 7.6 cents, down 19.3% from the same period last year.
"We are pleased to report that our 2015 first quarter revenue, gross margin, GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted ADS all met our guidance for the quarter," stated Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. "As we previously cautioned, ongoing softness in China's smartphone and tablet markets, which was worsened by fewer working days due to the timing of Chinese New Year, dampened our first quarter performance and near term outlook. Following the soft overall market in the first quarter of 2015, the semiconductor industry and Himax will likely continue to feel pressure in the second quarter due to continuous weak demand in the China smartphone market. As a semiconductor company, we are subjected to customer forecast fluctuations and changes in market conditions. We believe this is a normal occurrence in the industry that should not affect our long-term growth prospects."
Mr. Wu concluded: "Regardless of the near term performance, we remain committed to our long-term growth strategy. We have successfully implemented a multi-year plan to diversify our products and customer base. China panel manufacturers' aggressive capacity expansion across all panel sizes will also work in our favor. We also see further catalysts for growth in our CMOS image sensor, LCOS, and WLO businesses starting in the second half of this year, and we remain positive on the business outlook during this period."
Second Quarter 2015 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the second quarter of 2015:
Net Revenue:
To be down 5% to 9% as compared to the first quarter of 2015
Gross Margin:
To be down approximately 2% from the first quarter of 2015
GAAP EPS:
4.0 to 5.0 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to 7.3 cents reported in the first quarter of 2015
Non GAAP EPS(1) :
4.3 to 5.3 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to 7.6 cents reported in the first quarter of 2015
(1) Non-GAAP EPS excludes share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges
Regular Dividend News
TAINAN, Taiwan, May 11, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a supplier and fabless manufacturer of advanced display drivers and other semiconductor products, today declared a cash dividend of 30 cents per ADS, equivalent to 15 cents per ordinary share, for the year of 2014.
The cash dividend will be payable on July 08, 2015 to all the shareholders of record as of June 26, 2015. The ADS book will be closed for issuance and cancellation from June 19, 2015 to June 26, 2015. Typically, Himax pays out its yearly dividend at approximately the middle of its current calendar year based on the Company's previous year's financial performance.
"Since our IPO in 2006, we have remained committed to a dividend policy," began Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies, Inc. "As we achieved revenue and earnings growth for the third year in a row, we are pleased to increase Himax's dividend from 27 cents per ADS in 2014 to 30 cents per ADS in 2015. The payout ratio and yield of our dividend is compared to those of other dividend paying companies in our sector which we work to maintain our high competitive standards. The high payout ratio demonstrates our continued support of our shareholder base and confidence in long-term strategy and growth opportunities."
Comments & Business Outlook
Fourth Quarter 2014 Financial Results
Total Sales for the quarter increased 2.2% sequentially and 16.4% year-over-year to $227.2 million, the highest quarterly revenue since Q4 2008. Full year 2014 revenues increased 9.1% year-over-year to $840.5 million.
Non-GAAP EPS (Per Diluted ADS, USD) $0.094 vs last years sames quarter of $0.097.
"I am pleased to report that our 2014 fourth quarter revenues, gross margin, GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per diluted ADS all came in at the high end, or exceeded our guidance," stated Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. "Solid fourth quarter revenues of $227.2 million represented a 16.4% increase from the same quarter last year and a 2.2% sequential increase from the previous quarter. Our fourth quarter revenues were the highest since the fourth quarter of 2008. Fourth quarter revenues came in at the high end of our guidance, driven by better-than-expected driver IC sales for televisions, smartphones and tablet applications, primarily in the Chinese and Korean markets. Himax continues to execute on our strategy of becoming a more diversified company with regard to product offerings as well as customers. We are very pleased to be experiencing growth in both our driver and non-driver business segments. We are particularly excited about the prospects for our LCOS microdisplay and WLO products, which are integral parts of the eco-system for the rapidly emerging head mounted display products and next-generation cameras for mobile devices. Equally exciting is our market leading single-chip solutions for pure in-cell touch display, which we believe will soon become mainstream in portable and wearable devices. In summary, Himax is at a significant inflection point, with many of our non-driver products ready to enter the consumer market after many years of product development and R&D."
First Quarter 2015 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the first quarter of 2015:
Net Revenues:
To be down 15-22% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2014
Gross Margin:
To be up 1.0-1.5% from the fourth quarter of 2014
GAAP EPS:
7.0 to 8.5 cents per diluted ADS
Non GAAP EPS (1) :
7.3 to 8.8 cents per diluted ADS
(1) Non-GAAP EPS excludes share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges
In providing the above earnings guidance, we have assumed a 20.5% income tax rate, calculated based on exchange rate of NTD 31.65 against the USD, which is also the exchange rate as of the end of 2014.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 14, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today pre-announced its fourth quarter 2014 revenues, gross margin and EPS.
Himax has chosen to pre-announce its fourth quarter 2014 financial results to address recent market confusion caused by negative rumors that Himax might miss its 4Q'14 guidance. We would like to reiterate that, as a principle, the Company only pre-announces financial results when it misses or substantially beats its guidance.
The Q4, 2014 revenues, gross margin and EPS are set out below. The original guidance figures that we gave on investor conference call on November 13 are also provided for easy comparison.
Net Revenues: $227.2 million, an increase of 2.2% quarter over quarter versus Company guidance of flat to slightly up. Gross Margin: 24.7%, up 0.2% from the previous quarter, versus Company guidance of down within 1%. GAAP EPS: 8.7 -- 9.2 cents per diluted ADS versus the Company's guided range of 7.5 to 9.2 cents.
On a side note, on top of solid core businesses, Himax is experiencing strong momentum in our LCOS and WLO operations. As noted previously, Himax continues to work closely with world leading customers and/or partners in the LCOS and WLO sectors.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Oct. 21, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced that Google Inc. has decided not to exercise its previously issued purchase option to make an additional investment into Himax's subsidiary, Himax Display Inc. ("HDI"). Himax has been authorized by Google to make the following statement: "Google continues to work closely with Himax as a strategic partner on future technologies and products and will remain a board observer."
Subsequent to Google's first round investment in the Company's HDI subsidiary in October 2013, Himax has formed a strategic partnership with Google whereby Himax is the provider of liquid crystal on silicon ("LCOS") microdisplay technology that Google has recognized as the technology of choice for head-mounted displays (HMD) such as Google Glass. Since the third quarter of 2013, HDI has been expanding capacity and further enhancing production capabilities to meet demand for our LCOS product line.
"Google is one of the world's leading technology companies and innovators," stated Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. "Despite Google's decision not to exercise its investment option in our HDI subsidiary, our continued close partnership with Google is invaluable as we aim to become a leading supplier to wearable technology companies and help to make the future of wearable products a reality. The on-going development and collaboration between Google and HDI validates our LCOS technology as the most superior and best suited microdisplay for wearable devices such as Google Glass," concluded Mr. Wu.
Founded in 2004, Himax Display, Inc. has focused on developing commercial applications for LCOS technologies, in-house manufacturing expertise and production lines with proven, high-volume shipment track records. Over the last few years, HDI has devoted its research and development of its LCOS technology for new applications of head-mounted display and other wearable computing applications.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, Sept. 2, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, announced today that its subsidiary, Himax Display Inc., a leading manufacturer of LCOS Microdisplay panels, and Optinvent SA, a leading producer of the disruptive ORA Smart Glasses, will undertake an additional partnership to develop next generation augmented reality glasses that should be among the most technologically advanced products in the smart glass market.
Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax commented, "After working successfully together on previous technological initiatives, we are very excited to expand our partnership with Optinvent. They have created a leading technology which should help create significant demand for augmented reality glasses by mainstream consumers."
Kayvan Mirza, CEO of Optinvent SA, commented, "We have chosen to partner again with Himax because of their cutting edge and innovative LCOS microdisplay panel technology, and their ability to quickly meet our purchase order requirements. The microdisplay is a key component in the performance of smart glasses which are display centric. Himax's LCOS microdisplays seamlessly work with the retinal projection engine in our ORA Smart Glasses in terms of panel performance and power consumption. Previous collaboration with Himax has proven to us that they are dedicated to devoting the resources necessary to becoming leaders in the smart glass market segment. Our decision to collaborate with Himax on this next generation product reflects our belief in their technology and capabilities to deliver high quality, sophisticated products."
Comments & Business Outlook
Second Quarter 2014 Financial Results
Total revenues remain flat sequentially and decreased by 5.1% year-over-year to $196.4 million.
Non-GAAP earnings per diluted ADS was 14.2 cents, up 21.8% from Q2 2013.
"We are pleased to report another quarter of our financial performance meeting our guidance for revenues, gross margin and EPS", stated Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. "Though our Q2 operational result was not as strong as those of the past years mostly due to a significant inventory correction of a major Korean end customer, as we reported during our last earnings call. However, as we entered into the third quarter, we are seeing strong growth in all of our product segments, including large panel driver ICs, small and medium driver ICs and non-driver IC businesses. We are also seeing demand from our major Korean end customer rebounding strongly. We believe the strategies we put in place years ago to diversify our customer base and product segments provide us a level of insulation not enjoyed by many of our competitors. We remain excited about our growth opportunities in all of our product segments, including our core business segment in display drivers for large, small and medium-sized panels."
Third Quarter 2014 Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the third quarter of 2014:
Net Revenues To be up 10%-15% , as compared to the second quarter of 2014, representing an increase of around 12.1% -17.1% from Q3 2013
Non GAAP EPS 10.2 to 11.7 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to11.3 cents of Q3 2013
Comments & Business Outlook
Consolidated Statements of Income
Years ended December 31, 2011, 2012 and 2013
(in thousands of US dollars, except per share data)
Year Ended December 31,
2011
2012
2013
Revenues:
Revenues from third parties, net
$
374,788
485,281
684,184
Revenues from related parties, net
258,233
251,974
86,555
Total revenues
633,021
737,255
770,739
Costs and expenses:
Cost of revenues
507,449
566,700
578,886
Research and development
79,042
70,913
80,368
General and administrative
17,095
17,139
18,147
Bad debt expense (recovery)
(1,541)
-
173
Sales and marketing
14,368
15,443
18,822
Total costs and expenses
616,413
670,195
696,396
Operating income
16,608
67,060
74,343
Non operating income (loss):
Interest income
556
317
527
Gains (losses) on sale of marketable securities, net
350
648
(8)
Equity in losses of equity method investees
(349)
(128)
(122)
Impairment loss on investments
-
(1,299)
-
Foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net
466
(452)
643
Interest expense
(455)
(352)
(401)
Other income (loss), net
(368)
92
418
200
(1,174)
1,057
Earnings before income taxes
16,808
65,886
75,400
Income tax expense
7,301
15,748
19,476
Net income
9,507
50,138
55,924
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests
1,199
1,458
5,552
Net income attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders
$
10,706
51,596
61,476
Basic earnings per ordinary share attributable to Himax Technologies,
$
0.03
0.15
0.18
Diluted earnings per ordinary share attributable to Himax
$
0.03
0.15
0.18
Basic earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc.
$
0.06
0.30
0.36
Diluted earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc.
$
0.06
0.30
0.36
Comments & Business Outlook
Second Quarter 2013 Financial Results
Total revenues for the second quarter of 2013 increased 9.2% year-over-year to $207.0 million and increased 17.8% quarter over quarter.
Gross margins were 24.6% for the three months ended June 30, 2013, up 150 basis points from 23.1% in the second quarter of 2012 and a slight increase from the first quarter of 2013.
Non-GAAP net income in the second quarter was $20.1 million, or 11.7 cents per diluted ADS, up from $15.9 million, or 9.3 cents per diluted ADS, for the same period last year, and up from $15.0 million, or 8.8 cents per diluted ADS , in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter of 2013 grew 26.1% over the same period last year and 33.8% over the first quarter of 2013.
"We are pleased with our second quarter performance, with revenue, gross margin and EPS all met the guidance we provided," stated Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. "The core drivers of our business strategy remain intact. By focusing our investments in higher growth markets and higher margin products, we have been able to sustain double-digit growth in our small and medium sized driver and non-driver IC businesses while steadily improving our margins. The progress we are making in our LCOS microdisplays is another example of our technology leadership. As we execute on these and other exciting initiatives, Himax is well positioned to continue delivering substantial returns to our shareholders."
Third Quarter Guidance
The Company is providing the following financial guidance for the third quarter of 2013:
Net Revenues: To decline by 5% to 12%, as compared to the second quarter of 2013
Gross Margin: To be slightly up from the second quarter of 2013
GAAP EPS 6.5 to 8.0 cents per diluted ADS, up 6.6% to 31.1% as compared to 6.1 cents of Q3 2012
Non GAAP EPS 10.2 to 11.7 cents per diluted ADS, up 5.2% to 20.6% as compared to 9.7 cents of Q3 2012
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, July 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a supplier and fabless manufacturer of advanced display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced that it has entered into an agreement ("the Agreement") with Google Inc. pursuant to which Google has agreed to invest in the Company's subsidiary, Himax Display Inc. ("HDI"). The purpose of the investment is to fund production upgrades, expand capacity and further enhance production capabilities at HDI's facilities that produce liquid crystal on silicon ("LCOS") chips and modules used in applications including head-mounted display (HMD) such as Google Glass, head-up display (HUD) and pico-projector products. Under the Agreement, Himax will also invest additional amount in HDI to fund its ongoing capacity expansion. HDI will also use a portion of the proceeds to substantially reduce its loan from Himax. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2013 subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.
Under the Agreement, Google will purchase certain amount of preferred shares in HDI. Upon closing, Google will hold a 6.3% interest in HDI. Google also has an option to make additional investment of preferred shares at the same price within one year from closing. If the option is exercised in full, Google will own a total of up to 14.8% in HDI. Himax Technologies, Inc. holds 81.5% of HDI at present and will remain the major shareholder of HDI after the transaction. Google will join the core group of HDI shareholders including KPCB Holdings, Inc., Khosla Ventures I, L.P. and Intel Capital Corporation.
Google's investment in HDI will not have a dilutive effect on Himax's Nasdaq-traded shares, HIMX.
"Google is a preeminent global technology leader. We are delighted to receive this investment and to form a strategic partnership with Google," stated Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax. "Beginning the second quarter of this year, we had already begun expanding capacity to meet demand for our LCOS product line. This investment from Google further validates our commitment to developing breakthrough technologies and state-of-the-art production facilities. We look forward to leveraging this investment and our collective expertise with Google to create unique and transformational LCOS technologies for many years ahead."
Founded in 2004, Himax Display, Inc. has focused on developing commercial applications for LCOS technologies, in-house manufacturing expertise and production lines with proven, high-volume shipment track records. Over the last few years, HDI has devoted its research and development of its LCOS technology for new applications of head-mounted display and other wearable computing applications.
Deal Flow
TAINAN, Taiwan, June 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a supplier and fabless manufacturer of advanced display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced the closing of the previously announced underwritten offering by selling shareholder Innolux Corporation ("Innolux") of 25,399,753 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), including 3,313,011 ADSs sold pursuant to the underwriters' over-allotment option. The underwriters have exercised in full their over-allotment option to purchase the 3,313,011 ADSs . Immediately following the closing, Innolux has ceased to be the Company's shareholder. The Company did not sell any ADSs in the offering and did not receive any proceeds from the offering. Innolux's sale of the ADSs will not result in dilution of the Company's outstanding shares.
Emergence from Bankruptcy News
TAINAN, Taiwan, June 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a supplier and fabless manufacturer of advanced display drivers and other semiconductor products, today declared a cash dividend of 25 cents per ADS, or 12.5 cents per ordinary share, for the year of 2012.
The cash dividend is expected to be paid on July 31, 2013 to all the shareholders of record as of July 19, 2013. The ADS book will be closed for issuance and cancellation from July 12, 2013 to July 19, 2013. Himax's 2013 dividend is based on its performance for FY2012. Typically, Himax pays out its yearly dividend at approximately the middle of its current calendar year based on the Company's previous year's financial performance.
"Since our IPO in 2006, we have remained committed to a dividend policy," began Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies, Inc. "The Himax dividend is based on our prior year's profitability. The payout ratio and yield of our dividend is compared to those of other dividend paying companies in our sector which we work to maintain our high competitive standards. Due to significant profitability improvement in 2012, Himax increases cash dividend from 6.3 cents per ADS in 2012 to 25 cents per ADS in 2013. The high payout ratio demonstrates our continued support of our shareholder base and long standing profitability."
Deal Flow
TAINAN, Taiwan, June 13, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a supplier and fabless manufacturer of advanced display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced the pricing of an offering by selling shareholder Innolux Corporation ("Innolux") of 22,086,742 American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), each representing two ordinary shares of the Company, at a public offering price of $5.25 per ADS. Innolux has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 3,313,011 additional ADSs solely to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on June 19, 2013.
Himax will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the ADSs by Innolux. Innolux's sale of the ADSs will not result in dilution of the Company's outstanding shares.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as global coordinator for the offering and Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Chardan Capital Markets, LLC and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC are acting as joint bookrunners for the offering. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Rosenblatt Securities Inc. and Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC are acting as co-managers of the offering.
The offering is being made pursuant to the Company's shelf registration statement on Form F-3, which has been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on June 10, 2013. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, securities and does not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, May 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company"), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today issued financial forecasts for the second quarter ending June 30, 2013.
Based on information available to the Company as of May 7, 2013, Himax is projecting the following for the three months ending June 30, 2013.
Net Revenues To increase by 17% to 20%, as compared to the first quarter of 2013
Gross Margin: To be around flat from the first quarter of 2013
GAAP EPS: 10.5 to 11.5 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to 8.9 cents of the same period 2012
Non GAAP EPS: (1) 11.1 to 12.1 cents per diluted ADS, as compared to 9.3 cents of the same period 2012
(1) Non-GAAP EPS excludes share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges
Investor Alert
TAINAN, Taiwan, April 30, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:HIMX) ("Himax" or "Company") today announced the filing of a shelf registration statement on Form F-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").
The shelf registration statement, when declared effective by the SEC, will allow Himax and Innolux Corporation, one of the Company's major shareholders and largest customer, the flexibility to potentially offer and sell from time to time in the future, in one or more public offerings, up to 25,472,673 and 25,399,753 of the Company's American Depositary Shares, respectively. The specifics of any future offering, including the price and use of proceeds of any such securities offered by Himax or Innolux Corporation, as applicable, will be established at the time of the offering and will be described in a prospectus supplement filed with the SEC at the time of the offering.
While Himax does not have any commitments or current intention to sell securities under the shelf registration statement at this time, filing the shelf registration statement is intended to give Himax greater flexibility to capitalize on favorable market conditions and to respond to strategic opportunities as they may arise. Himax is not required to offer or sell any securities under the shelf registration statement.
The Company has been advised that Innolux Corporation intends to dispose of its entire holding of Himax's shares in one or more offerings, subject to market conditions, as part of its divestment strategy and to focus on its core business of TFT-LCD manufacturing.
The shelf registration statement has been filed with the SEC, but has not yet been declared effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy these securities be accepted prior to the time the shelf registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Any offering of these securities will be made solely by means of a prospectus and an accompanying prospectus supplement relating to that offering. This press release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135 under the Securities Act of 1933.
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, July 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. ("Himax" or "Company") (Nasdaq:HIMX), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced preliminary results for the three months ended June 30, 2012. The Company expects to report revenues of $189.5 million, a 13.7% increase sequentially, from the $166.7 million posted in the first quarter of 2012, and an 18.0% increase versus $160.6 million from the same period last year. Himax expects to meet its second quarter guidance with gross margin of approximately 23.1% and GAAP earnings per diluted ADS to be $0.089. The preliminary second quarter EPS represents a 34.7% increase quarter-over-quarter and a 342.5% increase year-over-year.
Himax's second quarter guidance provided on May 8, 2012 had forecasted revenues to increase by 15-20% quarter over quarter, gross margin to remain flat or slightly up from 22.9% in the first quarter of 2012 and GAAP earnings per diluted ADS to be in the range of $0.08-$0.10. While smartphone applications remain one of the Company's fastest growing segments in the second quarter, some smartphone orders got pushed back to the third quarter, resulting in the Company's overall Q2 sales being slightly below its previously forecasted revenues.
"Our preliminary results for the second quarter reflect further progress in the Company's strategic goals of achieving more balanced sales from various product lines and a more diversified customer base," commented Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. "This positive shift in product mix contributed to our improved sales, gross margin and EPS. On the back of a strong first half, we are confident that we will see strong top and bottom line growth from last year during the second half of 2012."
The Company will announce its complete second quarter 2012 results in early August.
Regular Dividend News
TAINAN, Taiwan, June 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. ("Himax" or "Company") (Nasdaq:HIMX), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today declared a cash dividend of 6.30 cents per ADS, or 3.15 cents per ordinary share, for the year of 2011.
The cash dividend is expected to be paid on July 25, 2012 to shareholders of record as of July 13, 2012. The ADS book will be closed for issuance and cancellation from July 6, 2012 to July 13, 2012. Himax's 2012 dividend is based on its performance for FY2011. Typically, Himax pays out its yearly dividend at approximately the middle of its current calendar year based on the Company's previous year's financial performance.
"Since our IPO in 2006, we have remained committed to a dividend policy," began Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies, Inc. "The Himax dividend is based on our prior year's profitability. The payout ratio and yield of our dividend is compared to those of other dividend paying companies in our sector. We believe this year's dividend payout demonstrates our strong confidence in the positive business outlook and profitability in 2012."
Comments & Business Outlook
First Quarter 2012 Results
Revenues for the first quarter of 2012 increased 18.1% to $166.7 million year over year.
Gross profit was 22.9%, compared to 20.1% in the first quarter of 2011 and 22.1% in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Company's non-GAAP adjusted pre-tax income for the first quarter 2012 was $15.6 million, or $0.090 per diluted ADS, up 346.2% as compared to $3.5 million, or $0.020 per diluted ADS, during the same period 2011 and up 50.7% from $10.3 million, or $0.059 per diluted ADS, in the previous quarter.
We revised our first quarter guidance on April 5, raising our forecast revenues to $166.7 million, gross margin to 22.9% and GAAP earnings per ADS to 6.6 cents. All these numbers exceeded the initial guidance we provided on February 13. I am pleased to report that the actual first quarter results all met our revised guidance numbers," stated Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.
Share Buyback Update
With regards to the Company's $25.0 million dollars share buyback program, Himax has purchased a total of $11.2 million, or approximately 8.3 million ADSs through March 31, 2012. Himax purchased approximately $6.5 million or 4.5 million ADSs in the three months ended March 31, 2012. As of March 31, 2012, Himax had 170.1 million outstanding equivalent ADSs.Himax management has stated they will continue to execute the remaining share repurchase program in accordance with Rule 10b-18.
Business Updates
Himax continues to sign new customers and increase its business from existing customers across each of its major product segments. In large panel drivers, the Company has captured more market share by penetrating new Chinese large panel manufacturers and servicing the demand for TV sets in China. Large panel display driver remains one of Himax's long-term focuses, over which the Company has continued to commit to R&D activities.
With leading market share and product roadmap in smartphone driver, Himax has introduced new products that position the Company for growth with multiple tier-1 smartphone customers. Beyond smartphones, the Company is also working closely with numerous panel makers on other small and medium-sized applications, including automotive and tablets among others, which all show strong signs of growth.
In the non-driver IC business, Himax forecasts order growth in its touch panel controllers, CMOS image sensors, power management ICs and WLED drivers. Based on these positive developments, the Company sees its sales growth momentum in non-driver segments continuing through 2012.
Management is particularly excited about some recent progress the Company has made with its LCOS products. Himax is working with a number of top-tier customers to develop certain new applications using its LCOS panels and has also signed major contracts with tier-1 customers to provide IP licensing and ASIC services, some of which involve the same customers using the Company's LCOS panels for their new products. This is an illustration of not just its strong R&D capability, but also the synergy of product and knowhow that the Company can bring to its customers. While these will not bring in immediate financial contribution, the Company believes these products can facilitate its long term growth.
Q2 2012 Guidance
For the three months ending June 30, 2012, the Company is projecting the following:
Net Revenues: 15% to 20% sequential growth
Gross Margin: To be slightly up from the first quarter of 2012
GAAP Net Income: To be in the range of 8 to 10 cents per diluted ADS
Diluted ADS Shares Outstanding: 170 million shares
Comments & Business Outlook
TAINAN, Taiwan, April 5, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. ("Himax" or "Company") (Nasdaq:HIMX) today announced that it expects its first quarter revenues, gross margin and EPS to exceed the Company's previously announced guidance on February 13, 2012.
Himax is revising its first quarter revenue guidance to $166.7 million, exceeding its initial guidance which projected revenues to decline by mid-single-digit percentage versus $169.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. Gross margin is now expected to be around 22.9%, as compared to previous guidance of flat or down slightly from the 22.1% in the fourth quarter 2011. GAAP EPS is now expected to be around $0.066, as compared to initial guidance of $0.03 to $0.04.
"First quarter is traditionally a low season, marked by fewer business days. Our first quarter performance is a good indication that our business has bottomed out from the trough of last year," commented Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax Technologies. "Strong sales in our display driver business and continued growth in our non-driver products contributed to overall sales, margins and EPS exceeding prior projections. We experienced robust growth across literally all product lines with strong sale-through particularly into the China market. We continue to hold the view that the first quarter is likely to be the bottom of the year for our business and we remain excited about the growth prospects of the second quarter."
The Company will provide additional details regarding its first quarter 2012 results and second quarter guidance in early May.
Comments & Business Outlook
Fourth Quarter 2011 Results
Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 increased 19.8% to $169.2 million year-over-year and increased 4.4% sequentially.
Non-GAAP adjusted pre-tax income for the fourth quarter was $10.3 million, or $0.059 per diluted ADS, up 51.5% compared to $6.8 million, or $0.038 per diluted ADS during the same period last year, and up 83.3% from $5.6 million, or $0.032 per diluted ADS.
Business Updates
Himax has successfully implemented a product diversification strategy as by entering new markets and signing new customers. The small-medium driver segment has become the Company's single largest revenue contributor which also produce higher gross margins. Revenues from the small-medium segment alone surpassed those from all large panel applications combined, including TV, monitor and laptops. The non-driver business has also grown quickly to become over 10% of total revenue in 2011. 2011 has been marked as a year of transition for success. Seeing the potential upside potential, the Company remains optimistic it will generate positive top line and bottom line growth in 2012.
"Entering into 2012, we are seeing strong fundamentals across many of our businesses, including large panel driver business, which we believe has stabilized. We are on track with new customer additions in several regions. Equally important, we expect a more balanced product portfolio to contribute to our overall business improvement including better gross margin and more controlled operating expenses. Our smartphone and non-driver products will continue its strong growth to represent a larger part of our overall sales." Concluded Mr. Wu.
Q1 2012 Guidance
In the first quarter, we expect a mid-single-digit decline in our revenues compared to the last quarter with gross margin being flat or down slightly. Given that the first quarter has fewer working days due to Chinese New Year and that it is a cyclically low season, we believe Q1 will be weakest of the quarters in terms of sales. GAAP earnings attributable to shareholders per ADS are expected to be in the range of 3 to 4 cents per ADS based on 172 million outstanding ADS. The guided EPS improvement against the last quarter was mainly to reflect our expectation that the effective income tax rate would be back to a more normal level versus the unusually high level of the last quarter, as explained earlier.
CFO Trail
TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 20, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. ("Himax" or "Company") (Nasdaq:HIMX), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced the appointment of Ms. Jackie Chang as the company's CFO with immediate effect. She will report to Jordan Wu, Himax's President and CEO. Chang succeeds Jessica Pan, the company's interim CFO. Pan will stay with the company to continue her role as head of accounting and treasury operations, reporting to Chang.
"On behalf of the company and our Board of Directors, it is with great excitement that we welcome Jackie to the Himax family," said Wu. "She has a proven record of excellence in finance, accounting and management and is well-suited to take up this critical position at a time when we diversify our product portfolio and expand our investor base. We are thrilled to have Jackie join our team."
Ms. Chang is an accomplished corporate executive with over 25 years of professional experience in finance, accounting and operations, having worked for both entrepreneurial and multinational corporations in retail, distribution and manufacturing segments, and for the past several years in the consumer electronics and automotive manufacturing industries. Previously, she was CFO of Castlink Corporation, where she was responsible for financial reporting and operations. Prior to that, she served as the VP of Finance and Operations for PlayHut, Inc. where she was in charge of the entire finance, auditing, supply chain management and procurement operations for the firm's multinational platform. Prior to joining PlayHut, Chang was an executive for Nissan North America for 13 years where she held several positions in finance, treasury, business planning, operations and accounting. As the General Manager of Treasury Control for Nissan, Ms. Chang consolidated the accounting procedures of Chinese GAAP to IFRS for Nissan's China joint venture operations and led the successful launch of the company's ERP systems.
Comments & Business Outlook
Third Quarter 2011 Results
For the third quarter of 2011, Himax reported net revenues of $162.1 million, representing a 17.2% increase from $138.3 million in the third quarter of 2010
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Himax stockholders for the third quarter of 2011 was $4.8 million or $0.027 per diluted ADS, down from $7.0 million or $0.040 per diluted ADS in the third quarter of 2010, and down from $5.0 million or $0.028 per diluted ADS in the second quarter of 2011.
"We are currently in a strong position in the smart phone sector with leading technologies and competitive products. We carry a wide range of smart phone products including hVGA, WVGA, nHD, qHD resolution drivers for mainstream smartphones as well as the HD720 high resolution drivers of which we are one of the industry leaders in shipping to first-tier smart phone brand customers. We are also working with our panel partners in Taiwan, Japan, Korea and China to supply drivers for numerous smart phone brand customers. The growth momentum is expected to continue into the fourth quarter 2011 and beyond with strong demand from both Chinese and international brand customers."
Liquidity Requirements
We believe that our working capital is
sufficient for our present requirements . We may, however, require additional cash resources due to higher than expected growth in our business or other changing business conditions or other future developments, including any investments or acquisitions we may decide to pursue.
Comments & Business Outlook
Himax Technologies, Inc. updates its previously announced third quarter 2010 guidance.
The Company now expects
revenue to decline approximately 26% sequentially, from the $187.7 million posted in the second quarter 2010. gross margin to increase slightly above the top of the previous gross margin guidance. GAAP earnings per ADS to be in the range of $0-0.01 . Excluding share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges, non-GAAP earnings per ADS in the third quarter is expected to be in the range of $0.04-0.05 . The revision is primarily to reflect adjustment in customer demand.
Previous guidance provided on August 10, 2010 had forecast third quarter 2010
revenues to decline by 13-18% quarter over quarter. gross margin to increase by 1-2 percentage points from 20.4% in the second quarter. GAAP earnings per ADS to be in the range of $0-0.02.
non-GAAP earnings per ADS to be in the range of $0.04-0.06.
Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax, commented, "As updated in our last earnings conference call, we experienced a sudden order cutback right around the same time when we provided our third quarter guidance in mid-August. These order adjustments continued in September while panel inventory levels remained a concern for panel makers. However, we managed to increase our gross margin primarily due to a more favorable product mix."
Comments & Business Outlook
For the second quarter of 2010 :
Net revenues of $187.7 million, representing a 1.5% increase from $184.9 million in the second quarter of 2009, and a 7.0% increase from $175.5 million in the first quarter of 2010. Gross margin was 20.4% in the second quarter of 2010, down 40 basis points year-over-year, and up 60 basis points , sequentially. Operating income in the second quarter was $13.0 million, compared to $14.8 million for the same period last year and $10.1 million in the previous quarter. Net income attributable to Himax stockholders for the second quarter of 2010 was $12.0 million or $0.07 per diluted ADS, down from $15.4 million or $0.08 per diluted ADS in the second quarter of 2009, and up from $9.1 million or $0.05 per diluted ADS in the first quarter of 2010. Excluding share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges, non-GAAP operating income for the second quarter of 2010 was $15.4 million, down from $17.7 million in the same period last year, and up from $12.5 million in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Himax stockholders for the second quarter of 2010 was $14.0 million or $0.08 per diluted ADS, down from $17.9 million or $0.10 per diluted ADS in the second quarter of 2009, and up from $11.2 million or $0.06 per diluted ADS in the first quarter of 2010.
Mr. Wu added, "We are seeing softening demand since June with talks of end product sell-through noticeably slowing down and customers getting cautious on inventory levels. Over the past ten days, in particular, we have seen our customers significantly cut back their forecasts for August and September. While we are actively talking to our customers, we have not yet come to a conclusion as to whether this is a short-term over-reaction or if it has long-term implications. We are uncertain if this is specific to Himax or this is an industry-wide phenomenon ."
For the third quarter 2010, we expect:
Revenues to decline by 13% to 18%. Gross margin to increase by 1-2 percentage points. GAAP earnings per ADS to be in the range of $0-0.02. Excluding share-based compensation and acquisition-related charges, our third quarter 2010 non-GAAP earnings per ADS guidance is $0.04-0.06 ."
Comments & Business Outlook
Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax, commented, "Demand for our display drivers rebounded strongly in the second quarter .
Mr. Wu added, "Looking forward, the shortage of glass substrate for TFT-LCD panels is expected to continue in the third quarter of 2009, which is a factor of uncertainty for our third quarter guidance. In addition, the capacity tightness for certain of our semiconductor subcontractors, particularly the backend packaging and testing houses, would increase our costs of revenues and may negatively impact our gross margin.
For the third quarter, we expect revenues to grow by double-digit percentage points sequentially.
3rd Quarter 2009 Guidance Ending September a
3rd Quarter 2009 Guidance 3rd Quarter 2008 Reported Period Change
GAAP EPS
$0.04 to $0.06
$0.09
-55.6% to -50%
Source:
See Release , Aug. 5, 2009
a The above forecasts reflect the Company's current and preliminary Source: See views and are therefore subject to change. Please refer to the Company's Safe Harbor Statement (usually in press releases) for the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. b Non-GAAP EPS figures generally exclude certain non-operating gains and losses as well as certain non-cash items. Non-GAAP information should not be viewed in isolation or as a substitute for reported, or GAAP information . For a more complete explanation of the company's definition of non-GAAP please refer to its financial press releases. The GeoTeam ® non-GAAP figures may, from time to time, differ from company supplied figures.
Share Structure
"To comply with Taiwan listing requirements and to ensure sufficient float on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the Board has proposed some necessary revisions to our Memorandum and Articles of Associations and a recapitalization plan to effect a change in the par value of our ordinary shares from $0.0001 per share to $0.30, or approximately NT$10, per share, and an increase in the number of ordinary shares outstanding to double the current amount.
Source: GlobeNewswire (August 5, 2009 )
Comments & Business Outlook
Mr. Wu continued, "While the global financial crisis has had a profound impact on the TFT-LCD industry, we believe that it is a great opportunity for us to capitalize on our strategy and grow our business. Customers around the world are paying attention to suppliers' financial soundness, looking for industry's leaders who have sufficient resources to fund R&Ds, product developments, and customer services on a sustainable basis. Even amid the global economic downturn, our financial position has grown stronger over the past quarter . With no debts, our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities available for sale were $204.6 million on March 31, 2009 , a $55.5 million increase from the previous quarter. Backed by our strong balance sheet, we remain confident in the long-term growth prospects of our business and remain committed to adding value to our shareholders."
Mr. Wu added, "We are seeing a strong, across the board rebound in the demand for our display drivers, as customers' capacity utilizations have been substantially improved. We expect rush orders to continue throughout the second quarter ."
2nd Quarter 2009 Guidance Ending June a
2nd Quarter 2009 Guidance 2nd Quarter 2008 Reported Period Change
GAAP Revenue
$190.0 to $194.8million
$246.9 million
-23.0% to -21.4%
EPS b
$0.07 to $0.09
$0.20
-65.0% to -55.0%
Source:
See Release , May 18, 2009
a The above forecasts reflect the Company's current and preliminary views and are therefore subject to change. Please refer to the Company's Safe Harbor Statement (usually in press releases) for the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
b
Comments & Business Outlook
Guidance Report:
Himax Technologies, Inc. announced that fourth-quarter results will be lower than the company's previous guidance given on November 4, 2008 , as customers reduce orders amid the slowing worldwide economy.
Fourth Quarter 2008 Guidance Ending December
2008 Revenue Guidance 2007 Revenue Period Change in Revenue 2008 EPS Guidance 2007 EPS Period in Change EPS
$155 to $158 million $267 million -41 % to -42 % $.02 to $.04 $.23 -91% to -83%
Implied Full Year 2008 Guidance Ending December
2008 Revenue Guidance
2007 Revenue
Period Change in Revenue
2008 EPS Guidance
2007 EPS
Period in Change EPS
$863 to $866 million
$918 million
-6% to -5.67%
$.49 to $.55
$.57
-14% to -3.5%
With no debts , our balance sheet remains strong and we are confident that we will continue to generate positive operating cash flow in the fourth quarter. Though the short-term visibility is quite limited, we remain focused on investing in R&D and improving our operating efficiency. We will continue to execute the $50 million share buy-back program announced on November 14, 2008."
Source: GlobeNewswire (December 5, 2008 )
