You could say the story is “Scottish newspaper salutes local high school alum who makes good in Orange County tech world.”
The Ross-shire Journal of northern Scotland on Feb. 5 profiled former Dingwall Academy pupil Donald McClymont, the co-founder and chief executive of automobile-focused Indie Semiconductor Inc. (Nasdaq: INDI) in Aliso Viejo.
“Swapping Caledonia for California has paid off for Dingwall man Donald McClymont,” the newspaper added, referring to Scotland by its ancient Roman name.
For the record, the Dingwall Academy is one of the largest secondary schools in the Scottish Highlands, while the Ross-shire Journal is part of an 18-newspaper group in that region.
The newspaper pointed out that Indie has a “turnover of millions of dollars and is playing an important role in helping the auto industry transition into a new era of self-driving, electric power vehicles which will transform our relationship with our cars.”
Indie’s offerings include semiconductors and related software. Its “system-on-chip” products are used in driver assistance systems that help with parking and collision avoidance, onboard entertainment systems, lighting and car key products, as well as backup and forward cameras used to avoid driving errors.
Its products are expected to ultimately be used with self-driving cars.
June Listing
The Aliso Viejo-based company went public in June via a reverse merger, while its share price has dipped from $15.73 in mid-November to $8.82 last week amid market swings. It counts a valuation around $1.3 billion.
Indie has a design center in Edinburgh, Scotland. McClymont told the Scottish newspaper: “I would love to have something in the Highlands as well, but sadly there’s not much of the right kind of engineering expertise.”
He also lamented the impact of Brexit in Indie’s expansion across the pond, “making it harder to recruit overseas staff.”
Japan Expansion
Still, Indie Semiconductor has been expanding elsewhere overseas.
The company said last month it had created a unit in Japan and hired semiconductor industry veteran Yasuyuki Arai to lead its Japanese sales and marketing initiatives from Tokyo.
The company is “now well positioned to deploy its highly integrated solutions, capture design wins and capitalize on one of the largest global automotive markets,” it said of the Japan expansion.
Feb. 22 Earnings
Indie Semiconductor is scheduled to release fourth-quarter and 2021 earnings on Feb. 22.
Analyst estimates call for a loss per share of 9 cents in the fourth quarter, while revenue is estimated at $18.3 million in the same three-month period.
In November, Indie Semiconductor said third-quarter revenue was $12.2 million, up 60% from the year-ago period and slightly ahead of analyst expectations.
The operating loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $21.3 million versus $3.2 million in the same period of 2020 including transaction costs and stock-based charges.
Skyworks Solutions
A larger local semiconductor company with earnings news is Irvine-based Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS), which recently said revenue was flat in the first quarter year over year, while predicting strong growth in the current three-month period.
The company reported net revenue of $1.5 billion in the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31, almost identical to the same period a year earlier, and in line with analysts’ expectations.
“Based on new product ramps across our increasingly diversified product portfolio, we expect double-digit year-over-year revenue and earnings growth in the March quarter,” said Kris Sennesael, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Skyworks Solutions.
Skyworks Solutions is the fourth-largest publicly listed company in Orange County, with a market cap of about $23.6 billion as of last week. Its former CEO and Chairman, David Aldrich, now serves on Indie’s board.Â
