It’s earnings season, and here’s a snapshot of the most recent quarterly performances and outlooks of several local technology companies traded on the big boards. The roundup highlights the Business Journal’s ongoing effort to enhance coverage of Orange County’s diverse and influential roster of public companies:
Remote Controls
Santa Ana-based Universal Electronics Inc. (Nasdaq: UEIC) increased revenue 5% year-over-year in the third quarter to $183 million, missing the consensus estimate of $185 million by two Yahoo Finance analysts.
Adjusted income of $9.7 million, or 69 cents per diluted share, was in line with estimates, compared with $11.9 million, or 81 cents, in the same period a year earlier.
The world’s largest remote-control maker projects revenue in the current quarter of $180 million to $188 million, and adjusted profit at 70 cents to 80 cents per share.
The company also announced it will introduce a new voice-enabled artificial intelligence product platform for the connected home at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Shares jumped 16% to $36.80 after the report but are still down 27% this year. As of Nov. 19, they traded at about $34 with a $476 million market cap.
Ducommon
Santa Ana-based aerospace manufacturer Ducommun Inc. (NYSE: DCO) grew third-quarter revenue 15% year-over-year to $160 million, topping the average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance. Its commercial aerospace and military business lines drove the gains as its industrial segment posted a slight drop in revenue.
Net income of $4.2 million, or 36 cents per share, met expectations.
“We ended the quarter with a solid backlog of $780 million, still near record levels, reflecting stronger orders in both commercial and defense-related platforms,” Chief Executive Steve Oswald said in an analyst call after the earnings report.
Shares in the lightly followed company are down about 5% since the Nov. 8 quarterly report but up 47% this year, recently trading at $41.70 and a $476 million market cap.
Blizzard
Shares of Santa Monica-beased Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), parent of Irvine-based gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment Inc., have plummeted about 40% in the past two months following declines in third-quarter revenue, earnings and active monthly users, as well missing analyst projections.
Part of the investor blowback stemmed from Blizzcon, its annual fanfest this month in Anaheim, where Blizzard announced it will release “Diablo Immortal” for mobile devices.
More than 100,000 complaints were aired on YouTube and Reddit, fueling a 7% drop in share price in the first trading session after the announcement. The major issue is that gamers traditionally prefer role-playing games on personal computers versus hand-held devices.
The barrage of bad news fueled several price cuts, though it appears most of the financial troubles are linked to Activision, whose monthly active users dipped by 7 million to 345 million.
Blizzard was its only unit to avoid a drop in monthly users, holding flat at 37 million.
The local unit increased year-over-year revenue 20% in the third quarter to $635 million and operating income 13% to $189 million.
iPhone Woes
An anticipated decline in iPhone sales, and soft smartphone demand in China, have knocked down shares of chipmaker Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS).
The company, run from Irvine, projects revenue in the current quarter of $1 billion to $1.02 billion, and an adjusted profit of $1.91 per share, both below Wall Street expectations.
This month, shares fell about 20% to under $70 as of Nov. 19 and a $12.7 billion market cap.
“Despite the near-term market weakness, we have a clear path to deliver our 10th consecutive year of revenue and earnings growth in fiscal 2019,” Chief Executive Liam Griffin said during an analyst call. “We’ll be able to recover.”
For its fiscal year ending in September, the company recorded record revenue of $3.8 billion, up 6%, and operating income of $7.22 per share, up 12%.
The company returned over $1 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2018: $243 million in dividend payments and $760 million in share buybacks. It closed the fiscal year with about $1 billion in cash and investments and no debt.
Skyworks specializes in communication chips used in smartphones, tablets, routers, PCs and notebook computers, among other devices.
