Business News
RF Micro Devices Announces December 2008 Quarterly Results
Wednesday 28. January 2009 - RFMD(R) Generated Approximately $46 Million In Operating Cash Flow In December Quarter
Business Highlights:
– Quarterly Revenue Totaled $202 Million In December 2008 Quarter
– Cash And Short-Term Investments Increased Approximately $19 Million Sequentially
– Company Repurchased Approximately $33 Million Par Value Of Its Convertible Bonds
– Company Recorded Approximately $750 Million In Asset Impairment And Inventory-Related Charges
– Quarterly GAAP Diluted Loss Per Share (LPS) Totaled ($3.09), And Quarterly Non-GAAP Diluted Loss Per Share Totaled ($0.05)
– RFMD Surpassed Its Previously Announced Target Of $75 Million In Annualized Expense Reductions
RF Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD), a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance semiconductor components, today reported financial results for its fiscal 2009 third quarter ended December 27, 2008. RFMD’s December quarterly revenue decreased approximately 25.6% sequentially to $202 million, reflecting a rapidly declining demand environment. GAAP gross margin decreased sequentially from 28.3% to 19.0%, and non-GAAP gross margin decreased from 31.6% to 22.6% during the same period, primarily as a result of the sequential decrease in revenue, low factory utilization rates and inventory-related charges of approximately ($25) million. Operating loss was approximately ($754) million on a GAAP basis, reflecting asset impairment and inventory-related charges, and approximately ($8.3) million on a non-GAAP basis, reflecting reduced revenue and gross profit, partially offset by a reduction in operating expenses. Net loss was approximately ($813.3) million on a GAAP basis and approximately ($12.9) million on a non-GAAP basis. The asset impairment and inventory-related charges for the quarter were consistent with the amounts previously disclosed by RFMD on January 21, 2009.
RFMD(R) Product Group Highlights
CPG
— Shipments of cellular components decreased sequentially, due primarily
to reduced handset demand and excess inventories at handset original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
— CPG supported the launch of multiple 2G and 3G multimode handsets at a
leading Korean handset OEM and added the OEM as a 10% customer
— Sales to another top-five handset OEM continued to ramp and more than
doubled sequentially
— RFMD shipped production volumes of cellular front ends to all five of
the world’s top-five handset OEMs
— RFMD secured major GSM/GPRS design wins at leading OEMs and platform
providers in Korea, Taiwan and China
— RFMD launched multiple new RF front end and switch products targeting
GPRS, WCDMA, CDMA and WiMAX
— RFMD supported the launch of two new mass-market EDGE handsets
featuring POLARIS(R)
MPG
— Shipments of RF components decreased sequentially, due primarily to
reduced end-market demand and excess inventories
— MPG expects to be a beneficiary of the increasing content opportunity
in 3G cellular infrastructure in China, beginning in the March quarter
— RFMD signed a new government contract for additional funding for its
gallium nitride (GaN) process technology development
— RFMD anticipates increasing GaN-based revenue in calendar year 2009
related to CATV line amplifiers and defense radar applications
— MPG released 20 new products and more than 50 derivative products in
the December quarter and is on track to release 100 new products and
more than 250 derivative products during RFMD’s 2009 fiscal year
GAAP RESULTS
(in millions,
except
percentages and
per share data) Q3 Fiscal Q2 Fiscal % Change Q3 Fiscal % Change
2009 2009 vs. Q2 2008 vs. Q3
2009 2008
Revenue $202.0 $271.7 (25.6)% $268.2 (24.7)%
Gross Margin 19.0% 28.3% (9.3)ppt 26.2% (7.2)ppt
Operating Loss $(754.0) $(19.0) 3,859.1% $(24.4) 2,988.3%
Net Loss $(813.3) $(11.8) 6,804.9% $(15.1) 5,294.6%
Diluted (LPS) $(3.09) $(0.04) 6,775.1% $(0.06) 4,920.9%
NON-GAAP RESULTS (excluding share-based compensation, amortization of intangibles, impairment of goodwill and intangibles, amortization of acquisition-related inventory step-up, acquired in process research and development charge, manufacturing start-up costs, gain on retirement of convertible subordinated notes, restructuring charges, and tax adjustment)
(in millions,
except
percentages and
per share data) Q3 Fiscal Q2 Fiscal % Change Q3 Fiscal % Change
2009 2009 vs. Q2 2008 vs. Q3
2009 2008
Gross Margin 22.6% 31.6% (9.0)ppt 29.6% (7.0)ppt
Operating (Loss)
Income $(8.3) $18.0 (146.5)% $6.1 (236.6)%
Net (Loss) Income $(12.9) $18.6 (169.2)% $15.4 (183.4)%
Diluted (LPS) EPS $(0.05) $0.07 (174.9)% $0.06 (174.4)%
Financial Guidance And Business Outlook
RFMD believes that current market conditions have created a high degree of uncertainty regarding customer demand. As a result, RFMD is suspending its practice of providing detailed quarterly guidance and is instead providing the following insight into its internal planning assumptions related to its anticipated cash flows.
— RFMD currently expects March quarterly revenue will decline more than
seasonally, as end-demand remains weak and customers continue to
reduce their inventory levels.
— RFMD currently anticipates a significant reduction in its inventory
levels in the March quarter, which is expected to favorably impact
cash flow from operations and negatively impact gross margin as a
result of the lower factory utilization rates.
— RFMD currently expects its net cash and short-term investments will
increase in the March quarter, although it may utilize a portion of
its available cash to repurchase its outstanding convertible notes on
an opportunistic basis.
— RFMD continues to anticipate $80-$120 million in free cash flow (cash
flow from operations less capital expenditures) during its 2010 fiscal
year, which begins on March 29, 2009.
RFMD’s actual quarterly and annual results may differ, and such differences may be material.
Comments From Management
Bob Bruggeworth, president and CEO of RFMD, said, “The fiscal discipline underlying our strategic restructuring three quarters ago is not only intact, it is central to our operating plan and execution as we manage through the current economic downturn. RFMD today is flexible and agile, and we are actively managing our manufacturing capacities and our expense structure to match what we anticipate to be the near-term demand environment.
“Despite the decreasing end-market demand, design activity for our products has remained strong. RFMD is firmly committed to customer and end-market diversification and continued investments in new products and new enabling technologies. We are confident this focus will serve us well in the current environment and as global markets begin to recover.”
Dean Priddy, CFO and corporate vice president of administration of RFMD, said, “RFMD’s flexibility and agility allow us to proactively manage for cash flow and improve RFMD’s balance sheet. Despite the rapidly declining demand environment in the December quarter, RFMD delivered $40 million in free cash flow and reduced net debt (long-term debt less cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments) by $52 million. We are structuring RFMD for superior financial leverage and significantly improved return on invested capital.”
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to disclosing financial results calculated in accordance with United States (U.S.) generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), RFMD’s earnings release contains the following non-GAAP financial measures: (i) non-GAAP gross margin, (ii) non-GAAP operating (loss) income, (iii) non-GAAP net (loss) income, (iv) non-GAAP net (loss) income per diluted share, (v) free cash flow, and (vi) net debt. Each of these non-GAAP financial measures is either adjusted from GAAP results to exclude certain expenses or derived from multiple GAAP measures, which are outlined in the “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures” table on pages 10 and the “Additional Selected Non-GAAP Financial Measures And Reconciliations” table on page 11.
In managing RFMD’s business on a consolidated basis, management develops an annual operating plan, which is approved by our Board of Directors, using non-GAAP financial measures. In developing and monitoring performance against this plan, management considers the actual or potential impacts on these non-GAAP financial measures from actions taken to reduce unit costs with the goal of increasing gross margin. In addition, management relies upon these non-GAAP financial measures to assess whether research and development efforts are at an appropriate level, and when making decisions about product spending, administrative budgets, and marketing programs. In addition, we believe that non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information to investors and enable investors to analyze the results of operations in the same way as management. We have chosen to provide this supplemental information to enable investors to perform additional comparisons of operating results, to assess our liquidity and capital position and to analyze financial performance excluding the effect of certain non-cash expenses, unusual items and share-based compensation expense, which may obscure trends in RFMD’s underlying performance.
We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures offer an additional view of RFMD’s operations that, when coupled with the GAAP results and the reconciliations to corresponding GAAP financial measures, provide a more complete understanding of RFMD’s results of operations and the factors and trends affecting RFMD’s business. However, these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.
Our rationale for using these non-GAAP financial measures, as well as their impact on the presentation of RFMD’s operations, are outlined below:
Non-GAAP gross margin. Non-GAAP gross margin excludes share-based compensation expense, amortization of intangible assets, an adjustment for adverse macroeconomic conditions, an adjustment for restructuring charges, an adjustment for manufacturing facility relocation and related costs and an adjustment for amortization of acquisition-related inventory step-up. We believe that exclusion of these costs in presenting non-GAAP gross margin gives management and investors a more effective means of evaluating RFMD’s historical performance and projected costs and the potential for realizing cost efficiencies. We believe that the majority of RFMD’s purchased intangibles are not relevant to analyzing current operations because they generally represent costs incurred by the acquired company to build value prior to acquisition, and thus are effectively part of transaction costs rather than ongoing costs of operating RFMD’s business. In this regard, we note that (i) once the intangibles are fully amortized, the intangibles will not be replaced with cash costs and therefore, the exclusion of these costs provides management and investors with better visibility into the actual costs required to generate revenues over time, and (ii) although we set the amortization expense based on useful life of the various assets at the time of the transaction, we cannot influence the timing and amount of the future amortization expense recognition once the lives are established. Similarly, we believe that presentation of non-GAAP gross margin and other non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the impact of share-based compensation expense assists management and investors in evaluating the period-over-period performance of RFMD’s ongoing operations because (i) the expenses are non-cash in nature, and (ii) although the size of the grants is within our control, the amount of expense varies depending on factors such as short-term fluctuations in stock price volatility and prevailing interest rates, which can be unrelated to the operational performance of RFMD during the period in which the expense is incurred and generally is outside the control of management. Moreover, we believe that the exclusion of share-based compensation expense in presenting non-GAAP gross margin and other non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors to understand the impact of the expensing of share-based compensation to RFMD’s gross margins and other financial measures in comparison to both prior periods as well as to its competitors. We also believe that the adjustments to margin related to business acquisitions (amortization of acquisition-related inventory step-up), restructuring charges, manufacturing facility relocation and related costs and adverse macroeconomic conditions do not constitute part of RFMD’s ongoing operations and therefore the exclusion of these costs provides management and investors with better visibility into the actual costs required to generate revenues over time and gives management and investors a more effective means of evaluating our historical and projected performance.
We believe disclosure of non-GAAP gross margin has economic substance because the excluded expenses do not represent continuing cash expenditures and, as described above, we have little control over the timing and amount of the expenses in question.
Non-GAAP operating (loss) income. Non-GAAP operating (loss) income excludes share-based compensation expense, amortization of intangible assets, restructuring charges, impairment of goodwill and intangibles, acquired in-process research and development, amortization of acquisition-related inventory step-up and manufacturing start-up costs. We believe that presentation of a measure of operating income that excludes amortization of intangible assets and share-based compensation expense is useful to both management and investors for the same reasons as described above with respect to our use of non-GAAP gross margin. We believe that restructuring charges, impairment of goodwill and intangibles, manufacturing start-up costs, acquired in-process research and development and amortization of acquisition-related inventory step-up do not constitute part of RFMD’s ongoing operations and therefore, the exclusion of these costs provides management and investors with better visibility into the actual costs required to generate revenues over time and gives management and investors a more effective means of evaluating our historical and projected performance. We believe disclosure of non-GAAP operating income has economic substance because the excluded expenses are either non-recurring in nature or do not represent current cash expenditures.
Non-GAAP net (loss) income and non-GAAP net (loss) income per diluted share. Non-GAAP net (loss) income and non-GAAP net (loss) income per diluted share exclude the effects of share-based compensation expense, amortization of intangible assets, restructuring charges, impairment of goodwill and intangibles, manufacturing start-up costs, acquired in-process research and development, amortization of acquisition-related inventory step-up and gain on retirement of convertible subordinated notes and also reflect an adjustment of income taxes. We believe that presentation of measures of net (loss) income and net (loss) income per diluted share that exclude these items is useful to both management and investors for the reasons described above with respect to non-GAAP gross margin and non-GAAP operating (loss) income. We believe disclosure of non-GAAP net (loss) income and non-GAAP net (loss) income per diluted share has economic substance because the excluded expenses are either non-recurring in nature, do not represent current cash expenditures, or are variable in nature and thus unlikely to become recurring expenses.
Free cash flow. RFMD defines free cash flow as net cash provided by operating activities during the period minus property and equipment expenditures made during the period. We use free cash flow as a supplemental financial measure in our evaluation of liquidity and financial strength. Management believes that this measure is useful as an indicator of our ability to service our debt, meet other payment obligations and make strategic investments. Free cash flow should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, net income as a measure of our performance and net cash provided by operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. Additionally, our definition of free cash flow is limited, in that it does not represent residual cash flows available for discretionary expenditures due to the fact that the measure does not deduct the payments required for debt service and other contractual obligations. Therefore, we believe it is important to view free cash flow as a measure that provides supplemental information to our entire statement of cash flows.
Net debt. RFMD defines net debt as total long-term debt less cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Management believes that this measure provides useful information regarding the level of RFMD’s indebtedness by reflecting cash and investments that could be used to repay debt at or prior to maturity.
Limitations of non-GAAP financial measures. The primary material limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating (loss) income, non-GAAP net (loss) income, non-GAAP net (loss) income per diluted share, free cash flow and net debt as compared to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures of gross margin, operating (loss) income, net (loss) income, net (loss) income per diluted share, net cash provided by operating activities and total long-term debt are (i) they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies in RFMD’s industry, and (ii) they exclude financial information that some may consider important in evaluating our performance. We compensate for these limitations by providing full disclosure of the differences between these non-GAAP financial measures and the corresponding GAAP financial measures, including a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the corresponding GAAP financial measures, to enable investors to perform their own analysis of our gross margin, operating (loss) income, net (loss) income, net (loss) income per diluted share, net cash provided by operating activities and total long-term debt.