Earnings Call Transcript - ALGM Q2 2021

Katie Blye, Senior Director of Investor Relations

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for Allegro's second quarter results for fiscal year 2021. I'm joined today by Allegro's President and Chief Executive Officer, Ravi Vig; and Allegro's Chief Financial Officer, Paul Walsh. We'll review our quarterly financial performance and provide a summary of our outlook. Our earnings release and the accompanying financial tables are available on the Investor Relations page of our website. This call is being webcasted and a recording will be available on our IR page shortly. Please note that comments made during this conference call include forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements include projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions, and as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from our projections. Please refer to the earnings press release we issued today and other documents filed by us with the SEC, including the risk factors discussed in detail and our final IPO prospectus filed on October 30, 2020. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information presented. The non-GAAP financial measures that are discussed today are not intended to replace or be a substitute for the presentation of Allegro's GAAP financial results and may be calculated differently than similar measures used by other companies. We are providing this supplemental information because it may enable investors to make meaningful comparisons of core operating results and more clearly highlight the results of our core ongoing operations. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures referenced during today's call can be found in the tables provided in our earnings press release and posted to our IR page. I'll now turn the call over to Allegro's President and CEO, Ravi Vig. Ravi?

Ravi Vig, President and CEO

Thank you, Katie, and good morning, everyone. Revenue in fiscal Q2 exceeded our expectations and demonstrated strong recovery from our COVID quarter's lows. Our revenue grew $21 million or approximately 19% on a sequential basis to $136.6 million, flat with the prior year, as a result of strength across all end markets. We're forecasting healthy sequential growth, again, for our fiscal Q3 with revenues of $149 million, plus or minus $2 million. Our Automotive business has benefited from the global automotive production rebound with solid upside as automakers came back online. We also benefited from ramping wins in xEV, which we expect to accelerate as many automakers have recently presented plans that further bias vehicle lineups towards xEV powertrains. And our ADAS story continues to strengthen with our latest wins, increasing our total content per vehicle in advanced safety critical steering and braking applications. Last quarter, we closed on our acquisition of Voxtel, a developer of photonics components for LiDAR. The acquisition pairs leading eye-safe photonics technology with our extensive portfolio of products optimized for ADAS applications. Overall, it's important to remember that we believe we're positioned right in the sweet spot of the most significant trends in the auto market, giving us a good launch pad as the market recovers. Our Industrial and other business also saw strength during the quarter. We believe the industrial market and a growing portfolio of power-incentive products represent high-quality growth vectors, and we continue to see healthy demand in factory automation and data center applications. Reinforcing our healthy outlook is the acceleration in customer bookings during the second quarter, particularly in August and September across all end markets. We believe our business recovery is shaping up, and we are preparing for upside scenarios. I'll provide more color on our view of the current health and positive trajectory of our business after we review the financial results. Paul?

Paul Walsh, Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Ravi. Net sales or revenue in fiscal Q2 of $136.6 million was up 18.8% sequentially, rebounding strongly off of COVID-impacted first quarter. We entered Q2 with a solid backlog and bookings continued to accelerate, particularly from our automotive customers. Our end market revenue mix for the quarter began to return to a more normal ratio. Automotive revenue was $89.5 million, Industrial revenue was $21.7 million and other was $25.5 million for the quarter. We did not have any end customers at 10% during the quarter. Our business is reasonably diverse, even considering the market share we enjoy among Tier 1 Automotive and Industrial customers. Our GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 45.2%, 300 basis points higher than the same period a year ago. Consistent with our preliminary flash reporting in our IPO prospectus, our non-GAAP gross margin was 47.7%, which does not include adjustments of approximately $3 million for expenses related to the Thai facility consolidation and a one-time adjustment for depreciation of GMR assets, as noted in our press release. We expect our non-GAAP gross margins in Q3 to be in the range of 50% to 51%, which also does not include the impact of these adjustments. Total GAAP operating expenses decreased sequentially by $1.8 million to $49.4 million with R&D of $25.1 million and SG&A of $24.2 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $45.2 million, which does not include adjustments of $0.4 million for expenses related to the Thai facility consolidation. These unique costs associated with our various transformational activities are not expected to be meaningful beyond fiscal 2021. We expect that non-GAAP operating expenses will be up modestly in Q3, mainly driven by variable compensation as our business continues to improve. GAAP operating income for the quarter was $12.4 million or 9.1% of revenue. The fiscal Q2 effective tax rate was 17.8%, and GAAP net income for the second fiscal quarter was up sequentially to $9.6 million. Non-GAAP operating income was $20.0 million or 14.6% of revenue, which also does not include adjustments of approximately $3.4 million related to the Thai facility consolidation and a one-time adjustment for depreciation of GMR assets. The Q2 non-GAAP effective tax rate was approximately 15% and is expected to be 15% to 17% in fiscal Q3. Our share count for the quarter as a private company was 10 million, but is not meaningful as a comparison to future periods. Our diluted share count for Q3 will be approximately 189.4 million shares. We are not providing GAAP earnings per share guidance due to the impact of the following significant Q3 events, which are not determinable at this point. These include the singular vesting event of pre-IPO Class A shares held by employees and the issuances of new equity awards, each in connection with our IPO, the planned retirement of at least 75% of a $325 million term loan and the associated deferred financing costs, a $400 million dividend prior to our IPO and the tax consequences of each of these material events. Our strong execution and business fundamentals continue to be evident in our balance sheet. Cash and equivalents of $208 million in Q2 were down $12 million sequentially, primarily due to the Voxtel acquisition and incentive payouts. Accounts receivable balances were $77.5 million, and we ended the quarter with DSO of 51 days, which was down 7 days compared to the first quarter and consistent with historical norms. Net inventory decreased by $3 million, as anticipated, to finish at $105 million. Based on the information we have, we believe inventories in the channel are at desirable levels and end customer demand appears strong. In summary, we experienced a significant recovery in our top line during the quarter, exceeding our expectations. We believe our operational efficiencies and balance sheet foundation are indicative of the strength in our underlying business. I'll now turn it back over to Ravi.

Ravi Vig, President and CEO

Thank you, Paul. I'm pleased to see the positive outcomes from the business transformation we initiated four years ago. This transformation included strategic goals that are clearly yielding benefits. First, we aimed to enhance our market leadership through targeted expansion of our portfolio. Today you will hear about the increased traction in xEV, ADAS, factory automation, and data center applications. Second, we have been developing a more agile manufacturing strategy to improve our operating model. The advantages of these efforts are reflected in our strong performance for fiscal Q2. Along with the recovery in our top line, we have noted continued momentum in our key sales metrics for the fiscal year to date, with design wins up 20%. Most of these design wins pertain to new business, primarily in our target high-growth applications. Noteworthy design win activity during the quarter included significant achievements with a major Tier 1 customer for current sensors and xEV inverters. We also secured wins for motor drivers and white goods programs in Korea and China, which we anticipate will ramp up soon. As you know, we are the market leader in magnetic sensor ICs, concentrating on high-value opportunities in the automotive and industrial sectors. Magnetic sensor IC revenue accounted for 63% of our revenue in fiscal Q2, growing 17% sequentially following the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our growth was fueled by a recovery in the automotive sector, particularly in the areas of speed and position sensors. Power ICs rose 21% sequentially, making up 37% of our fiscal Q2 revenue. We attribute this growth partly to expanding content in the systems where we already have an established position with our sensors. On that note, we recently unveiled our latest family of power products, which is the industry’s most extensive lineup of 80-volt motor drivers suitable for advanced 48-volt automotive systems, including battery electric and hybrid electric vehicles. These products ensure world-class safety diagnostics in compact packages, allowing for smaller and more efficient designs. We are already seeing strong engagement on these products with Tier 1 customers worldwide and are extending our high-voltage power expertise outside of automotive to industrial applications, from 48-volt power inverters to e-bikes. Now let's delve deeper into our end markets, starting with automotive. Automotive constituted 65% of our total revenue, which is a decrease from historical levels in the low to mid-70s range. Q2 revenue increased 17% sequentially. Comparing to Q1, our automotive revenue did not decline as drastically as the overall automotive market due in part to a sluggish customer supply chain and a global diversification strategy. This mitigated the effects of the production volume decline in our automotive sales in the first quarter but also led to some inventory accumulation with our customers, which we believe has now been reduced during Q2. We expect that inventories have stabilized and are at acceptable levels. Our automotive revenue growth reflects a market recovery in our ICE, xEV, ADAS, and safety, comfort, and convenience segments, all of which saw double-digit growth in the second quarter. Revenue in xEV surged over 35% sequentially and nearly doubled year-over-year, highlighting the momentum in that area. We benefit from the electrification of vehicles, with our content per vehicle accelerating rapidly through battery chargers, inverters, and battery cooling technologies. Beyond these electrified powertrain applications, we are also enhancing our xEV-related offerings with quieter motion fan products, power systems, and in-cabin heating and cooling solutions, which are increasingly required to be quiet, efficient, and battery-operated. We are currently ramping programs across this diverse range of xEV applications worldwide and anticipate double-digit sequential growth again in the coming quarter. Another area where we are seeing increases in content opportunities is ADAS. In Q2, demand for ADAS applications rebounded, with revenue rising 12% sequentially. We expect to see robust double-digit growth in Q3. With our recent program wins ramping up, we are increasing our overall content for our power products alongside our market-leading sensors. A recent program win for braking in Korea includes four of our magnetic sensor ICs and two power devices. Now, let's review our Industrial business for Q2. This sector encompasses some of our strategic focus areas outside of automotive, including Industry 4.0, renewable energy, and infrastructure, such as data centers. In Q2, our Industrial business grew 6% sequentially and 20% year-over-year as it continues to transition into new growth markets. A broad category historically served through distribution increased by 10% sequentially as factories reopened and production ramped up. Within our Industry 4.0 category, which represents 7% of our revenue, building and factory automation grew double digits sequentially. Industry 4.0 remains a key focus for us as we align our technologies with the rising demand for precision, efficiency, and reliability. We have also been strategic in leveraging our power technology to capitalize on disruptive trends in growth markets like data centers converting to 48-volt systems, and our customers are recognizing this shift. We now include most of the hyperscale data center providers among our customers, creating opportunities for diversification and growth. In Q2, data center revenue rose in the high single digits sequentially, achieving another quarterly record. The outlook for our Industrial business remains optimistic. For Q3, we expect to see double-digit growth in our overall Industrial sector, albeit slightly tempered by the data center build cycle, which is projected to be flat to down sequentially. Lastly, we enjoyed a strong quarter in our other business segment, which includes our non-focused markets such as white goods, printers, and peripherals. Revenue in this segment reached $25.5 million in the quarter, partly driven by a surge in demand for our products related to white goods and printers during the COVID-related boom. We anticipate this segment will continue at this run rate in the near future. Turning to our fiscal Q3 guidance, due to the timing of the Q2 earnings announcement, we are providing a narrower-than-usual range, with automotive revenue growth anticipated in the high teens sequentially and industrial revenue growth expected in the mid-single digits. We forecast revenue to range between $147 million and $151 million. Operating expenses are projected to rise slightly, and we expect non-GAAP gross margin to be in the 50% to 51% range. Non-GAAP earnings per share are expected to be between $0.11 and $0.12. Considering the timing following our recent IPO, we will not be taking questions today. I want to emphasize our confidence in the recovery cycle of our business based on the strength of our bookings, which gives us hope for the future.

Katie Blye, Senior Director of Investor Relations

Thank you, Ravi. This now concludes our call. Thank you for joining us today and your interest in Allegro MicroSystems.

Operator, Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation on today's conference. This does conclude your program. You may now disconnect.