Several Austin companies that trade publicly on stock exchanges saw large gains or losses in recent days as they posted financial results.
Semiconductor designer Silicon Labs narrowly missed analyst expectations for its revenue and profit, citing “a challenging macro environment.”
Revenue declined in all but one of its business segments compared to the previous quarter, overall falling from $223.3 million to $219.4 million. For the full year Silicon Labs fell about $30 million short of its previous year’s revenue of $868 million (see chart).
Shares fell by more than 13% by closing on Wednesday. Silicon Labs is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol SLAB.
However, CEO Tyson Tuttle stressed that the outlook for its largest businesses – chips for Internet of Things (IoT) and infrastructure – remains strong.
The company expects that the growth of the electric vehicle market, smart home devices, solar inverters, and wind turbines will help fuel growth for its chips.
Silicon Labs spent $257 million on research and development during the year, on a GAAP accounting basis, an increase of nearly $20 million over the previous year.
Cirrus Logic
Another Austin firm saw gains on the stock market after Apple reported strong earnings earlier this week. Cirrus Logic (CRUS), a supplier of audio chips to Apple smartphones, rose in midweek trading after Apple reported better-than-expected sales of iPhones and wearable devices.
Cirrus shares rose further on Thursday after the company reported its own earnings beat on Wednesday afternoon. The stock opened today at $87.68, about 7% higher than the previous close. Cirrus grew its revenue in 2019 by 6.7% and earnings-per-share of $1.41, higher than Wall Street analysts had forecast.
“Cirrus Logic’s revenue for the December quarter exceeded guidance as we experienced higher-than-anticipated volumes for certain components shipping into smartphones,” said Jason Rhode, chief executive officer.
He stressed that the company is working to develop new products that will position Cirrus for long-term growth. In recent years Cirrus Logic has been seeking to diversify beyond smartphone components as that market has seen ups and downs with fears of over-saturation of the global market for smartphones.
National Instruments
Austin electronics firm National Instruments will fourth-quarter results after market close today. Analysts on average are anticipating a slight decline in revenue year-on-year. More on that story later.
