Omnivision Reports Quarterly Results

PR Newswire: Omnivision reported financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended January 31, 2011. Revenues for the quarter were $265.7M, as compared to $239.5M in the previous quarter, and $156.9M in the same quarter a year ago. GAAP net income in the last quarter was $44.7M, as compared to $28.9M the previous quarter, and net income of $5.0M a year ago. The company ended the period with cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $498.9M, an increase of $102.2M from the previous quarter. "For the second consecutive quarter we achieved record revenues, which exceeded the high point of our guidance," stated Shaw Hong, CEO of Omnivision.

Gross margin was 29.8%, as compared to 28.2% a quarter ago and 24.6% a year ago. The sequential increase gross margin is attributed to the sale of previously written-down inventory combined with a reduction in inventory valuation allowances.

The next quarter revenues are expected be in the range of $240M to $260M.

Forbes: Omnivision's posted revenue of $265.7M is well ahead of the Street expectations at $241.7M. For the April quarter, OmniVision sees revenue of $240M to $260M, ahead of the Street at $217.2M.

Update: EETimes: Doug Freedman, an analyst from Gleacher & Co., said: "Yield Issues? Not really... We are hard-pressed not to believe OVTI share is approaching the mid-30 percent market share level given another record quarter for units... Sony and Samsung emergence would not present a material risk to margins, as capacity is clearly being stretched to accommodate a sensor market that could reach 2.5 billion units in CY11 (we see OVTI units +23 percent year-over-year to 787 million in CY11)."

Hans Mosesmann, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates Inc., said: "Design win activity with 'tier 1' OEMs is strong for next generation BSI-2 with a volume ramp later this summer a dynamic that puts to rest the fears of having lost the Apple business and the concerns over 'yields.'"

Update #2: Seeking Alpha published Omnivision Earnings Call transcript.

Update #3: Barrron's quote Brian Blair with Wedge Partners saying that “Market share loss and yield issue chatter was all garbage,” and that the company is facing “strong volumes in smartphones, ramping units in tablets and continued shipment strength at Apple.”

Tristan Gerra with Baird & Co. insists that "Our Neutral stance on Omnivision remains intact, and is based on our expectation for secular market share loss at Omnivision’s key customer due to execution issues, while we expect Omnivision to lose share at other tier-one PC and smartphone customers this year. Concerns over the performance of Omnivision’s 8mp BSI-2 sensor, uncer tainty about the company’s ability to significantly raise wafer capacity this year, and rising competition all suggest Omnivision’s fundamentals have peaked.”