Himax Technologies, Inc. Q4 FY2024 earnings call

Management Statement and Operational Highlights

• Q4 2024 Performance: Revenues, gross margin, and profit exceeded guidance. Strong order momentum across product lines, cost improvements, and better product mix drove results. Automotive driver sales saw mid-teens growth, with TDDI sales exceeding DDIC for the first time. Non-driver sales grew due to Tcon shipments.
• Full-Year 2024 Performance: Automotive IC sales grew nearly 20% year-over-year. Large panel drivers declined, while small/medium drivers were flat. Gross margin improved due to cost improvements and product mix.
• First Quarter 2025 Guidance: Revenues expected to decrease 8.5%-12.5% sequentially. Gross margin around 30.5%. Profit per diluted ADS estimated $0.09-$0.11.
• Business Updates: Automotive TDDI and Tcon technologies to maintain growth. WiseEye AI segment making progress. WLO and CPO technologies for AI applications in development.

Segment Performance

• Large display drivers: Q4 2024 revenue was $25 million, a 18.6% sequential decline, accounting for 10.5% of total revenues. Full-year 2024 revenue was $125.9 million, a 28.3% year-over-year decrease, representing 13.9% of total sales.
• Small- and medium-sized display drivers: Q4 2024 revenue was $166.8 million, a 7.4% sequential increase, accounting for 17.3% of total revenues. Full-year 2024 revenue was $625.4 million, a 0.6% year-over-year decrease, accounting for 69% of total revenues.
• Non-driver sales: Q4 2024 revenue was $45.4 million, a 24.9% increase from previous quarter, accounting for 19.2% of total revenues. Full-year 2024 revenue was $155.5 million, a 10.6% year-over-year increase, representing 17.1% of total sales.

Guidance

• First Quarter 2025: Revenues to decrease 8.5%-12.5% sequentially, gross margin around 30.5%, profit per diluted ADS $0.09-$0.11.
• Automotive: Sequential decline in Q1 due to seasonal factors, but automotive business remains key with ongoing growth in TDDI and Tcon.

Risks

• Forward-looking statements: Risks of actual results differing from forward-looking statements. Market uncertainties, competition, and inventory management issues.

Question and Answer

• Q: Elaboration on CPO adoption, mass production timeline, and competition landscape A: CPO in early stage of engineering validation, mass production likely in 2026. Annualized potential revenue in hundreds of millions from cloud applications.
• Q: Automotive driver IC business sequential decline, gross margin stability A: Sequential decline due to Lunar New Year holidays. Gross margin stability due to product mix and normal order levels without tariff-related pulling orders.