STMicroelectronics Reports 1Q 2014 First Quarter Financial Results

STMicroelectronics reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 29, 2014. First quarter net revenues totaled $1.83 billion, gross margin was 32.8%, and net loss was $0.03 per share.

“First quarter revenue and gross margin results were well aligned with our guidance,” said ST president and CEO Carlo Bozotti. “The combination of a positive macro-economic environment and our leading-edge product portfolio helped to drive higher year-over-year revenues in Microcontrollers, Automotive, Industrial and Power, as well as in the Distribution channel. Our general-purpose microcontroller business enjoyed the fourth consecutive quarter of record revenues and today, ST is the second largest player worldwide in microcontrollers, including both general-purpose and secure.

“During the first quarter, ST posted an operating profit before impairment and restructuring charges of $8 million, improving by $188 million year-over-year, driven by the exit from ST-Ericsson as well as operating expenses well in line with our financial model. Additionally, our strong and growing product momentum in our Sense & Power and Automotive segment translated into an operating margin improvement of 360 basis points in this segment compared to the year-ago quarter.

“In our Digital Convergence business, we made progress in building the pipeline to sustain its future turnaround; design-win momentum for our latest ARM-based client and server portfolio for HEVC and ultra-HD set-top-box continued during the quarter, as well as for our FD-SOI based IC solutions.”

ST’s first quarter revenues, excluding legacy ST-Ericsson products, grew 0.7% on a year-over-year basis and decreased 6.4% sequentially. First quarter total revenues, including legacy ST-Ericsson products, decreased year-over-year and sequentially by 9.2% and 9.4%, respectively.
Microcontroller, Memory, and Secure MCU (MMS) and Automotive (APG) led the product lines with year-over-year revenue growth of 15.6% and 15.5%, respectively.

First quarter gross profit was $599 million and gross margin was 32.8%. Gross margin improved 150 basis points year-over-year, benefiting from the one-time licensing payment, manufacturing efficiencies and lower unsaturation charges partially offset by price pressure.

First quarter net loss attributable to parent company was $24 million or $(0.03) per share, compared to a net loss per share of $(0.19) and $(0.04) in the year-ago and prior quarter, respectively.