STMicroelectronics reported financial results for the first quarter ended April 1, 2017. Net revenues were $1.82 billion, up 12.9% year-over-year on growth across all product groups. Gross margin was 37.6%, up 420 basis points year-over-year. Net income of $108 million was a year-over-year improvement of $149 million. And a cash dividend of $0.24 per common share payable in equal quarterly installments to be proposed to the 2017 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
On a year-over-year basis, first quarter net revenues increased by 12.9% on solid growth across all product families. Analog and MEMS Group (AMG) revenues increased 19.9% compared to the year-ago period driven by strong growth in MEMS and analog products. Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group (MDG) revenues increased year-over-year by 11.4%, or 14.6% excluding discontinued businesses, mainly due to strong growth in general purpose microcontrollers and growth in digital products.
Automotive and Discrete Group (ADG) revenues increased year-over-year by 5.6% reflecting growth in automotive and strong growth in power discrete products. Imaging Product Division revenues in the first quarter more than doubled compared to the year-ago quarter driven by ST’s Time-of-Flight technology.
By region of shipment, Asia Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas grew on a year-over-year basis 17.4%, 8.0%, and 5.7%, respectively.
“The positive momentum we have had over the last quarters has continued entering 2017,†commented Carlo Bozotti, STMicroelectronics President and Chief Executive Officer.
“In the first quarter, both revenues and gross margin were better than the mid-point of the guidance. Year-over-year, revenues increased 12.9%, with a synchronized and well-balanced growth across product groups, regions and sales channels. Both operating and net income significantly improved year-over-year, increasing to $129 million and $108 million, respectively, in the first quarter. Free cash flow, during a quarter of higher capital spending to support our growth plans, doubled to $62 million on a year-over-year basis.
“Our objective for 2017 is to achieve sustainable revenue growth and margin expansion through our strategic focus on Internet of Things and Smart Driving. Our results in this first quarter are putting us on the right trajectory.
Mr. Bozotti commented, “Entering the second quarter, we continue to see healthy demand, with strong booking trends across all our product groups and regions.
“As a result, we expect second quarter revenues to increase about 5.0% on a sequential basis, representing year-over-year growth of about 12.3% at the mid-point of our guidance range. We anticipate another quarter of margin expansion with second quarter gross margin of about 38.1% at the mid-point, leading to strong year-over-year improvement in operating and net incomeâ€.
The Company expects second quarter 2017 revenues to increase about 5.0% on a sequential basis, plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Gross margin in the second quarter is expected to be about 38.1% plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.
