News

Vicor Reports Revenue, Margins, Profits and Bookings Up in Q3 2018

October 17, 2018 by Paul Shepard

Vicor Corporation reported financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2018, including revenues up 37.2% to $78,035,000, from $56,888,000 for the corresponding period a year ago, and increased 5.2% sequentially from $74,196,000 for the second quarter of 2018.

Third quarter bookings increased 41.6% to $91,051,000, from $64,280,000 for the corresponding period a year ago, and increased 4.1% sequentially from $87,448,000 for the second quarter of 2018.

Gross margin increased to $39,004,000 for the third quarter of 2018, compared to $25,143,000 for the corresponding period a year ago, and increased from $35,883,000 for the second quarter of 2018.  Gross margin, as a percentage of revenue, increased to 50.0% for the third quarter of 2018, compared to 44.2% for the corresponding period a year ago, and increased from 48.4% for the second quarter of 2018.

Net income for the third quarter was $13,012,000, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $(11,000), or $(0.00) per share, for the corresponding period a year ago, and net income of $7,860,000, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2018.

Commenting on third quarter performance, Dr. Patrizio Vinciarelli, Chief Executive Officer, stated: "With increased production rates and improved productivity, Q3 gross margins reached 50% and, with reduced operating expenses, led to appreciably higher profitability. Increasing profit margins reflect the leverage of our business model, while the broadening adoption of our highly differentiated solutions is beginning to reflect the substantial investments we have made in advanced technologies over the last fifteen years.

"We believe that our Intellectual Property will drive substantial long term returns as Vicor continues to expand its leadership in high performance power systems," added Dr. Vinciarelli.

Revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, increased 28.7% to $217,500,000 from $169,059,000 for the corresponding period a year ago.  Net income for the nine month period was $24,815,000, or $0.61 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $(1,444,000), or $(0.04) per share, for the corresponding period a year ago.

Cash provided by operating activities totaled $14,314,000 for the third quarter of 2018, compared to cash provided by operating activities of $1,341,000 for the corresponding period a year ago and cash provided by operating activities of $9,340,000 for the preceding second quarter of 2018. Cash and cash equivalents sequentially increased by $14,286,000 to approximately $68,206,000 at the end of the third quarter of 2018, from $53,920,000 at the end of the second quarter of 2018.

Total backlog at the end of the third quarter of 2018 was $116,123,000, compared to $103,100,000 at the end of the second quarter of 2018 and $73,054,000 at the end of 2017.

"Confronted with customer adoption of 48V power systems, competitors with past accomplishments at 12V have recently made claims of better performance and cost at 48V predicated on the "intermediate bus" power distribution architecture (i.e., two-step conversion) getting a new lease on life using new components, such as GaN FETs.  These initiatives cannot circumvent the multiplicity of fundamental obstacles to delivering hundreds of amperes at less than 1V. Advanced power conversion topologies, power distribution architectures and Power-on-Package technology are the necessary keys to high performance AI applications powered "directly" from 48V. With increasing peak current requirements, global competitors driving to win the AI race are adopting Vicor Power-on-Package solutions," concluded Dr. Vinciarelli.