Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) stock jumped in premarket trading Thursday after the semiconductor company delivered first-quarter results that beat Wall Street's expectations and gave a second-quarter forecast that blew past analyst estimates.
The Taiwan-based chipmaker reported Q1 revenue of $199 million, down 7.5% from a year ago but ahead of the $195 million analysts were looking for. Earnings came in at 4.6 cents per American depositary share, topping the 3-cent consensus. Gross margin landed at 30.4%, at the high end of the company's own guidance and roughly flat sequentially.
Breaking down the display driver business, large display driver revenue jumped 11.7% from the previous quarter to $24.2 million, helped by stronger-than-expected restocking of high-end TV integrated circuits by a major panel maker. Small- and medium-sized display driver revenue fell 2.4% sequentially to $135.8 million during what the company called a typical seasonal slowdown. Non-driver revenue dropped 7.7% quarter over quarter to $39 million, reflecting lower ASIC timing controller shipments to a major projector customer and softer automotive timing controller shipments.
On the cost side, operating expenses rose 9.9% year over year to $50.3 million. Operating income fell to $10.2 million from $19.8 million a year earlier, and operating margin narrowed to 5.1% from 9.2%. Inventory stood at $151.7 million as of March 31, roughly flat from the prior quarter but up from $129.9 million a year ago. Himax held $287.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and other financial assets at quarter-end. Operating cash flow totaled $4 million, down sharply from $56.1 million in the year-ago period.
CEO Jordan Wu said the company expects positive momentum to continue through the rest of 2026, supported by new automotive projects entering mass production in the second half of the year. Wu also highlighted continued growth in non-driver integrated circuit businesses, including timing controllers and WiseEye AI products. He said Himax is expanding beyond its traditional display IC operations into smart glasses, ultra-low-power artificial intelligence and co-packaged optics technologies.
For the second quarter, Himax forecast revenue of $236.3 million to $242.7 million, well above the $209 million analysts expected. The company projected earnings of 8.6 cents to 10.3 cents per ADS, compared with the 6-cent consensus.
Himax shares were up 28.14% at $15.80 at the time of publication Thursday, hitting a new 52-week high.
