Earnings Labs

Fabrinet (FN)

Q4 2021 Earnings Call· Mon, Aug 16, 2021

$636.17

-7.10%

Key Takeaways · AI generated
AI summary not yet generated for this transcript. Generation in progress for older transcripts; check back soon, or browse the full transcript below.
Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good afternoon. Welcome to Fabrinet’s Financial Results Conference Call for the Fourth Quarter of Fiscal Year 2021. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, today’s call is being recorded. I’d now like to turn the call over to your host, Garo Toomajanian, Investor Relations.

Garo Toomajanian

Analyst

Thank you, operator, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us on today’s conference call to discuss Fabrinet’s financial and operating results for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021, which ended June 25, 2021. With me on the call today are Seamus Grady, Chief Executive Officer; and Csaba Sverha, Chief Financial Officer. This call is being webcast, and a replay will be available on the Investors section of our website located at investor.fabrinet.com. During this call, we will present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the investor section of our website for important information, including our earnings press release and investor presentation, which include our GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliation. I would like to remind you that today’s discussion will contain forward-looking statements about the future financial performance of the company. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s current expectations. These statements reflect our opinions only as of the date of this presentation, and we undertake no obligation to revise them in light of new information or future events, except as required by law. For a description of the risk factors that may affect our results, please refer to our recent SEC filings, in particular, the section captioned Risk Factors in our Form 10-Q filed on May 4, 2021. We will begin the call with remarks from Seamus and Csaba, followed by time for questions. I would now like to turn the call over to Fabrinet’s CEO, Seamus Grady.

Seamus Grady

Analyst

Thank you, Garo. Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for joining us on today’s conference call. We had an excellent fourth quarter to finish a strong fiscal year with robust demand trends continuing across our business combined with excellent execution by our team, we delivered a number of records in the quarter. Revenue was well above our guidance range and for the first time exceeded $0.5 billion at $509.6 million. In addition to record revenue, we also delivered record non-GAAP operating margins of 9.9%, resulting in an all-time high non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.31 in the fourth quarter. For the full fiscal year, we produced record revenue of $1.88 billion, representing industry-leading growth of 14% from the prior year. Non-GAAP net income was $4.67 per share. Total operating cash flow for the year was $118.7 million and free cash flow was $76.1 million. Looking at some of the highlights of the fourth quarter. Optical communications revenue reached another new record, driven by strong telecom demand. Non-optical communications revenue also reached another record in Q4. Looking ahead, we remain encouraged by healthy demand trends across all lines of business as we continue to successfully navigate and manage component supplies. We estimate that the supply constraints we are experiencing impacted our fourth quarter revenue by approximately $25 million to $30 million, and we expect to see a similar impact in Q1. Despite this headwind, we anticipate that revenue will continue to grow sequentially to a new record in Q1 as Csaba will outline in a moment. We’re also optimistic from a profitability standpoint. That said, in Q1, we anticipate a small non-recurring headwinds to net income. As you may have heard, Thailand, along with other countries in Southeast Asia has recently seen a rapidly growing number of COVID-19 cases. In response,…

Csaba Sverha

Analyst

Thank you, Seamus, and good afternoon everyone. We had a strong finish to a record year with record revenue and non-GAAP earnings. Revenue of $509.6 million, up 6% from Q3 and 26% from a year ago, and was above our guidance range. We also executed very well, hit our highest gross margin in four years, and record operating margins to produce non-GAAP earnings of $1.31 per share, which also exceeded our guidance. Looking at revenue in more detail. Optical communications was $387.8 million or 76% of total revenue, up 7% from Q3. Non-optical communications revenue was $121.7 million or 24% of total revenue, and increased 4% from Q3. Within optical communications, telecom revenue was $310.7 million, up 10% from last quarter. Datacom revenue was $77.1 million, down very modestly from Q3. By technology, silicon photonics products made up 22% of total revenue or $110.2 million, up 5% from Q3. Revenue from products rated at speeds of 400 gig or higher was $133.3 million, up 27% from the prior quarter. This more than offset a 4% sequential decline of 100 gig products to $133.6 million in the fourth quarter. In Q1, we expect the optical communications growth trend to continue. Looking at our non-optical communications business. Automotive revenue was $48.6 [ph] million, a slight decline from our record third quarter results. Industrial laser revenue more than offset this at $41.1 million, up 14% from the third quarter. Sensor revenue was $3.6 million and other non-optical communications revenue was up 14% to $28.3 million. Now turning to the details of our P&L. Unless otherwise noted, profitability metrics are on a non-GAAP basis. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures is included in our earnings press release and investor presentation, which you can find on our website. Gross margin of 12.3%, up 10…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of John Marchetti of Stifel. Your question please.

John Marchetti

Analyst

Thanks very much. Seamus, I was wondering if you could just give us a little bit more color on that $25 million to $30 million headwind that you referenced both in terms of this quarter and the guide. Obviously having a very solid quarter here and the guidance certainly above where were most of us were expecting certainly indicates that you’re managing through this. Can you talk at all about maybe where you’re seeing some of those challenges? And you mentioned it lasting into September, do you – I guess asking for the crystal ball, do you think it goes much further than that?

Seamus Grady

Analyst

Yes. Hi, John. So the shortages that we saw in Q3 really continued into Q4, and I think that’s the case for everybody. And we expect that we’ll see them at least for another couple of quarters. We have been focused on being as proactive as possible to minimize the impact but in the end, in Q4, we believe revenue could have been about $25 million to $30 million higher or about 6% higher, if not for the shortages. The impact would have been much greater if we weren’t doing a really good job, partnering with our customers and our suppliers to mitigate these supply constraints, including having longer visibility to demand requirements from our customers and then share that with our suppliers. We don’t have any special proprietary knowledge on about when the shortages may end. It could be a few more quarters we think, but we continue to anticipate and really manage through the shortages as best we can. As regards, which part of the business was impacted the most? We have been – we’ve been really working, it’s really spread across all parts of the business. It’s – we’ve been working diligently just to secure component supplies for products across our entire portfolio, probably where we felt the most pain was in the automotive part of our business and the datacom markets. But, in fact, in the end, we were able to get all the components that we needed to make sure we got the customers, what they needed. We would have seen revenue growth from those parts of the business, instead of the decreases that we experienced. So a mixed bag overall, it’s really spread across all parts of the business, John and we expect to continue for at least a few more quarters.

John Marchetti

Analyst

Got it. That’s helpful, Seamus. And then maybe just into that telecom demand specifically, obviously a pretty big bounce here both sequentially and year-over-year. Sounds like you’re expecting that to continue here at the start of the new fiscal year. Any color you can share there, I mean, is this a situation where you think you’re obviously, you’re reading some of that demand on the table, but with visibility maybe increasing a little bit because people are putting orders in a little bit earlier. Do you get a sense of that strength is likely to continue as we look out maybe even a little bit further past September?

Seamus Grady

Analyst

Yes. I mean we obviously don’t guide beyond the quarter, we guide one quarter at a time, but I would say overall we’re quite upbeat of both the demand trends we’re seeing. It seems to be quite robust across all the markets we serve really, and the biggest challenge we have is the supply constraints. We’re not really constrained by demand right now, it’s a case of making sure we secure supply of the components, we need. But that demand strength that we’re seeing is pretty pervasive across most of the markets we serve.

John Marchetti

Analyst

Got it. Maybe just one last one and I’ll jump back into the queue for Csaba. The $0.04 or $0.05 headwind that you talked about with some of the new COVID testing and some of the measures you’re putting in place there. I’m assuming that comes out of gross margin here in the September quarter, but then we should expect at least those cost to bounce back or be taken back out when we look at the December quarter.

Csaba Sverha

Analyst

Hi, John. Yes, basically, most of that cost is going to come out from our gross margin. Most of that profit is going to be related to our gross margin. That includes cost of vaccination of people and also putting them on pay while they are isolated to protect them and also to prevent the wider spread in the factories. And obviously, again we are not guiding beyond one quarter at a time, and as you know, we also have our merit increases baked in our Q1 forecast, but we feel very, very optimistic about our efforts in making efficiency improvements to keep our gross margin in our guidance range between 5% and 10%.

John Marchetti

Analyst

Thank you very much.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Samik Chatterjee of JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Samik Chatterjee

Analyst

Hi, good afternoon and thanks for taking my question. I guess, clearly looks like telecom demand is quite strong. Wanted to see if you can offer what – how are you thinking about datacom here. It looks like even as telecom growth was quite solid, datacom was more flat year-over-year in revenues. Any kind of update or can you share, what are you thinking in terms of datacom more from a fiscal first quarter or even kind of from a full-year outlook that will be helpful, what happens in terms of growth outlook there. And then I have a follow-up, please.

Seamus Grady

Analyst

Yes, I think our strengthen in telecom in particular is – was very encouraging and it’s really a function of a lot of the large new business wins that we’ve had over the last year or 18 months. So, that’s a big driver of that growth. Another driver in our telecom space is driven by the data center business, even though it’s categorized – in our categorization, we categorize DCI, Data Center Interconnect as telecom, but a lot of the drivers behind that are actually datacom business. So we feel quite good about the datacom business generally, and we’re seeing some strength then, and some increasing strength, I would say in, let’s say, 400ZR and we see that as a good driver of growth in the future, and again, that would be a mix of telecom and datacom. But overall I think we’re quite, I would say quite upbeat about both telecom and datacom, even though it, like I say, it appears that a lot of the strength is in telecom, but datacom is actually quite strong as well. If you understand my point that some of our datacom business is categorized as telecom because it’s DCI.

Samik Chatterjee

Analyst

Got it. And then if I can just follow-up on the industrial laser segment, clearly a strong rebound here into the fourth quarter. What are you seeing in terms of the recovery there? Do we get to kind of what you’ve seen; I guess is more recent peak of almost like mid-40s per quarter or even higher pretty quickly with data recovery that you’re seeing? Any – kind of what you’re just hearing from customers would be helpful.

Seamus Grady

Analyst

Yes. I mean we’re pretty pleased, I would say, with the growth in the laser market, and we expect that business to be stable to growing a little bit in Q1. Longer term, as we always have been, we’re very optimistic about our position in the laser market and it is more of a – they feel like a slow build for us, we’re really reliant on a lot of those bigger laser companies outsourcing more. But overall we feel quite upbeat about the lot of laser market. Guiding beyond Q1 we wouldn’t be ready to do that, but we do feel quite good about the laser markets.

Samik Chatterjee

Analyst

Okay, got it. Thank you. Thanks for that color. Thank you.

Seamus Grady

Analyst

No problem. Thank you, Samik.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Fahad Najam of MKM Partners. Your line is open.

Fahad Najam

Analyst

Thank you for taking my question. I wanted to...

Seamus Grady

Analyst

No problem.

Fahad Najam

Analyst

I may have missed, if you gave this earlier, but I joined the call late. Can you provide us any color on revenue from silicon photonics in this quarter?

Csaba Sverha

Analyst

Hi Fahad, this is Csaba. So our silicon photonics revenue was around $110 million for the quarter. It was up about 5% sequentially and the highest level, so far. So, we see the silicon photonics growth to continue, and we are really optimistic and upbeat about that segment as well.

Fahad Najam

Analyst

Got it. Thank you for that. So, if I may follow-up on that, what’s driving the strength in silicon photonics, so clearly datacom was flat? So, are you beginning to see some incremental opportunities from 400 gig ZR and anything you can describe in terms of the adoption of 400 gig ZR? Obviously, you’ve got a sizable customer that’s leading that product markets. So, any color, you could present there would be appreciated.

Csaba Sverha

Analyst

Yes, so the silicon photonics revenue is actually driven by two factors. Obviously, we are winning new businesses from our existing customers in the silicon photonics part of our business. So, that’s continuing to gain market. We are also continuing to gain market share in that space. As you noted, 400ZR, we have a handful of customers in that space as well and we started to see that that we reached 400ZR revenue in our Q4 – fiscal Q4, even though it was not material, but based on the outlook, we are seeing, we are very optimistic about that area. So, therefore silicon photonics is something that has been growing. If you look at our year-on-year numbers, it grew about 27% on a year-on-year basis and we continue to be very optimistic about that segment.

Fahad Najam

Analyst

Appreciate the color there. So in terms of – just one last one from me on telecom just staying there. Obviously you’re clearly seeing the benefit your customers have highlighted of strong demand for them and you’re impeded by component. Any sense on, like how – a lot of your customers have highlighted they think their component shortages are worsening at Q3, some may say that Q4 might be the worst, some say may be Q4 slightly better. So, can you give us some sense on how you are seeing the supply performance?

Seamus Grady

Analyst

Yes. Fahad, hi, this is Seamus. I think we’re hearing the same thing unfortunately where there’s no other – doesn’t seem to be any end in sight right now. At least I mean we said I think in our prepared remarks, we see it happening for another couple of quarters at least. But it’s probably more like another three or four quarters of a constrained component environment. Like – we suppose like our customers, we don’t have a crystal ball. We are getting better visibility, I think than we’ve ever gotten from our customers and we’re sharing that visibility with our supply base. But we don’t see it improving starting in the next couple of quarters, we don’t see it improving unfortunately. Other than...

Fahad Najam

Analyst

And is it getting worse?

Seamus Grady

Analyst

Hard to say. I think it’s certainly not improving. I think we’ve done a good job, I think positioning ourselves for success, making sure we factored in and take into account the constrained environment when we set our guidance, but also when we make our commitments to our customers. So, it’s a very challenging environment, but it’s like a lot of – it’s another new normal, I think it seems to be the phrase for the last year or so. And we just have to make sure we manage our way through it as best we can.

Fahad Najam

Analyst

Thank you. Appreciate the answers.

Seamus Grady

Analyst

No problem. Thank you, Fahad.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. At this time, I’d like to turn the call back over to CEO, Seamus Grady, for closing remarks. Sir?

Seamus Grady

Analyst

Thank you for joining our call today. We had a strong end to a record year with healthy market demand trends and a demonstrated ability to execute. We remain optimistic about our future. We look forward to speaking with you again soon. Goodbye.