Earnings Labs

SoundThinking, Inc. (SSTI)

Q3 2008 Earnings Call· Tue, Nov 18, 2008

$6.87

+1.48%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Welcome to the Silicon Storage Technology third quarter 2008 earning results conference call. Our participants at this time are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session and we’ll give instructions at that time. (Operator instructions) As a reminder, the conference is being recorded. And we will turn the call over to our host, President and CEO, Mr. Bing Yeh. Please go ahead, sir.

Bing Yeh

Analyst

Thank you all for joining us today for SST’s third quarter 2008 conference call. I am Bing Yeh, President and CEO. With me today is Jim Boyd, Chief Financial Officer. Jim will begin the call today with a financial discussion. Following that, I will discuss the status of the Company and current market conditions. Then, we will open up the call for questions and answers. Jim?

Jim Boyd

Analyst

Thank you, Bing. During the course of this conference call, we will make projections or other forward-looking statements regarding the flash memory and non-memory market conditions; the general economic climate; the Company's future financial performance, the performance of our new products, the market’s acceptance of those new products; the Company's ability to bring new products to market, the Company's ability to develop new technologies, the Company's ability to secure manufacturing capacity, inventory levels, ASPs, margins, cash flow and cash balances; our tax provision and expected tax rate, and other items as maybe appropriate. Please keep in mind that these statements are predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. Please refer to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and any other filings made with the SEC for additional information and risk factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Now, our third quarter 2008 financial results are as follows. Net revenue for the third quarter were $92.4 million compared with $83.7 million in the second quarter of 2008 and with $107.5 million in the third quarter of 2007. Product revenues for the third quarter of 2008 were $79.8 million, compared with $71.1 million in the second quarter of 2008 and with $97.8 million in the third quarter of 2007. Segment revenues for the third quarter of 2008 were $68.5 million of memory products sales and $11.3 million of non-memory sales, which compares with $60.9 million of memory and $10.2 million of non-memory in the second quarter of 2008, and with $87.2 million of memory and $10.6 million of non-memory in third quarter of 2007. The tables in our press release will give you information regarding the distribution of our revenues by geographic location and by…

Bing Yeh

Analyst

Thank you, Jim. We were pleased that the third quarter came in at the high end of our revenue guidance, and substantially above our earnings per share projections, due to several favorable non-recurring adjustments and the reduced operating expenses. Our whole memory business showed healthy seasonality with part of revenue growing 12% from the prior quarter. We also achieved record unit shipments in the car infotainment, server, table modem, mobile phone and their Bluetooth applications. Further, our licensing revenues remained consistent with our strong Q2 results. This continued strong licensing revenue also positively impacted our total gross margin line. As we look to the remainder of the year, we are definitely seeing the impact of the weakening global economy on our business, as the majority of our products target consumer end market in form or another. In fact, we saw a steep decline in our weekly new portions [ph], beginning in early September and continuing through mid-October. We have also seen increased cancellations and push outs of the existing backlog by our customers’. Although, in the next several quarters, we expect that the demand for non-memory product will be weak and product gross margin will decline as a result of tough competition under such weak demand. Therefore, we have reduced our expectations for the fourth quarter significantly. In the mean time, we have also taken measures to evaluate our business and scale back accordingly. It includes reducing wafer stock, cutting back our spending level and adjusting our headcount. Turning to our gross margins. We expect out total gross margin in the fourth quarter will remain strong, as licensing will make up higher portion of our revenues, offsetting a significant expected decline in memory product gross margins in Q4. As we move into 2009, we expect our licensing revenue to be…

Jim Boyd

Analyst

Operator?

Operator

Operator

Yes, sir, you are ready for questions?

Jim Boyd

Analyst

Yes, we are.

Operator

Operator

(Operator instructions) And there are no questions at this time, please continue.

Jim Boyd

Analyst

I would just like to check and make sure that the – can we check and make sure that the participants have an operating – are operating correctly and have the ability to ask questions?

Operator

Operator

(Operator instructions) Yes, the lines are coming in.

Jim Boyd

Analyst

Okay. I just had a technical experience with that problem over the years.

Operator

Operator

Sure, sure, yes. There are two lines queuing up.

Jim Boyd

Analyst

Okay.

Operator

Operator

(Operator instructions) Yes, they are both back in queue.

Bing Yeh

Analyst

If there are no questions – okay, thank you for participating in this conference call. As always, feel free to contact Leslie Green in Investor Relations, Jim Boyd or myself directly, if you would like to arrange a call or meeting. We thank you for your continued interest in SST.

Operator

Operator

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That does conclude your conference for today. Thanks for your participation and you may now disconnect.