Audio chip maker Audience posts $3.1M profit, beats street
Thursday, January 31, 2013 @ 9:30pm
Previous Apple supplier Audience has reported quarterly revenue well above Wall Street's estimates, after it diversified its suppliers beyond the Cupertino manufacturer. Shares climbed 24 percent in after-hours trading following the company reporting that it was expecting revenue between $43 and $46 million in the March quarter, trouncing analyst estimates of $31.8 million. Quarterly profit was $3.1 million, up more than $8 million from 2011's $5.6 million loss.
In September, Audience's stock plummeted 58 percent in a single trading session following news that Apple would drop its noise-filtering chipset in future iPhones. The quarterly report immediately after the news emphasized that Samsung and other mobile device manufacturers could need the technology, and would likely be needed for the company to survive. Audience's stock price has recovered somewhat, but is still only 80 percent of the value before Apple began to reduce shipments from the Mountainview, CA company.
Jay Srivatsa, an analyst at Chardan Capital Markets said "most people bought this stock at the IPO because it was an Apple business. But there's life without Apple."
"This idea that things stay the way they are -- that Apple has a dominant position -- I think we're seeing early signs that that's not going to be a permanent situation," said Audience CEO Peter Santos. "What they've done and continue to do is great, but the world is much bigger."
Samsung now accounts for half of Audience's business. Apple still orders some chips from the company, as the noise reduction technology is still used in the iPhone 4 and 4S, which are still available at retail.
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