Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Ltd (AOSL) 2026 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. Thank you for attending today's Alpha and Omega Semiconductors fiscal second-quarter 2026 earnings call. My name is Victoria and I'll be your moderator for today. (Operator Instructions)

I would now like to pass the conference over to Steven Pelayo. Thank you. You may proceed, Steven.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Alpha and Omega Semiconductors conference call to discuss fiscal 2026 second quarter financial results. I'm Steven Pelayo, Investor Relations representative for AOS. With me today are Stephen Chang, our CEO; and Yifan Liang, our CFO.

This call is being recorded and broadcast live over the web. A replay will be available for seven days following the call via the link in the Investor Relations section of our website. Our call will proceed as follows today. Steven will begin business updates, including strategic highlights and a detailed segment report. After that, Yifan will review the financial results and provide guidance for the March quarter. Finally, we will have a Q&A session.

The earnings release was distributed over the wire today, February 5, 2026, after the market closed. The release is also posted on the company's website. Our earnings release in this presentation include non-GAAP financial measures. We use non-GAAP measures because we believe they provide useful information about our operating performance that should be considered by investors in conjunction with the GAAP measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures is included in the earnings release.

We remind you that during this conference call, we will make certain forward-looking statements, including discussions of the business outlook and financial projections. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and invoke risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially. For the more detailed description of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to our recent and subsequent filings with the SEC. We assume no obligations to update the information provided in today's call.

Now I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Stephen Chang. Stephen?

Thank you, Steven. Welcome to Alpha and Omega's fiscal 2026 Q2 earnings call. I will begin with a high-level overview of our results and then jump into segment details.

We delivered fiscal Q2 revenue results slightly higher than the midpoint of our guidance, primarily reflecting seasonality across several end markets including PCs, wearables, tablets, and gaming. Inventory digestion in AI further impacted by shifts in GPU allocation to prioritize data centers over graphic card markets, Strength from our Tier 1 US smartphone customer, and sequential growth in e-mobility, power tools, and home appliances.

Overall, total December quarter revenue was $162.3 million down 6.3% year over year and down 11.1% sequentially. Non-GAAP gross margin was 22.2%. non-GAAP EPS was a loss of $0.16 per share. In addition, we repurchased approximately $13.9 million of AOS shares during the December quarter, representing 728,000 shares as part of our recently announced $30 million share repurchase program approved by the Board.

Following these purchases, approximately $16 million remains available. This balanced approach to capital allocation reflects the Board's and management's confidence in our strategy and execution while maintaining the financial strength needed to invest for long-term growth and deliver shareholder value.

Several years ago, we launched a deliberate strategy to transform AOS from a component supplier into a provider of application specific total solutions. From the start, our focus has been on higher performance markets where system level differentiation matters. Barriers to entry are higher, and we can meaningfully expand BOM content.

We believe this strategy is working. We have seen tangible results in AI and graphics in smartphones through a mixed shift towards premium platforms and higher charging points. And more recently, this momentum has extended into our high performance medium voltage MOSFETs used in applications such as hot swap and intermediate bus converters for AI data centers. Just as important, this focus helps offset competitive pressure at the lower end of the market and reinforces our confidence in the direction we are taking.

We have remained disciplined in how we execute the strategy, making targeted long-term investments rather than reacting to short-term noise. As applications continue to evolve towards higher performance and greater system complexity, we believe the right response is to accelerate investment in the technologies, products, and engineering resources required to win.

Consequently, we're increasing critical R&D investments. These are not broad-based investments. They're highly focused where we hold clear differentiation, strong customer engagement, and a clear roadmap to higher bond content and sustainable margins.

To support this strategy, we strategically optimize our balance sheet. As part of a clan capital allocation approach, we monetize a portion of our equity interests in the Chongqing joint venture while retaining a meaningful ongoing stake. As previously announced, we sold approximately 20% of our equity interest in the joint venture for an aggregate purchase price of $150 million payable in installments, and we continue to hold an 18.9% equity interest in the joint venture.

We received $94 million in the September quarter followed by an additional $11 million in the December quarter and subsequent to the quarter end, we received $30 million. There is an additional $15 million remaining that will be received later this calendar year. This financial strength allows us to invest decisively and strategically in technology development, manufacturing capability, and engineering talent as we continue to shift the business towards higher value, higher margin opportunities.

We are already realizing the impact of our strategy on revenue. For example, while overall PC unit demand in calendar 2026 is expected to be constrained by tightening memory supply, our total solution strategy is gaining traction, and we are seeing increased BOM content on new platforms such as Intel's Panther Lake.

In communications, we are witnessing the fruits of our earlier investment in silicon and packaging technologies in smartphone battery protection. Our technology differentiation, coupled with the industry move towards higher charging currents, enabled us to secure increased BOM content and deepen our relationship with top tier customers, factors that are expected to contribute to our growth in 2026.

In advanced computing, including AI data centers, server, and graphics, we are encouraged by an expansion in demand across a broader array of AI data center applications and a broader set of customers. We're seeing near term demand for high performance medium voltage solutions using in applications such as hot swaps and intermediate bus converters for leading ODMs for major hyper scale customers. Advanced computing is becoming a core growing element within the computing segment.

The key takeaway is that we are continuing to see the benefits of our structural transformation. We will see tangible results this calendar year, and we expect more meaningful acceleration in 2027 and beyond as new platforms and programs ramp.

With that, let me now cover our segment results and provide some guidance by segment for the next quarter. Starting with computing, December quarter revenue was up 5.9% year over year and down 17.1% sequentially, and it represented 49.6% of total revenue.

The sequential revenue decline was in line with our expectations. Within computing, we saw softness following an unusually strong September quarter that benefited from tariff-related PC pull-ins as well as earlier AI and graphics shipments.

Seasonality also affected sales of tablets, as we mentioned before, during the September quarter, AI and graphics customers entered a digestion phase that extended into the December quarter, which was further influenced by increasing prioritization of production by our customers towards GPUs for AI data centers over traditional graphics card platforms.

Looking ahead to calendar 2026, visibility into the PC market remains limited, driven primarily by uncertainty around memory shortages. While memory availability may impact end PC demand, data center investment continues to provide an important offset. As mentioned before, we are shipping our high-performance medium voltage MOSFET products into infrastructure programs, including hot swap power solutions that are now moving into the build phase at leading ODMs for major hyperscale customers. We are also expanding our presence in AI platforms through medium voltage solutions supporting 48 volts to 12 volt intermediate bus conversion.

Looking ahead to the March quarter, we expect competing segment revenue to decline the low single-digits sequentially. This reflects softness in the PC market, mostly offset by strength in AI data center applications, as well as growth in graphics cards and tablets. Importantly, we have clear visibility into demand for our new medium voltage MOSFETs across an expanding list of applications and customer base that includes power supply providers, module makers, cloud service providers, and major hyper scales.

Turning to the consumer segment, December quarter revenue was down 14.9% year over year and down 18.3% sequentially and represented 11.8% of total revenue. The results were in line with our original expectations for a high teens sequential decline.

While wearables experienced a normal seasonal decline, the overall year over year revenue decrease in consumer was primarily driven by gaming, with a smaller impact also from home appliances. In wearables, we continue to see underlying momentum supported by share gains, new customer engagement, higher bond content, and a broader mix of applications.

In gaming, we remain closely aligned with our key customer as they progress through their next product cycle, for our existing relationship and strength in high performance power solutions positions us to participate in the next generation platform.

Home appliance demand was modestly lower year over year, though new design activity in 2025 supports longer-term opportunities, particularly in emerging markets. For the March quarter, we forecast mid-single-digit sequential growth in the consumer segment, primarily driven by a recovery in gaming after a sharp inventory correction in the December quarter.

Next, let's discuss the Communications segment. December quarter revenue increased 1.1% sequentially and was flat year over year and represented 20.4% of total revenue. The results were supported by strong year over year growth from our tier one US smartphone customer driven by continued expansion of BOM content. While demand from China's smartphone customers remains uneven as we prioritize US customers, we are sustaining high market share in the premium phone segment. We see additional growth coming in calendar 2026 as new models launch with higher charging currents, and our investments in differentiated silicon and packaging technologies for battery protection further enable BOM content expansion.

Looking ahead to the March quarter, the Communications segment will likely decline mid-single-digit sequentially. This is due to typical seasonality from our Tier 1 US smartphone customer, partially offset by sequential growth from China's smartphone. Korea is expected to remain relatively flat.

Now let's talk about our last segment, power supply and industrial, which accounted for 16.7% of total revenue and was down 22.5% year over year and down 3% sequentially. Overall, the results were below our expectations for mid to high single-digit sequential growth as quick charger demand came in weaker than expected, but were partially offset by a rebound in power tools and e-mobility. Looking ahead to the March quarter, we expect power supply revenue to increase mid-single-digits sequentially, driven primarily by quick chargers and DC fans, offset by softer power tools and e-mobility.

In closing, we are guiding the March quarter to be down slightly sequentially. We expect the March quarter to mark a near-term low point for revenue and margin, with the business returning to growth beginning in the June quarter and into the peak season, supported by improving mix and a more favorable contribution from higher value applications.

Consistent with the strategy we have outlined, we are accelerating targeted investments in performance-driven applications where we have strong positions, clear differentiation, and expanding customer engagement.

While calendar 2026 may reflect modest growth as markets work through near term constraints, our application specific total solution strategy is yielding results, and we are already seeing positive impacts today. As we continue to move higher value programs to production, we expect these benefits to become increasingly visible through the course of calendar 2026, which we expect to support stronger growth as we move into 2027 and beyond.

With that, I will now turn the call over to Yifan for a discussion of our fiscal second-quarter financial results and our outlook for the next quarter. Yifan?

Thank you, Stephen. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Revenue for the December quarter was $162.3 million down 11.1% sequentially and down 6.3% year over year. In terms of product mix, DMOS revenue was $101 million, down 6.9% sequentially, and down 10.6% over last year.

RIC revenue was $58.8 million down 19.1% from the prior quarter and up 9.5% from a year ago. Assembly service and other revenue was $2.5 million as compared to $1.3 million last quarter and $1.1 million for the same quarter last year.

Non-GAAP gross margin was 22.2% compared to 24.1% last quarter and 24.2% a year ago. The quarter-to-quarter decrease was mainly impacted by higher input and operation costs. Non-GAAP operating expenses were $41.3 million compared to $41.4 million for the per quarter and $39 million last year. Non-GAAP quarterly EPS was $0.16 loss compared to $0.13 earnings per share last quarter and $0.09 per share a year ago.

Moving on to cash flow. Operating cash flow was negative $8.1 million including $4 million of repayment of customer deposits and $8.7 million income tax paid by one of our entities on the gain from the sale of CQJV equity interest. By comparison, operating cash flow was positive with $10.2 million in the prior quarter and $14.1 million last year.

We expect to refund $1 million of customer deposits in the March quarter. EBITDA exclude equity method; investment loss was $9.7 million for the quarter compared to $19.4 million last quarter and $16.8 million for the same quarter a year ago.

Now let me turn to our balance sheet. We completed the December quarter with a cash balance of $196.3 million compared to $223.5 million at the end of last quarter. Net trade receivables decreased by $8.1 million sequentially. Days sales outstanding were 25 days for the quarter compared to 21 days for the prior quarter.

Net inventory increased by $3.9 million quarter over quarter. Average days in inventory were 140 days for the quarter compared to 124 days for the prior quarter. CapEx for the quarter was $15 million compared to $9.8 million for the prior quarter. We expect CapEx for the March quarter to range from $15 million to $18 million.

With that, now I would like to discuss March quarter guidance. We expect revenue to be approximately $160 million plus or minus $10 million. GAAP gross margin to be 20.2% plus or minus 1%. We anticipate the non-GAAP gross margin to be 21% plus or minus 1%. GAAP operating expenses to be $52 million plus or minus $1 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be $45 million plus or minus $1 million.

The sequential growth in the operating expenses is mostly the result of increased spending for R&D. Interest income to be $1 million higher than interest expense and income tax expense to be in the range of $1.1 million to $1.3 million.

With that, we will now open the call for questions. Operator, please start a Q&A session.

Of course. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

David Williams, Benchmark.

Hey, good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for taking my question. I guess maybe first, Stephen, you talked a lot about the strategy and that's really starting the show here, but I wanted to first maybe talk about the AI opportunities and on the GPU track. In those design wins, can you maybe talk about how that's tracking and is it to your expectations? I know there's been some push and pull between, the segments there, but just kind of curious how you're seeing your -- how that AI opportunity is tracking and what your expectations are.

Hi David. Yeah, good to hear from you. Yes, the AI opportunity that we've been pushing for, it is less than what our original expectations were for regarding creating, selling solutions for going into the VRM powering the GPUs directly. However, actually what we've been talking about, in this earnings as well as in the previous season. Is that our AI opportunity is actually expanding.

The breadth of our of our offerings into this AI opportunity is going beyond even just the total solutions that we're offering for the VRM solutions. But we are excited to see that we can already start to address the medium voltage market that's already being used in the power conversions that happened even before that stage. And that's -- and then we can see that already in our results for this quarter already, which is an encouraging for us.

Thanks, I certainly appreciate that. And then maybe from the OpEx perspective, when should we think that kind of normalizes? Is this a good base rate to kind of consider going forward, or are there some expenses maybe in this next quarter that won't flow into the following quarters?

Well, sure, Dave. Yes, for the March quarter we guided about $4 million up in operating expenses compared to the December quarter. [$3 million] out of that $4 million increased for the R&D. So, yes, and like Stephen said that we are increasing our investment in R&D in some critical areas this year.

So those new projects are focused on where we have strong foothold and then and strong customer engagement and where we have a big potential. So we're going to double down and step up R&D investment. So the -- our director of the CQJV equity share and -- that provides some means for us.

And so we plan to spend around like $20 million or so from this proceeds on some new R&D projects this calendar year. So that translates to about 25% R&D expense increase for this calendar year. So March quarter reflected a little bit lower. So gradually, in the June quarter, September quarter, it will inch up. So on an annual basis, we expected about 25% increase compared to par calendar year.

Okay, great. Thank you. And then just one last thing if I can sink it in here, just on the capacity side, just kind of getting the balance sheet, are there areas within, maybe your existing footprint that you could add capacity or areas that you might be able to do something there in terms of helping maybe on the gross margin front or any other just maybe uses of that cash as we look forward. Thank you.

Yes, and I mean, if you notice that, our CapEx investment in the December quarter was about $5 million higher than the prior quarter, and March quarter also inched up compared to the December quarter. So we are investing in CapEx to prepare for the calendar year 2026 and growth -- some new products and new products and started rolling out, so we are building up some capacity right now.

Thank you for your questions, David. Oh, apologies, David. Give me one moment. Let me open your line back up. There you go, David. Sorry about that.

That's all for me. Yeah, no problem. That was all for me.

Tor Sundberg, Stifel.

Hey, this is Solomon Wang on for Tor Sundberg. Thanks for taking my question. So, looking ahead to the March quarter revenue guide implies a pretty healthy top-line momentum, but gross margin comes in a little bit lower than what we're expecting. Could you share a little additional color regarding what's causing that, and where do you kind of see gross margin longer-term as you try to reach that 30% target?

Sure, yes, March quarter guidance is about 1.1.2% lower than the December quarter margin. It's mainly reflecting the lower utilization in the March quarter, especially during the lunar New Year time frame. So typically, each year, they still, that's the time, some operators and they will go back to their hometowns, so we also reduce our production, so money impacted by the utilization.

So I would expect that for the June quarter, we expect to see the margins rebound and I would expect probably back up to the December 2025 or September 2025 in the quarter the margins level, so somewhere in that neighborhood. So -- and then going forward, yes, our midterm target model is still $1 billion in revenue and 30% non-GAAP gross margin, and then 20% of tax. So that's still our midterm target model.

So from where we are now, back up to the 30%, gross margin level, yeah, we expect those new products -- to contribute to the margin growth and then better product mix and then some normal pricing of the environment and that would also help. So that's the way we see we can get back to the 30% gross margin level.

Great, very helpful. Thank you. And kind of following up on R&D and so as you're utilizing the proceeds from Chongqing's JV stake monetization to help accelerate and fund the R&D, could you share a little bit more regarding, what specific programs the increased R&D is going to and, what revenue scale does this increased R&D really begin to offer some operating leverage and.

Yeah, let me take a stab at that first. So as we described in our prepared remarks, yes, our investment is not going to be in all different directions. It's in very focused areas. We want to invest in the areas that we have strength, that we have competitive leverage, and we want those areas to be even stronger, and we chose those areas because we've already seen success in those areas, whether it's in PCs with a total solution for that and then expanding that to AI applications going into graphics and AI and now and expanding the breadth of that to go not only covering the ICs but also the high performance MOSFETs so we're in the AI space.

This is pretty exciting for us because it's the expansion of the product breadth. But on top of that, it's also an expansion of the customer base so not only are we going after the top AI guy. We're also going after the whole ecosystem and our solutions can also be used and are actually already being sold into servers, other data center servers, going to cloud service providers, so it increases that customer base for us to go after a bigger [scan] with the expansion of our products.

And of course, we are still seeing the expansion of our smartphone battery business and this is because the underlying trend there is moving towards higher charging currents. And with that, they basically -- the solutions have to physically be bigger, they have to handle quite a bit more current. And this requires a lot of technology, both in silicon as well as in packaging to in order to meet the space constraints as well as the performance constraints. So business abroad means the impact on our business is that the BOM content increase will increase as well as the margins for those areas.

So all three of those areas, we are already seeing results now. We'll see more results even later in this calendar year, but the bigger impact from the additional R&D investment will come in 2027.

Great, thank you so much. That's very helpful.

Thank you for your questions. (Operator Instructions) Craig Ellis, B. Riley Securities.

Thanks for taking the question, guys. I wanted to go further on what's been topical on the call, which is the investment in advanced compute product. The first one, guys, I appreciate the clarification that R&D will be up about 25% year on year in calendar 26%. I was hoping to ask kind of a higher level theoretical question or a Maybe a business strategy question, Steven, as you look at investing in new opportunities, what are the gating factors that determine where you will invest and what would be too far away from your low voltage and mid voltage core competencies so that we have a better understanding of where the targets set on a range of things you might be looking at.

Hello. Are you still on board? I'm sorry. Did you hear my question?

So let me answer that question. I heard the question. I just thought I was on mute. I was talking about it. I'm sorry.

So regarding the our investment into AI, it started with our total solutions for PCs, and with those total solution controller paired together with the driver moss, that's what helped us to get into the graphics space as well as going into now the various AI platforms. So our investments there will continue, and we are going -- when we would mention both total solutions for PCs as well as. Going after AI applications, that's still -- you know, that is still a core target of ours and it fits in very well with our technology strengths, with our ability to create these drivers, controllers, as well as the effects that are used inside these power stages.

But that said, we're also expanding -- we're going after that medium voltage power conversion, especially in that 48-volt to 12-volt space where we can use our solutions now. We don't have to wait for future platforms, and this is because we are going after not only on board solutions but also going after the ecosystem partners, even going after solutions that go into cloud service providers too. This has broader reach beyond just the specific AI application.

So this is why it's exciting for us to see the impact even now, in a little bit in the December quarter, but more so in the March quarter. So even -- we don't have to wait till for 2027 to see some of those results. This will be one of the key growth drivers that we'll see in this calendar year. But regarding kind of the bigger direction, yes, we're going to go after and tackle more of the sockets in going into the AI applications as we look forward to the 800-volt solutions. We are preparing solutions for wide band gap to go after the high voltage aspect of that and there's other also other solutions, other products that we're developing to cover that space, including medium voltage, and we're also looking at various IC sockets as well too.

Thanks, Stephen. If I could ask a follow-up that relates to that to understand what you're seeing.

In terms of revenue return on the investment, how big is advanced compute as a percent of the compute segment now? What do you think it would be a year from now as you start to get more benefit from all of the investment since you said it'd be pretty quick if we look down the road eight quarters to fiscal third quarter of '28, 1Q of '28, how big would the business be by then? How much return are we going to see two years from now when this 25% R&D increase we're making?

Sure, and, at least for the portion of, R&D will be invested in three core areas. One, of course, is this AI opportunity. The second is the PC total solutions which is a close cousin for AI. And then also for our smartphones going after the high performance battery protection, there's also a lot of opportunity there.

But with regard specifically to the proportion of AI graphics related, that portion of computing in the past has been -- has hit somewhere like 20% to 25% of computing in some of the quarters of this of the calendar 2025. So going forward actually, we see much more potential. So we see opportunity not only for VRM solutions directly powering the GPUs, but also again the SAM going into -- for the medium voltage is a new area that we didn't start to really have meaningful revenue until recently. And this is an area that we believe we can have some quicker returns even in this calendar year.

So I can't give a hard number, but I certainly can see it going to 50%. It could be higher than that, depending on how successful, how quickly we can penetrate all the opportunities here.

Got it. Thanks for that color. And then one over to you, Yifan. We've been hearing from companies in the equipment space that their readings on Southeast Asia-China foundry utilization are now in the 80% to 90% range, which should be a range that starts to support less severe pricing.

I know pricing's been at normalized level the last quarter or so, but do you see an environment where pricing starts to help your ability to move gross margins up from, I think that 21% guidance level in the current quarter. Where's pricing and how much of a headwind or tailwind of what you see going through this year. Thank you.

Okay, sure, December quarter pricing was -- so I would say was in line with historical trends and a little bit better than the September quarter. So put it that way, March quarter was factored in normal historical trends in the price erosion at this point. So, yeah, we are closely monitored and the market and see what market is going to go and then we'll adjust ourselves and accordingly so based on the business customers the products you know all those factors so we'll see, yeah, definitely welcome you know better pricing environment.

That's real helpful. And if I could just ask one more bouncing back to Stephen. Stephen, the commentary in the press release, and I think was in the script on expectations for PC growth and smartphone growth this year, helped by content gain. So good for you guys for getting even more of that because that's been part of the story for a long time.

The question is, have lead times stretched out enough that you've really got long-term visibility or what gives you the confidence to make a comment that goes all the way through the end of calendar year '26? Thanks, guys.

Yeah, for us, we do see that the impact of the memory shortage and memory supply that will be a headwind for those markets, but we also believe that, we are increasing content and in PC side again, our total solutions still has a lot of room to grow in terms of penetrating the market. We've been selling our discrete MOSFET, discrete separate. Individual driver losses, but you know we're looking forward to having a bigger adoption of our total solutions, including our controller solutions onto more platforms, so that can help there. Of course, yeah, we have to deal with the our customers have to contend with the memory supply, but that -- I feel confident at least in our ability to penetrate further with our total solution strategy.

And on the smartphone side, we do see that especially in the big US customer that the move towards higher charging currents is going to be more widely adopted, and this is helping to support the quick charging features on these big smart phone batteries and you know we are in a good position there with leading technology as well as a strong share.

That's great. Good luck with that. Thanks, Stephen.

Thank you.

Thank you for your questions. There are currently no questions registered, so I'd like to pass the call back over to Steven for any closing remarks.

Okay, it's Steven Pelayo here. Before we conclude, I just want to highlight a few upcoming investor events the management team is going to be participating in. So first of all, we have the Susquehanna 15th Annual Technology Conference on February 26 in New York City. Then we have the Loop Capital 7th Annual Investor Conference on March 9. This is virtual. And we have the Jefferies Semis IT Hardware & Comm Tech Summit on August 26 in Chicago. If you wish to request a meeting, please contact the institutional sales representatives at the sponsoring banks.

This concludes our earnings call today. Thank you for your interest in AOS, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter.

That concludes today's call. Thank you for your participation and have a wonderful rest of your day.