Shares of Ambarella (NASDAQ:AMBA) popped 11% in premarket trading Wednesday after the semiconductor maker offered an FQ1 2025 revenue guidance that surpassed analyst expectations at the midpoint.
For the fiscal Q4 2024, the company reported a loss per share of $0.24, surpassing better than the loss per share of $0.33 expected by analysts. Revenue came in at $51.6 million, almost in line with the consensus projection of $51.62 million.
For the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024, the non-GAAP gross margin was 62.5%, a slight decrease from 63.5% recorded in the same quarter of fiscal year 2023.
Looking ahead, Ambarella projects its Q1 2025 revenue to be in the range of $52-56 million. The midpoint of that guidance slightly topped the analysts’ expectations of $53.7 million.
The chipmaker anticipates a non-GAAP gross margin between 61.5% and 63.0% for the quarter, while non-GAAP operating expenses are estimated to fall between $46.0 million and $49.0 million.
“We expect to return to revenue growth in fiscal year 2025, due to the strength of our AI products and the early actions we took to help our customers navigate their excess inventory,” said Fermi Wang, President and CEO of Ambarella.
“Looking beyond, we aim to restore growth and profitability while continuing to drive our edge AI inference R&D focus,” he added.
Deutsche Bank analysts saw Ambarella’s in-line report as “an admirable feat amidst widespread headwinds that remain persistent across the broader semi sector.”
Demand appears to be showing signs of improvement, analysts noted, though they prefer to remain on the sidelines and wait “to see the investment magnitude and duration necessary to capitalize on these compelling but competitive trends until the co can generate attractive returns.”
“Consequently, with little change to our ests, we maintain our Hold rating and P/T of $65,” they wrote.