STMicroelectronics, a prominent global semiconductor leader, has released its financial results for the second quarter ending June 29, 2024. The company reported net revenues of $3.23 billion, with a gross margin of 40.1%, an operating margin of 11.6%, and a net income of $353 million, translating to $0.38 diluted earnings per share.
Financial Highlights
The second quarter saw STMicroelectronics (ST) achieving net revenues of $3.23 billion, which was slightly above the midpoint of the company’s business outlook. This performance was primarily driven by higher revenues in the Personal Electronics segment, partially offset by lower-than-expected revenues in the Automotive sector. The company’s gross margin of 40.1% was in line with expectations.
Jean-Marc Chery, President & CEO of STMicroelectronics, stated in the media briefing, “Q2 net revenues were above the midpoint of our business outlook range, driven by higher revenues in Personal Electronics, partially offset by lower-than-expected revenues in Automotive. Gross margin was in line with expectations.”
For the first half of 2024, ST reported net revenues of $6.70 billion, with a gross margin of 40.9%, an operating margin of 13.8%, and a net income of $865 million. However, year-over-year, the first half net revenues decreased by 21.9%, primarily due to declines in the Microcontrollers and Power and Discrete segments.
Segment Performance
The company’s performance varied across different product segments:
- Analog, Power & Discrete, MEMS and Sensors (APMS): This segment saw a year-over-year revenue decrease of 16.2%. Within this segment, Analog products, MEMS and Sensors (AM&S) revenues fell by 10.0%, mainly due to a decline in Imaging. Power and Discrete products (P&D) revenues dropped by 24.4%. The operating profit for AM&S decreased by 44.5% to $144 million, while P&D saw a 57.9% decline in operating profit to $110 million.
- Microcontrollers, Digital ICs and RF products (MDRF): This segment experienced a significant year-over-year revenue decrease of 35.5%. The Microcontrollers (MCU) segment alone saw a 46.0% drop in revenue, mainly due to a decrease in General Purpose MCU. The operating profit for the MCU segment plummeted by 87.1% to $72 million. In contrast, the Digital ICs and RF products (D&RF) segment’s revenue decreased by a modest 7.6%, with a 23.8% drop in operating profit to $150 million.
Strategic Focus Areas
- Automotive: Despite the decline in demand, ST continues to execute its strategy to support car electrification. The company secured multiple wins in power discrete with both silicon-carbide and IGBT technologies for traction inverters at leading car manufacturers. Additionally, ST has announced a long-term Silicon Carbide supply agreement with Geely Auto for SiC power devices in their battery EVs and established a joint lab to explore innovative solutions for evolving automotive architectures.
- Industrial: The anticipated stabilization of demand in the Industrial sector did not materialize, with customer orders remaining weak, particularly for general-purpose microcontrollers. Short-cycle businesses such as power tools, residential solar, lighting, and appliances continued to struggle, while longer-cycle businesses like energy storage, grid, EV charging, and process automation showed more resilience. Entering the second half of the year, ST faces a weaker-than-expected backlog.
- Personal Electronics, Communications Equipment, and Computer Peripherals (CECP): Engaged customer programs in these sectors ran as expected, providing some stability amidst broader market volatility.
Market Challenges and Future Outlook
STMicroelectronics faced several challenges during the second quarter. Contrary to prior expectations, customer orders for Industrial applications did not improve, and demand in the Automotive sector declined. Chery noted, “During the quarter, contrary to our prior expectations, customer orders for Industrial did not improve and Automotive demand declined.”
Looking ahead, STMicroelectronics has set its business outlook for the third quarter of 2024. At the midpoint, the company expects net revenues of $3.25 billion, representing a year-over-year decrease of 26.7% and a sequential increase of 0.6%. The gross margin is anticipated to be around 38%, impacted by approximately 350 basis points of unused capacity charges.
Jean-Marc Chery outlined the company’s plan for the full fiscal year 2024, targeting revenues in the range of $13.2 billion to $13.7 billion, with an expected gross margin of about 40%.
Financial Summary
A detailed comparison of the financial results is as follows:
- Net Revenues: Decreased by 25.3% year-over-year to $3.23 billion in Q2 2024.
- Gross Profit: Decreased by 38.9% year-over-year to $1.30 billion.
- Operating Income: Decreased by 67.3% year-over-year to $375 million.
- Net Income: Decreased by 64.8% year-over-year to $353 million.
- Diluted Earnings Per Share: Decreased by 64.2% year-over-year to $0.38.
Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Highlights
For the second quarter, STMicroelectronics reported net cash from operating activities of $702 million, compared to $1.31 billion in the year-ago quarter. The company’s net capital expenditures (Capex) were $528 million, compared to $1.07 billion in the same period last year. Free cash flow, a non-U.S. GAAP measure, was $159 million, down from $209 million in Q2 2023.
The company’s inventory at the end of the second quarter stood at $2.81 billion, up from $2.69 billion in the previous quarter but down from $3.05 billion in the year-ago quarter. Days sales of inventory increased to 130 days, compared to 122 days in the previous quarter and 126 days in Q2 2023.
STMicroelectronics also highlighted its shareholder return initiatives, including $73 million in cash dividends and an $88 million share buyback, completing its $1,040 million share repurchase program launched in July 2021. In June 2024, the company announced a new share buyback plan comprising two programs totaling up to $1.1 billion to be executed over three years.
As of June 29, 2024, ST’s net financial position, a non-U.S. GAAP measure, was $3.20 billion, up from $3.13 billion as of March 30, 2024. The company’s total liquidity was $6.29 billion, with total financial debt of $3.09 billion. The adjusted net financial position, considering the effect of advances from capital grants, stood at $2.80 billion.
Manufacturing and Expansion
In May, STMicroelectronics announced the construction of a new high-volume 200mm silicon carbide manufacturing facility in Catania, Italy. This facility will produce power devices and modules, including both device manufacturing and testing and packaging. Alongside the SiC substrate manufacturing facility on the same site, these facilities will form ST’s Silicon Carbide Campus. This ambitious project is projected to be a €5 billion multi-year investment, supported by €2 billion from the State of Italy under the EU Chips Act.
During the quarter, ST also expanded its existing multi-year 150mm silicon carbide substrate wafers supply agreement with SiCrystal.
Future Outlook
Looking ahead to Q3 and beyond, STMicroelectronics expects continued challenges due to the current semiconductor cycle’s impact on various end markets, inventory adjustments, and the nonlinear acceleration of structural trends towards sustainability. The company has revised its full-year 2024 revenue projection between $13.2 billion and $13.7 billion, representing a decline of about 22% at the midpoint compared to 2023.
The company continues to invest in R&D and strategic initiatives, such as the ST Edge AI Suite, which simplifies and accelerates edge-AI application development.
The Way Forward
STMicroelectronics is navigating a complex and volatile semiconductor market with a mix of strategic adaptations and long-term investments. The company’s ability to weather the storm will depend on its agility in adjusting to market dynamics and its continued focus on innovation and customer engagement. With a Capital Markets Day scheduled for November 20th in Paris, stakeholders will have an opportunity to gain further insights into ST’s strategic direction and growth ambitions.
