Highlights:
- GAAP net income of $277 million, or $1.61 per share
- Non-GAAP net income of $122 million, or $0.71 per share(1)
- Q4 GAAP revenue of $750 million, $2.9 billion for FY15
- Q4 non-GAAP revenue of $756 million, $2.9 billion for FY15(2)
- First-quarter fiscal year 2016 non-GAAP revenue guidance of $702 million to $742 million(2); non-GAAP earnings guidance of $0.44 to $0.58 per share(3)
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — November 19, 2015 — Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) today reported strong operating results despite mixed end market conditions. Non-GAAP revenue of $756 million for the fourth fiscal quarter ended Oct. 31, 2015, declined 1 percent compared with one year ago.(2) Currency had a negative year-over-year impact of 4 percentage points on revenue, while acquisitions contributed 4 percentage points of growth.
Compared to last year, results across end markets were mixed. Communications market revenues grew 3 percent, while aerospace & defense market revenues declined 5 percent versus a high point driven by the post-sequestration recovery. Industrial, computer, and semiconductor market revenues declined 2 percent as strength in computer and semiconductor markets was offset by softer industrial spending. Regionally, sales grew on a core basis in Asia Pacific and Japan with declines in the Americas and Europe.
Fourth-quarter GAAP gross margin of 56 percent increased 1.5 percentage points year-over-year. Non-GAAP gross margin of 58 percent increased 1.9 percentage points as the mix of R&D and software revenues improved.(1) Expenses increased due to acquisitions and higher R&D investment in support of key growth initiatives.
Fourth-quarter non-GAAP operating income was $157 million, or 20.7 percent of revenue.(1) Non-GAAP net income was $122 million, or $0.71 per share,(1) which excludes a tax benefit of $201 million and other net adjustments of $46 million. The tax benefit resulted primarily from a tax ruling obtained from Singapore that allows Keysight to amortize the value of the intellectual property acquired from Agilent in the separation. Fourth-quarter GAAP operating income was $111 million, or 14.8 percent of revenue. GAAP net income was $277 million, or $1.61 per share.
For fiscal 2015, non-GAAP revenue of $2.9 billion declined 2 percent and was flat on a core basis as currency had a negative year-over-year impact of 3 percentage points, while acquisitions contributed 1 percentage point of growth.(2) Fiscal 2015 non-GAAP operating income was $559 million, or 19.5 percent of revenue.(1) Full-year non-GAAP net income was $432 million, or $2.52 per share,(1) which excludes GAAP to non-GAAP net adjustments of $81 million. Fiscal 2015 GAAP operating income was $431 million, or 15.1 percent of revenue. Full-year GAAP net income was $513 million, or $3.00 per share.
“Our strong Q4 performance contributed to a solid first year as an independent company,” said Ron Nersesian, Keysight president and CEO. “Our team’s operational discipline drove excellent earnings results in Q4 and throughout the year, while we completed the separation and closed our first major acquisition with Anite. We have also established a consistent track record of meeting our guidance commitments over the past several quarters.”
“Looking forward, our recently announced organizational structure is the next step in driving increased focus on customer solutions and accelerating our growth initiatives in 2016,” added Nersesian. “While we maintain our expectations for market growth of 2 percent in 2016, recent macro data has tempered our expectations for the first half of the year.”
Revenues and earnings are typically softer in Keysight’s first fiscal quarter. Consistent with this seasonality, first-quarter 2016 non-GAAP revenue is expected to be in the range of $702 million to $742 million.(2) First-quarter non-GAAP earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.44 to $0.58.(3)
Webcast
Keysight’s management will present more details about its fourth-quarter FY2015 financial results on a conference call with investors today at 1:30 p.m. PT. This event will be webcast in listen-only mode. Listeners may log on and select Q4 2015 Keysight Technologies Inc. Earnings Conference Call in the Investor News & Events – Upcoming Events section at www.investor.keysight.com. The webcast will remain on the company site for 90 days.
A telephone replay of the conference call will be available at approximately 4:30 p.m. PT, Nov. 19 through Nov. 24 by dialing +1 855 859 2056 (or +1 404 537 3406 from outside the U.S.) and entering pass code 47979140.
