- Strategic licensing agreements with customers targeting ADAS, hearing aids and cellular IoT

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 7, 2019 — (PRNewswire) — CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies, announced today its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2019.

Total revenue for the third quarter of 2019 was $23.5 million, a 10% increase compared to $21.4 million reported for the third quarter of 2018. Third quarter 2019 licensing and related revenue was $11.3 million, a 15% increase compared to $9.8 million reported for the third quarter of 2018. Royalty revenue for the third quarter of 2019 was $12.2 million, an increase of 5% when compared to $11.6 million reported for the third quarter of 2018.

Gideon Wertheizer, CEO of CEVA, stated: "We are very pleased to report strong third quarter results, driven by excellent performance in licensing and a substantial step up in our royalty revenue. We continue to make progress in growing our customer base, including comprehensive agreements with industry leaders in strategic markets such as ADAS, hearing aids and cellular IoT. Our royalty revenue growth reflects good momentum in both the handset baseband and non-handset aspects of our business. Our handset baseband customers benefitted from the launch of premium smartphones and share gain in the low-cost smartphone market. Our non-handset business continues to grow with record high quarterly revenues and unit shipments of 123 million, including first-time contribution from our newly acquired Hillcrest Labs sensor fusion business."

Of the fourteen license agreements completed during the quarter, one was for a smart sensing product and thirteen were for connectivity products. All of the licensing agreements signed during the quarter were for non-handset baseband applications and five were with first-time customers of CEVA. Customers' target markets include automotive ADAS, hearing aids, smart meters, true wireless stereo earbuds and a wide variety of IoT devices. Geographically, six of the deals signed were in China, five were in the U.S., two were in Europe and one was in APAC (excluding China).

GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2019 was $0.8 million and $0.03, respectively, compared to $2.5 million and $0.11 reported for the same period in 2018. GAAP and non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2019 included a tax benefit of approximately $1 million as a result of the conclusion of a tax audit.

Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2019 were $5.1 million and $0.22, respectively, compared to $5.2 million non-GAAP net income and $0.23 diluted earnings per share reported for the third quarter of 2018. Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2019 excluded: (a) equity-based compensation expense, net of taxes, of $2.6 million (b) the impact of the amortization of acquired intangibles of $0.8 million associated with the acquisitions of RivieraWaves and the Hillcrest Labs business, and investments in NB-IoT and Immervision technologies, and (c) deal expenses and write-off of an acquired lease associated with the Hillcrest Labs transaction of $0.8 million. Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2018 excluded: (a) equity-based compensation expense, net of taxes, of $2.3 million, and (b) the impact of the amortization of acquired intangibles of $0.3 million associated with the acquisition of RivieraWaves and investment in NB-IoT technologies.   

Yaniv Arieli, Chief Financial Officer of CEVA, stated: "Our portfolio of IP for wireless connectivity and smart sensing applications continues to attract strong customer interest worldwide. This is clearly evident in our third quarter results, for both licensing and royalty revenues, where we recorded 15% and 5% year-over-year growth, respectively. At the end of the third quarter, our cash and cash equivalent balances, marketable securities and bank deposits were approximately $148 million, following the acquisition of the Hillcrest Labs sensor fusion business and the technology investment in Immervision's wide-angle imaging IP during the quarter."

CEVA Conference Call

On November 7, 2019 CEVA management will conduct a conference call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the operating performance for the quarter.

The conference call will be available via the following dial in numbers:

• U.S. Participants: Dial 1-844-435-0316 (Access Code: CEVA)
• International Participants: Dial +1-412-317-6365 (Access Code: CEVA)

The conference call will also be available live via webcast at the following link: https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/984/31914. Please go to the web site at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

For those who cannot access the live broadcast, a replay will be available by dialing +1-877-344-7529 or +1-412-317-0088 (access code: 10135680) from one hour after the end of the call until 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on November 14, 2019. The replay will also be available at CEVA's web site www.ceva-dsp.com.

About CEVA, Inc.
CEVA is the leading licensor of wireless connectivity and smart sensing technologies. We offer Digital Signal Processors, AI processors, wireless platforms and complementary software for sensor fusion, image enhancement, computer vision, voice input and artificial intelligence, all of which are key enabling technologies for a smarter, connected world. We partner with semiconductor companies and OEMs worldwide to create power-efficient, intelligent and connected devices for a range of end markets, including mobile, consumer, automotive, robotics, industrial and IoT. Our ultra-low-power IPs include comprehensive DSP-based platforms for 5G baseband processing in mobile and infrastructure, advanced imaging and computer vision for any camera-enabled device and audio/voice/speech and ultra-low power always-on/sensing applications for multiple IoT markets. For sensor fusion, our Hillcrest Labs sensor processing technologies provide a broad range of sensor fusion software and IMU solutions for AR/VR, robotics, remote controls, and IoT. For artificial intelligence, we offer a family of AI processors capable of handling the complete gamut of neural network workloads, on-device. For wireless IoT, we offer the industry's most widely adopted IPs for Bluetooth (low energy and dual mode), Wi-Fi 4/5/6 (802.11n/ac/ax) and NB-IoT. Visit us at www.ceva-dsp.com  and follow us on Twitter , YouTube ,   Facebook , LinkedIn  and Instagram .