Tracking-chip maker Impinj delivered a big beat-and-raise earnings report, which gave PI stock an adrenaline shot on Friday. Impinj was one of several semiconductor stocks moving on earnings news.
Seattle-based Impinj late Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and guided higher than views for the current period.
Impinj earned an adjusted 9 cents a share on sales of $70.7 million in the December quarter. Wall Street had expected earnings of 2 cents a share on sales of $68.3 million. However, on a year-over-year basis, its earnings dropped 78%, while sales slid 8%.
For the current quarter, Impinj predicted adjusted earnings of 11 cents a share on sales of $73.5 million. Analysts were modeling earnings of 2 cents a share on sales of $70.8 million. In the year-earlier period, it earned 30 cents a share on sales of $85.9 million.
"As we continue driving our bold vision to connect every item in our everyday world, we remain confident in our market position and energized by the opportunities ahead," Chief Executive Chris Diorio said in a news release.
PI Stock Gets Price-Target Hike
On the stock market today, PI stock rose 3.5% to close at 110.04.
Impinj makes tiny tracking chips that can connect items to the internet cloud for customers in retail, transportation, logistics and other industries. Its wireless chips track such things as retail store items, luggage, automobile parts and shipments.
Piper Sandler analyst Harsh Kumar reiterated his overweight, or buy, rating on PI stock and upped his price target to 130 from 105. He said Impinj is a "top small-cap pick."
"The company is seeing tremendous amounts of activity in retail which should continue to provide tailwinds through the second-half 2024 time frame," Kumar said in a client note.
Winners And Losers In Semiconductor Stocks
Semiconductor stocks have been a mixed bag this earnings season.
Chipmakers exposed to the boom in artificial intelligence, such as Arm Holdings and Monolithic Power Systems, jumped this week on AI-fueled quarterly results and guidance.
Meanwhile, chipmakers that provide components for smartphones also have done well. Audio-chip maker Cirrus Logic, which gets 89% of its revenue from Apple, popped after posting better-than-expected December-quarter results late Tuesday.
Semiconductor stocks falling on earnings reports this week were those mostly tied to weak industrial, communications infrastructure and consumer electronics markets. They included Alpha and Omega Semiconductor, Diodes and Rambus.
Meanwhile, automotive chip producers NXP Semiconductors and Onsemi guided lower for the current quarter, but analysts described their outlooks as "better than feared."
Impinj Stock Goes To 11
In addition to PI stock, other semiconductor stocks reacting to quarterly reports on Friday included Power Integrations and Synaptics. Power Integrations delivered mixed December-quarter results while Synaptics posted a modest beat. But both guided lower for the March quarter, citing elevated chip inventories in the sales channel.
Power Integrations stock advanced 4.2% to close at 81.54 on Friday. Synaptics stock climbed 1.8% to 112.21.
The IBD Stock Checkup tool ranks PI stock as No. 11 out of 38 stocks in IBD's fabless semiconductor industry group. Impinj has an IBD Composite Rating of 80 out of 99.
Power Integrations ranks No. 17 in the fabless chipmaker group. Synaptics is fifth in IBD's Electronics-Miscellaneous Products group.
Follow Patrick Seitz on X, formerly Twitter, at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
