NEI, a provider of application platforms, appliances and support services for software developers, OEMs and service providers throughout the world, has reported financial results for its second fiscal quarter, which ended March 31, 2009.
During the second quarter, the company added 14 new design wins, totaling 25 for the first half of 2009. This is an increase from the previous year where 23 were secured in the first half.
In this first half of 2009, design wins included eight new customers with run-rate business, three design wins for run-rate products with existing customers and five for new products with existing customers.
Greg Shortell, President and Chief Executive Officer of NEI, commented in a company statement, "We successfully managed our working capital, kept a close eye on operating expenses, and delivered results that met guidance, resulting in our 11th consecutive quarter of non-GAAP profitability.
“Our cash balance increased $5.2 million to $18.3 million and our strong balance sheet continues to enable us to win important new business and open the doors to large long-term opportunities.
“Based on our cash position, we re-instituted our stock repurchase program. This was a strong operating quarter for NEI despite challenging conditions in the global economy, however, we recognize that the challenges related to the economy are not fully behind us," said Shortell.
The company has enjoyed success thus far in fiscal 2009 in its ongoing effort to engage with customers that have established, revenue-generating solutions. Such an approach shortens time-to-revenue.
EMC (News - Alert) was the only customer that comprised more than 10 percent of NEI’s net revenues in the quarter. This company also comprised 38 percent of total revenues during the quarter, compared to 49 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.
NEI announced on March 16, 2009 that it was re-instituting its stock repurchase program. As a result, in the second quarter, it purchased roughly 96,000 shares for a total of $52,000.
The third quarter is also looking promising for NEI as the company expects to continue on its path of success. Its Business Outlook includes net revenues in the range of $30 million to $35 million; gross profit in the range of 13.5 percent to 15 percent of net revenues; operating expenses between $6.4 million and $6.9 million; net loss on a GAAP basis in the range of $1.7 million to $2.3 million; and a net loss on a non-GAAP basis in the range of $900,000 to $1.5 million.
"Our revenue guidance is based on current customer forecasts and is a reflection of the still very challenging economic environment," stated Doug Bryant, Chief Financial Officer, in the company’s statement. "Our customers' forecasting visibility remains limited and they continue to manage inventory very closely. We would expect that continued economic headwinds could result in volatility in our revenues in the coming quarters.
We are doing everything we can to manage our way through this turbulent economy and maintain our cash flows. Additionally, we are gradually managing down our non-strategic, transactional-based revenues. We believe that as our new design wins begin to ramp up and as the economy begins to turn, we will be well positioned for future growth," added Bryant.
While enjoying this success in the second quarter, NEI has also been making headlines with its new solutions and applications to enhance Intel Processor (News - Alert) environments. By focusing on power, performance and time-to-market, NEI is making some noise. Based on its performance so far for 2009, the market is paying attention.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi