- Q4 net revenues $4.28 billion; gross margin 45.5%; operating margin 23.9%; net income $1.08 billion
- FY net revenues $17.29 billion; gross margin 47.9%; operating margin 26.7%; net income $4.21 billion
- Business outlook at mid-point: Q1 net revenues of $3.6 billion and gross margin of 42.3%
STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, reported U.S. GAAP financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023. This press release also contains non-U.S. GAAP measures (see Appendix for additional information).
ST reported fourth-quarter net revenues of $4.28 billion, gross margin of 45.5%, operating margin of 23.9%, and net income of $1.08 billion or $1.14 diluted earnings per share.
Jean-Marc Chery, ST President & CEO, commented:
- “FY23 revenues increased 7.2% to $17.29 billion. Operating margin was 26.7% compared to 27.5% in FY22 and net income increased 6.3% to $4.21 billion. We invested $4.11 billion in net CAPEX while delivering a free cash flow of $1.77 billion.”
- “In Q4, ST delivered revenues and gross margin slightly below the mid-point of the guidance, with higher revenues in Personal Electronics offset by a softer growth rate in Automotive.”
- “In Q4, our customer order bookings decreased compared to Q3. We continued to see stable end-demand in Automotive, no significant increase in Personal Electronics, and further deterioration in Industrial.”
- “Our first quarter business outlook, at the mid-point, is for net revenues of $3.6 billion, decreasing year-over-year by 15.2% and decreasing sequentially by 15.9%; gross margin is expected to be about 42.3%.”
- “For 2024, we plan to invest about $2.5 billion in net CAPEX.”
- “We will drive the Company based on a plan for FY24 revenues in the range of $15.9 billion to $16.9 billion. Within this plan, we expect a gross margin in the low to mid-40s.”
Quarterly Financial Summary (U.S. GAAP)
| (US$ m, except per share data) |
Q4 2023 |
Q3 2023 |
Q4 2022 |
Q/Q |
Y/Y |
| Net Revenues |
$4,282 |
$4,431 |
$4,424 |
-3.4% |
-3.2% |
| Gross Profit |
$1,949 |
$2,109 |
$2,102 |
-7.6% |
-7.3% |
| Gross Margin |
45.5% |
47.6% |
47.5% |
-210 bps |
-200 bps |
| Operating Income |
$1,023 |
$1,241 |
$1,287 |
-17.5% |
-20.5% |
| Operating Margin |
23.9% |
28.0% |
29.1% |
-410 bps |
-520 bps |
| Net Income |
$1,076 |
$1,090 |
$1,248 |
-1.3% |
-13.8% |
| Diluted Earnings Per Share |
$1.14 |
$1.16 |
$1.32 |
-1.7% |
-13.6% |
Annual Financial Summary (U.S. GAAP)
| (US$ m, except earnings per share data) |
FY2023 |
FY2022 |
Y/Y |
| Net Revenues |
$17,286 |
$16,128 |
7.2% |
| Gross Profit |
$8,287 |
$7,635 |
8.5% |
| Gross Margin |
47.9% |
47.3% |
60 bps |
| Operating Income |
$4,611 |
$4,439 |
3.9% |
| Operating Margin |
26.7% |
27.5% |
-80 bps |
| Net Income |
$4,211 |
$3,960 |
6.3% |
| Diluted Earnings Per Share |
$4.46 |
$4.19 |
6.4% |
Fourth Quarter 2023 Summary Review
| Net Revenues by Product Group (US$ m) |
Q4 2023 |
Q3 2023 |
Q4 2022 |
Q/Q |
Y/Y |
| Automotive and Discrete Group (ADG) |
2,060 |
2,025 |
1,696 |
1.7% |
21.5% |
| Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group (AMS) |
993 |
990 |
1,339 |
0.4% |
25.8% |
| Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group (MDG) |
1,225 |
1,412 |
1,383 |
13.3% |
11.5% |
| Others |
4 |
4 |
6 |
– |
– |
| Total Net Revenues |
$4,282 |
4,431 |
4,424 |
-3.4% |
-3.2% |
Net revenues totalled $4.28 billion, representing a year-over-year decrease of 3.2%. On a year-over-year basis, ADG revenues increased 21.5%, while AMS and MDG decreased 25.8% and 11.5% respectively. Year-over-year net sales to OEMs and Distribution decreased 0.4% and 9.2%, respectively. On a sequential basis, net revenues decreased 3.4%, 40 basis points lower than the mid-point of ST’s guidance. On a sequential basis, ADG reported an increase in net revenues, AMS was stable and MDG decreased.
Gross profit totaled $1.95 billion, representing a year-over-year decrease of 7.3%. Gross margin of 45.5%, 50 basis points below the mid-point of ST’s guidance, decreased 200 basis points year-over-year, due to higher input manufacturing costs, unused capacity charges, and negative currency effect net of hedging, partially offset by the combination of sales price and product mix.
Operating income decreased 20.5% to $1.02 billion, compared to $1.29 billion in the year-ago quarter. ST’s operating margin decreased 520 basis points on a year-over-year basis to 23.9% of net revenues, compared to 29.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
By product group, compared with the year-ago quarter:
Automotive and Discrete Group (ADG):
- Revenue increased for both Automotive and Power Discrete.
- Operating profit increased by 39.7% to $657 million. Operating margin was 31.9% compared to 27.7%.
Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group (AMS):
- Revenue increased in Analog and decreased in Imaging and in MEMS.
- Operating profit decreased by 57.4% to $147 million. Operating margin was 14.8% compared to 25.8%.
Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group (MDG):
- Revenue decreased for Microcontrollers and increased for RF Communications.
- Operating profit decreased by 30.9% to $342 million. Operating margin was 28.0% compared to 35.8%.
Net income decreased to $1.08 billion compared to $1.25 billion in the year-ago quarter. Both the fourth quarter 2023 and the fourth quarter 2022 financial results included one-time non-cash income tax benefits of $191 million and $141 million respectively. Diluted earnings per share decreased to $1.14 compared to $1.32 in the year-ago quarter.
Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Highlights
| |
|
|
|
Trailing 12 Months |
| (US$ m) |
Q4 2023 |
Q3 2023 |
Q4 2022 |
Q4 2023 |
Q4 2022 |
TTM Change |
| Net cash from operating activities |
1,480 |
1,881 |
1,550 |
5,992 |
5,202 |
15.2% |
| Free cash flow (non-U.S. GAAP)[1] |
652 |
707 |
603 |
1,774 |
1,591 |
11.5% |
Net cash from operating activities was $1.48 billion in the fourth quarter compared to $1.55 billion in the year-ago quarter. For the full-year 2023, net cash from operating activities increased 15.2% to $5.99 billion, representing 34.7% of total revenues.
Capital expenditure payments, net of proceeds from sales, capital grants and other contributions, were $798 million in the fourth quarter and $4.11 billion for the full year 2023. In the respective year-ago periods, net capital expenditures were $920 million and $3.52 billion.
Free cash flow (non-U.S. GAAP) was $652 million and $1.77 billion in the fourth quarter and full year, respectively, compared to $603 million and $1.59 billion in the year-ago respective periods.
Inventory at the end of the fourth quarter was $2.70 billion, compared to $2.87 billion in the previous quarter and $2.58 billion in the year-ago quarter. Days sales of inventory at quarter-end was 104 days compared to 114 days in the previous quarter and 101 days in the year-ago quarter.
In the fourth quarter, ST paid cash dividends to its stockholders totaling $60 million and executed a $86 million share buy-back as part of its current share repurchase program.
ST’s net financial position (non-U.S. GAAP) was $3.16 billion as of December 31, 2023, compared to $2.46 billion as of September 30, 2023 and reflected total liquidity of $6.08 billion and total financial debt of $2.93 billion. Adjusted net financial position, taking into consideration the effect on total liquidity of advances from capital grants for which capital expenditures have not been incurred yet, stood at $3.00 billion as of December 31, 2023.
Corporate developments
On January 10, 2024, ST announced a new organization to deliver enhanced product development innovation and efficiency, time-to-market as well as customer focus by end market. ST will be re-organized into two Product Groups, split into four Reportable Segments and the existing sales and marketing organization will be complemented by a new application marketing organization focused by end markets across all Regions.
The new organization implies a change in reporting which will apply from January 1, 2024.
Business Outlook
ST’s guidance, at the mid-point, for the 2024 first quarter is:
- Net revenues are expected to be $3.6 billion, a decrease of 15.9% sequentially, plus or minus 350 basis points.
- Gross margin of 42.3%, plus or minus 200 basis points.
- This outlook is based on an assumed effective currency exchange rate of approximately $1.09 = €1.00 for the 2024 first quarter and includes the impact of existing hedging contracts.
- The first quarter will close on March 30, 2024.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
ST will conduct a conference call with analysts, investors and reporters to discuss its fourth quarter and full year 2023 financial results and current business outlook today at 9:30 a.m. Central European Time (CET) / 3:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (ET). A live webcast (listen-only mode) of the conference call will be accessible at ST’s website, https://ift.tt/5hNyF7g, and will be available for replay until February 9, 2024.
Use of Supplemental Non-U.S. GAAP Financial Information
This press release contains supplemental non-U.S. GAAP financial information.
Readers are cautioned that these measures are unaudited and not prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for U.S. GAAP financial measures. In addition, such non-U.S. GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled information from other companies. To compensate for these limitations, the supplemental non-U.S. GAAP financial information should not be read in isolation, but only in conjunction with ST’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
See the Appendix of this press release for a reconciliation of ST’s non-U.S. GAAP financial measures to their corresponding U.S. GAAP financial measures.
Forward-looking Information
Some of the statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 or Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended) that are based on management’s current views and assumptions, and are conditioned upon and also involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those anticipated by such statements, due to, among other factors:
- changes in global trade policies, including the adoption and expansion of tariffs and trade barriers, that could affect the macro-economic environment and adversely impact the demand for our products;
- uncertain macro-economic and industry trends (such as inflation and fluctuations in supply chains), which may impact production capacity and end-market demand for our products;
- customer demand that differs from projections;
- the ability to design, manufacture and sell innovative products in a rapidly changing technological environment;
- changes in economic, social, public health, labor, political, or infrastructure conditions in the locations where we, our customers, or our suppliers operate, including as a result of macroeconomic or regional events, geopolitical and military conflicts (including the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine), social unrest, labor actions, or terrorist activities;
- unanticipated events or circumstances, which may impact our ability to execute our plans and/or meet the objectives of our R&D and manufacturing programs, which benefit from public funding;
- financial difficulties with any of our major distributors or significant curtailment of purchases by key customers;
- the loading, product mix, and manufacturing performance of our production facilities and/or our required volume to fulfill capacity reserved with suppliers or third-party manufacturing providers;
- availability and costs of equipment, raw materials, utilities, third-party manufacturing services and technology, or other supplies required by our operations (including increasing costs resulting from inflation);
- the functionalities and performance of our information technology (“IT”) systems, which are subject to cybersecurity threats and which support our critical operational activities including manufacturing, finance and sales, and any breaches of our IT systems or those of our customers, suppliers, partners and providers of third-party licensed technology;
- theft, loss, or misuse of personal data about our employees, customers, or other third parties, and breaches of data privacy legislation;
- the impact of intellectual property claims by our competitors or other third parties, and our ability to obtain required licenses on reasonable terms and conditions;
- changes in our overall tax position as a result of changes in tax rules, new or revised legislation, the outcome of tax audits or changes in international tax treaties which may impact our results of operations as well as our ability to accurately estimate tax credits, benefits, deductions and provisions and to realize deferred tax assets;
- variations in the foreign exchange markets and, more particularly, the U.S. dollar exchange rate as compared to the Euro and the other major currencies we use for our operations;
- the outcome of ongoing litigation as well as the impact of any new litigation to which we may become a defendant;
- product liability or warranty claims, claims based on epidemic or delivery failure, or other claims relating to our products, or recalls by our customers for products containing our parts;
- natural events such as severe weather, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions or other acts of nature, the effects of climate change, health risks and epidemics or pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic in locations where we, our customers or our suppliers operate;
- increased regulation and initiatives in our industry, including those concerning climate change and sustainability matters and our goal to become carbon neutral on scope 1 and 2 and partially scope 3 by 2027;
- potential loss of key employees and potential inability to recruit and retain qualified employees as a result of epidemics or pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, remote-working arrangements and the corresponding limitation on social and professional interaction;
- the duration and the severity of the global outbreak of COVID-19 may continue to negatively impact the global economy in a significant manner for an extended period of time, and also could materially adversely affect our business and operating results;
- industry changes resulting from vertical and horizontal consolidation among our suppliers, competitors, and customers; and
- the ability to successfully ramp up new programs that could be impacted by factors beyond our control, including the availability of critical third-party components and performance of subcontractors in line with our expectations.
Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results and performance of our business to differ materially and adversely from the forward-looking statements. Certain forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology, such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “are expected to,” “should,” “would be,” “seeks” or “anticipates” or similar expressions or the negative thereof or other variations thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions.
Some of these risks are set forth and are discussed in more detail in “Item 3. Key Information — Risk Factors” included in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2022 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 23, 2023. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this press release as anticipated, believed, or expected. We do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update any industry information or forward-looking statements set forth in this release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
Unfavorable changes in the above or other risks or uncertainties listed under “Item 3. Key Information — Risk Factors”
from time to time in our SEC filings, could have a material adverse effect on our business and/or financial condition.
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