Dolby declares improved q-o-q results for Q2-2015

BENGALURU:  Audio equipment maker Dolby Laboratories (Dolby) reported a 16 per cent quarter on quarter (q-o-q) growth in revenue for the quarter ended 27 March, 2015 (Q2-2015, current quarter) to US$ 271.95 million as compared to the US$ 234.24 million reported for the immediate trailing quarter. However, y-o-y, revenue fell 2 per cent from the US$ 278.59 million reported for Q2-2015. The company says that total revenue for Q2-2014 included a back payment settlement of US$ 24.7 million, which did not repeat in Q2- 2015.

“We had another solid quarter driven by growth in our broadcast business,” said Dolby Laboratories president and CEO Kevin Yeaman. “In addition, we saw significant progress with our new initiatives as AMC Theatres and Disney announced their support for Dolby Cinema and Vizio announced the first Dolby Vision TV.”

Revenue

Three streams add to the company’s revenue – Licensing, products and services, with licensing contributing the lion’s share. Q-o-q licensing revenue increased 4 per cent to US$ 243.33 million in Q2-2015 as compared to the US$ 216.6 million in Q1-2015, but was 6 per cent less than the US$ 258.62 million reported for Q2-2015.

A major chunk of licensing revenue comes from broadcast licensing (42 per cent in Q2-2015, 41 per cent in Q1-2015 and 46 per cent in Q2-2014). PC licensing, Consumer Electronics licensing, mobile licensing and other licensing are the other contributors to licensing revenue. Mobile licensing in Q2-2014 contributed just 11 per cent to licensing revenue, as compared to 16 per cent in the previous quarter and the corresponding year ago quarter.

Products revenue for Q2-2015 was US$ 22.99 million, for Q1-2015 it was US$ 13.26 million and for Q2-2014 it was 14.56 million. Services revenue for Q2-2015 was US$ 5.63 million, for Q1-2015, it was US$ 4.38 million and for Q2-2014, it was US$ 5.41 million. 

Income

Q2-2015 GAAP net income was US$ 58.0 million, or US$ 0.56 per diluted share, compared to US$ 75.9 million, or US$ 0.73 per diluted share, for Q2-2014. On a non-GAAP basis, Q2-2015 net income was US$ 74.9 million, or US$ 0.72 per diluted share, compared to US$ 91.7 million, or US$ 0.88 per diluted share, for Q2-2014.

Dividend

Dolby today announced a cash dividend of US$ 0.10 per share of Class A and Class B common stock, payable on 12 May, 2015, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on 4 May, 2015.

Company forecast

For Q3-2015, Dolby estimates that total revenue will range from US$230 million to US$240 million. Gross margin percentages are projected to range between approximately 89 per cent and 90 per cent on a GAAP basis and between 90 per cent and 91 per cent on a non-GAAP basis.

For FY-2015, Dolby anticipates that total revenue will range from US$ 970 million to US$ 1 billion.