Skyworks Solutions (SWKS +3.78%) didn't get much love from investors at the end of April despite delivering a solid set of earnings results that cleared Wall Street's expectations. Share prices of the chipmaker fell substantially after its Q2 earnings report nearly three months ago, but they have regained their mojo since then.
Thanks to the recent surge, Skyworks stock price finished the first half of 2021 with respectable gains of 26%. The company will release its fiscal third-quarter results on July 29, which could act as a catalyst for the stock and send it even higher in the second half of the year and beyond. Let's see what's expected of Skyworks and why it may be a good idea to buy the stock before its upcoming earnings report.
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Skyworks Solutions' stellar growth should continue in Q3
Skyworks Solutions' revenue shot up 61% year over year in the first six months of fiscal 2021 to $2.68 billion, while non-GAAP net income increased 84% over the prior-year period to $955.7 million. For the third quarter, the chipmaker expects year-over-year revenue growth of 49% to $1.1 billion at the midpoint of its guidance range. Adjusted earnings are forecast to jump 70% year over year to $2.13 per share.
Skyworks' impressive Q3 guidance was based on the robust demand trends in mobile and the broader wireless connectivity market. The mobile business, which made up two-thirds of Skyworks' Q2 revenue, has been supercharged by the arrival of 5G smartphones. The chipmaker's relationship with Apple (AAPL +0.11%) has played a key role in this regard, as the iPhone maker accounted for 56% of Skyworks' total revenue in fiscal 2020.
Skyworks is a key supplier of wireless components for the iPhone 12. Each unit of the device reportedly contains as many as eight chips from Skyworks, according to a teardown of the phone. Not surprisingly, the success of Apple's latest 5G smartphones has rubbed off on the chipmaker.
Image source: Getty Images.
Apple's iPhone 12 builds in the June quarter, which coincides with Skyworks' fiscal Q3, are expected to increase 26% over the prior-year period to 44 million units, according to Cowen. It is worth noting that Cowen's estimate of 57 million iPhone units shipping in the first quarter of 2021 was pretty accurate. Although Apple has stopped officially reporting the total, outsider estimates suggest the estimate was spot on.
Volume growth at Skyworks' largest customer should ensure that it meets the ambitious revenue and earnings growth targets for Q3, especially considering that 5G devices are carrying more wireless content than their 4G predecessors.
Additionally, Skyworks' broad markets portfolio, which relies on the Internet of Things (IoT) market for growth, has secured design wins across various verticals. Broad markets revenue had shot up 67% year over year in Q2 to $385 million as demand for wireless connectivity beyond smartphones increased.
So Skyworks is sitting on two impressive growth drivers that could ensure the continuation of its momentum. The good news is that its catalysts could get better in the second half of the year and beyond.
Better times lie ahead as 5G gains momentum
End-market developments indicate that Skyworks' guidance could be much better than Wall Street estimates. Analysts expect the chipmaker's revenue to increase 27.6% year over year to $1.22 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter. But explosive smartphone demand for Apple's iPhone could help Skyworks easily clear those expectations.
According to supply chain estimates, Apple is expected to increase the initial production of this year's rumored iPhone 13 models to 90 million units, up from the iPhone 12's 75 million units. With the launch of this year's iPhones just a couple of months away, production is reportedly in full swing, and probably ahead of schedule (as supply chain gossip suggests).
Even better, Apple seems set for multiyear growth in the 5G era, as more than 80% of its installed base is running non-5G iPhones. All told, the bright prospects of Skyworks' biggest customer bode well for the chipmaker both in the short and in the long run.
More importantly, Skyworks' 5G opportunity isn't restricted to just Apple. It counts the likes of Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi as customers, which means that the top five 5G smartphone vendors (including Apple) use Skyworks' chips in their devices. This is great news for Skyworks investors, as the global 5G smartphone market is anticipated to clock 124% annual growth through 2025, according to third-party estimates. The market's secular growth should pave the way for tremendous growth in the company's mobile business.
Given these tailwinds, it is not surprising to see analysts expecting Skyworks' earnings to grow at an annual rate of nearly 17% for the next five years, up from the single-digit growth it has recorded in the past five. Additionally, the stock is trading at just 26 times trailing earnings versus the Nasdaq 100's price-to-earnings ratio of 38.25 (of which Skyworks is a part).
So investors looking to add a 5G stock to their portfolios should keep Skyworks Solutions within their sights because it offers a mix of value and growth. But it may not be available for cheap for long, as a strong earnings report could send the stock higher.
