Arm Holdings share price jumps as revenues rise 24 per cent
Arm Holdings, the UK chip designer – and one of the darlings of Cambridge's burgeoning tech scene – said pre-tax profits jumped almost a third in the three months to the end of September.
The figures
The company said revenues had risen 24 per cent to £243.1m in its third quarter, pushing profits before tax up 27 per cent to £128.4m.
The company, which counts both Apple and Samsung among its customers, said 3.6bn Arm-based chips were shipped during the period, up 20 per cent year-on-year, adding 38 processor licences for a "broad range" of applications".
Not surprisingly, shareholders were impressed. The company's share price shot up 7.5 per cent to 1,035p in early trading.
Why it's interesting
It's all coming together for Arm, one of the UK's biggest tech success stories, after a funny couple of years. Last summer the company's results suggested a slowdown in sales of smartphones, its primary market, had caused royalties to dip (it's worth pointing out that the company derives its income from royalties for customers using its chip designs, rather than sales of actual chips).
But Arm had a secret weapon. In February this year it bought Offspark, a Dutch startup which specialises in software for the Internet of Things, suggesting it had identified its next big market: internet-connected devices such as fridges, televisions and thermostats.
What with a jump in iPhone sales after the launch of the iPhone 6 and its new foray into the Internet of Things, it's all coming up roses for the company. In this morning's statement it said it was entering the final quarter of 2015 "with strong royalty momentum, as indicated by industry and customer data, and a healthy licensing pipeline". Not bad.
What Arm said
Simon Segars, Arm's chief exec, said:
Arm technology is being deployed in an increasingly diverse range of products and markets, from the ubiquitous sensors that will form the Internet of Things, to energy-efficient smartphones, to high-performance servers. With the broadening adoption of Arm technology, we are continuing to invest in developing new products and revenue streams to support long-term growth and returns for shareholders.
In short
Things began to look shaky there, but the company's new foray into the Internet of Things market suggests any problems were, in all likelihood, temporary.