Mellanox® Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter and full year 2017 ended December 31, 2017.

“We are pleased to achieve record quarterly and full year revenues,” said Eyal Waldman, President and CEO of Mellanox Technologies. “2017 represented a year of investment and product transitions for Mellanox. Fourth quarter Ethernet revenues increased 11 percent sequentially, due to expanding customer adoption of our 25 gigabit per second and above Ethernet products across all geographies. We are encouraged by the acceleration of our 25 gigabit per second and above Ethernet switch business, which grew 41 percent sequentially, with broad based growth across OEM, hyperscale, tier-2, cloud, financial services and channel customers. During the fourth quarter, InfiniBand revenues grew 2 percent sequentially, driven by growth from our high-performance computing and artificial intelligence customers. For the full fiscal 2017, our revenues from the high performance computing market grew 13 percent year over year. Our 2017 results demonstrate the successful execution of our multi-year revenue diversification strategy, and our leadership position in 25 gigabit per second and above Ethernet adapters.”

Fourth Quarter 2017 - Highlights

  • Revenues were $237.6 million in the fourth quarter, and $863.9 million in fiscal year 2017.
  • GAAP gross margins were 64.1 percent in the fourth quarter, and 65.2 percent in fiscal year 2017.
  • Non-GAAP gross margins were 68.8 percent in the fourth quarter, and 70.4 percent in fiscal year 2017.
  • GAAP operating loss was $(6.7) million, or (2.8) percent of revenue, in the fourth quarter, and was $(17.1) million, or (2.0) percent of revenue, in fiscal year 2017.
  • Non-GAAP operating income was $38.0 million, or 16.0 percent of revenue, in the fourth quarter, and $118.7 million, or 13.7 percent of revenue, in fiscal year 2017.
  • GAAP net loss was $(2.6) million in the fourth quarter, and was $(19.4) million in fiscal year 2017.
  • Non-GAAP net income was $42.9 million in the fourth quarter, and $116.6 million in fiscal year 2017.
  • GAAP net loss per diluted share was $(0.05) in the fourth quarter, and $(0.39) in fiscal year 2017.
  • Non-GAAP net income per diluted share was $0.82 in the fourth quarter, and $2.28 in fiscal year 2017.
  • $66.9 million in cash was provided by operating activities during the fourth quarter.
  • $161.3 million in cash was provided by operating activities during fiscal year 2017.
  • Cash and investments totaled $273.8 million at December 31, 2017.

Mr. Waldman continued, “As we enter 2018, we expect to build on our momentum in Ethernet and InfiniBand. With the recent release of our BlueField system-on-chip, and the future introduction of our 200 gigabit per second InfiniBand and Ethernet products, Mellanox is well positioned to begin reaping the benefits from prior investments. Looking ahead, we anticipate seeing acceleration of revenue growth, while delivering on our commitment to more efficiently manage costs and achieve fiscal 2018 non-GAAP operating margins of 18 to 19 percent. We continue to drive improvements in profitability and identify further efficiencies that can be realized as our prior investments begin to yield positive results and we transition towards new product introductions in 2018 and beyond.”

First Quarter 2018 Outlook

We currently project:

  • Quarterly revenues of $222 million to $232 million
  • Non-GAAP gross margins of 68.5 percent to 69.5 percent
  • Non-GAAP operating expenses of $120 million to $122 million
  • Share-based compensation expense of $16.3 million to $16.8 million
  • Non-GAAP diluted share count of 52.4 million to 52.9 million

Full Year 2018 Outlook

We currently project:

  • Revenues of $970 million to $990 million
  • Non-GAAP gross margins of 68.0 percent to 69.0 percent
  • Non-GAAP operating margin of 18.0 percent to 19.0 percent
  • Non-GAAP operating margin of more than 20.0 percent exiting 2018

Recent Mellanox Press Release Highlights

•     January 16, 2018     Mellanox ConnectX®-5 Ethernet Adapter Wins Linley Group Analyst Choice Award for Best Networking Chip
 
• January 9, 2018 Mellanox Discontinuing 1550nm Silicon Photonics Development Activities
 
• January 4, 2018 Mellanox Ships BlueField™ System-on-Chip Platforms and SmartNIC Adapters to Leading OEMs and Hyperscale Customers
 
• December 18, 2017 Meituan.com Selects Mellanox Interconnect Solutions to Accelerate its Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Cloud Data Centers
 
• December 12, 2017 Mellanox Interconnect Solutions Accelerate Tencent Cloud High-Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure
 
• December 4, 2017 Mellanox and NEC Partner to Deliver Innovative High-Performance and Artificial Intelligence Platforms
 
• November 14, 2017 Mellanox Propels NetApp to New Heights with 100Gb/s InfiniBand Connectivity
 
• November 13, 2017 Deployment Collaboration with Lenovo will Power Canada’s Largest Supercomputer Centre with Leading Performance, Scalability for High Performance Computing Applications
 
• November 13, 2017 Mellanox InfiniBand Solutions to Accelerate the World’s Next Fastest Supercomputers
 
• November 13, 2017 Mellanox InfiniBand to Accelerate Japan's Fastest Supercomputer for Artificial Intelligence Applications
 
• November 13, 2017 InfiniBand Accelerates 77 Percent of New High-Performance Computing Systems on TOP500 Supercomputer List
 

Conference Call

Mellanox will hold its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2017 financial results conference call today, at 2 p.m. Pacific Time, to discuss the company’s financial results. To listen to the call, dial 1-800-459-5343, or for investors outside the U.S., +1-203-518-9553, approximately 10 minutes prior to the start time.

The Mellanox financial results conference call will be available via live webcast on the investor relations section of the Mellanox website at: http://ir.mellanox.com. Access the webcast 15 minutes prior to the start of the call to download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the webcast will also be available on the Mellanox website.

About Mellanox

Mellanox Technologies is a leading supplier of end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet interconnect solutions and services for servers and storage. Mellanox interconnect solutions increase data center efficiency by providing the highest throughput and lowest latency, delivering data faster to applications and unlocking system performance capability. Mellanox offers a choice of fast interconnect products: adapters, switches, software, cables and silicon that accelerate application runtime and maximize business results for a wide range of markets including high-performance computing, enterprise data centers, Web 2.0, cloud, storage and financial services. More information is available at: www.mellanox.com.

GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliation

To supplement our consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Mellanox uses non-GAAP measures of net income which are adjusted from results based on GAAP to exclude share-based compensation expense, amortization expense of acquired intangible assets, acquisition and other charges, settlement costs, restructuring and related charges, and income tax effects and adjustments. Acquisition and other charges include expenses related to acquisitions of other companies and non-routine shareholder matters. Restructuring and related charges include costs that are the result of restructuring, consisting of employee termination and severance costs, facilities related costs, contract cancellation charges, and impairment of long-lived assets. The purpose of income tax effects and adjustments is to exclude tax consequences associated with the above excluded expenses items, as well as the non-cash impact on the tax provision pertaining to changes in deferred tax assets associated with carryforward losses of group entities subject to tax holiday in Israel. The company believes the non-GAAP results provide useful information to both management and investors, as these non-GAAP results exclude expenses that are not indicative of our core operating results. Management believes it is useful to exclude share-based compensation expense, amortization expense of acquired intangible assets, acquisition and other charges, settlement costs, restructuring and related charges, and income tax effects and adjustments because it enhances investors' ability to understand our business from the same perspective as management, which believes that such items are not directly attributable to nor reflect the underlying performance of the company's business operations. Further, management believes certain non-cash charges such as share-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangible assets, impairment of long-lived assets, changes related to recognition of deferred taxes and the net impact on the company's tax provision for non-GAAP adjustments do not reflect the cash operating results of the business. These measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. These non-GAAP measures may be different than the non-GAAP measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP condensed consolidated statements of operations is also presented in the financial statements portion of this release and is posted under the "Investor Relations" section on our website.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, including the outlook for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and full fiscal 2018, statements related to trends in the market for our solutions and services, opportunities for our company in 2018 and beyond, and future product capabilities. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management's beliefs and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change.

Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "projects," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "would," "could," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," similar expressions and variations or negatives of these words. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include the continued expansion of our product line, customer base and the total available market of our products, the continued growth in demand for our products, the continued, increased demand for industry standards-based technology, our ability to react to trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate, our ability to anticipate market needs or develop new or enhanced products to meet those needs, the adoption rate of our products, our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with our OEM partners, our ability to effectively compete in our industry, fluctuations in demand, sales cycles and prices for our products and services, our success converting design wins to revenue-generating product shipments, the continued launch and volume ramp of large customer sales opportunities, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, our ability to successfully acquire businesses and technologies and to successfully integrate and operate these acquired businesses, our success in realizing the anticipated benefits of mergers and acquisitions, and our ability to obtain debt at competitive rates or in sufficient amounts in order to fund our contractual commitments. Furthermore, the majority of our quarterly revenues are derived from customer orders received and fulfilled in the same quarterly period. We have limited visibility into actual end-user demand as such demand impacts us and our OEM customer inventory balances in any given quarter. Consequently, this introduces risk and uncertainty into our revenue and production forecasts and business planning and could negatively impact our financial results. In addition, current uncertainty in the global economic environment poses a risk to the overall economy as businesses may defer purchases in response to tighter credit conditions, changing overall demand for our products, and negative financial news. Consequently, our results could differ materially from our prior results due to these general economic and market conditions, political events and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

More information about the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may impact our business is set forth in our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 17, 2017. All forward-looking statements in this press release, including the outlook for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and full fiscal 2018, are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Mellanox is a registered trademark of Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

 
Mellanox Technologies, Ltd.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in thousands, except per share data, unaudited)
       
Three Months Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
2017 2016 2017 2016
Total revenues 237,581 221,676 $ 863,893 $ 857,498
Cost of revenues 85,238   73,507   300,450   301,986  
Gross profit 152,343   148,169   563,443   555,512  
Operating expenses:
Research and development 94,123 85,651 365,878 322,620
Sales and marketing 38,761 35,568 150,457 133,780
General and administrative 14,136 13,589 52,170 68,522
Impairment of long-lived assets 12,019   —   12,019   —  
Total operating expenses 159,039   134,808   580,524   524,922  
Income (loss) from operations (6,696 ) 13,361 (17,081 ) 30,590
Interest expense (1,932 ) (1,944 ) (7,937 ) (7,352 )
Other income, net 649   108   3,115   1,090  
Interest and other, net (1,283 ) (1,836 ) (4,822 ) (6,262 )
Income (loss) before taxes on income (7,979 ) 11,525 (21,903 ) 24,328
Provision for (benefit from) taxes on income (5,386 ) 2,530   (2,478 ) 5,810  
Net income (loss) (2,593 ) 8,995   $ (19,425 ) $ 18,518  
Net income (loss) per share — basic (0.05 ) 0.18   $ (0.39 ) $ 0.38  
Net income (loss) per share — diluted (0.05 ) 0.18   $ (0.39 ) $ 0.37  
Shares used in computing net income (loss) per share:
Basic 51,234 48,926 50,310 48,145
Diluted 51,234 49,971 50,310 49,526
 
 
Mellanox Technologies, Ltd.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Adjustments
(in thousands, except percentages, unaudited)
       
Three Months Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
2017 2016 2017 2016

Reconciliation of GAAP net income (loss) to non-GAAP:

GAAP net income (loss) $ (2,593 ) $ 8,995 $ (19,425 ) $ 18,518
Adjustments:
Share-based compensation expense:
Cost of revenues 470 602 2,000 2,375
Research and development 10,479 10,156 40,278 40,474
Sales and marketing 4,009 3,809 15,693 15,183
General and administrative 2,913   2,615   10,893   13,086  
Total share-based compensation expense 17,871 17,182 68,864 71,118
Amortization of acquired intangibles:
Cost of revenues 10,641 10,640 42,482 48,119
Research and development 196 196 779 781
Sales and marketing 2,230   2,230   8,919   7,713  
Total amortization of acquired intangibles 13,067 13,066 52,180 56,613
Settlement costs:
General and administrative —   (125 ) —   4,981  
Total settlement costs — (125 ) — 4,981
Acquisition and other charges
Cost of revenues — — — 8,261
Research and development 193 787 734 1,834
Sales and marketing 48 — 141 206
General and administrative 1,507   97   1,794   6,844  
Total acquisition and other charges 1,748 884 2,669 17,145
Restructuring and related charges 12,019 — 12,019 —
Income tax effects and adjustments 799   1,294   250   1,086  
Non-GAAP net income $ 42,911   $ 41,296   $ 116,557   $ 169,461  
 

Reconciliation of GAAP gross profit to non-GAAP:

Revenues $ 237,581 $ 221,676 $ 863,893 $ 857,498
GAAP gross profit 152,343 148,169 563,443 555,512
GAAP gross margin 64.1 % 66.8 % 65.2 % 64.8 %
Share-based compensation expense 470 602 2,000 2,375
Amortization of acquired intangibles 10,641 10,640 42,482 48,119
Acquisition and other charges —   —   —   8,261  
Non-GAAP gross profit $ 163,454   $ 159,411   $ 607,925   $ 614,267  
Non-GAAP gross margin 68.8 % 71.9 % 70.4 % 71.6 %
 

Reconciliation of GAAP operating expenses to non-GAAP:

GAAP operating expenses $ 159,039 $ 134,808 $ 580,524 $ 524,922
Share-based compensation expense (17,401 ) (16,580 ) (66,864 ) (68,743 )
Amortization of acquired intangibles (2,426 ) (2,426 ) (9,698 ) (8,494 )
Settlement costs — 125 — (4,981 )
Acquisition and other charges (1,748 ) (884 ) (2,669 ) (8,884 )
Restructuring and related charges (12,019 ) —   (12,019 ) —  

Non-GAAP operating expenses

 $ 125,445   $ 115,043   $ 489,274   $ 433,820  
 
 
Mellanox Technologies, Ltd.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Adjustments
(in thousands, except per share data, unaudited)
       
 
Three Months Ended Year Ended
December 31, December 31,
2017 2016 2017 2016

Reconciliation of GAAP income (loss) from operations to non-GAAP:

GAAP income (loss) from operations $ (6,696 ) $ 13,361 $ (17,081 ) $ 30,590
Share-based compensation expense 17,871 17,182 68,864 71,118
Settlement costs — (125 ) — 4,981
Amortization of acquired intangibles 13,067 13,066 52,180 56,613
Acquisition and other charges 1,748 884 2,669 17,145
Restructuring and related charges 12,019   —   12,019   —  
Non-GAAP income from operations $ 38,009   $ 44,368   $ 118,651   $ 180,447  
Non-GAAP income from operations % 16.0 % 20.0 % 13.7 % 21.0 %
 

Shares used in computing GAAP diluted net income (loss) per share

 51,234 49,971 50,310 49,526
Adjustments:
Effect of dilutive securities under GAAP — (1,045 ) — (1,381 )
Total options vested and exercisable 835   1,217   835   1,217  
Shares used in computing non-GAAP diluted net income per share 52,069   50,143   51,145   49,362  
 

GAAP diluted net income (loss) per share

 $ (0.05 ) $ 0.18 $ (0.39 ) $ 0.37
Adjustments:
Share-based compensation expense 0.34 0.33 1.38 1.44
Amortization of acquired intangibles 0.26 0.26 1.04 1.14
Settlement costs — — — 0.10
Restructuring and related charges 0.23 — 0.24 —
Acquisition and other charges 0.03 0.02 0.05 0.34
Income tax effects and adjustments 0.02 0.03 — 0.02
Effect of dilutive securities under GAAP — 0.02 — 0.10
Total options vested and exercisable (0.01 ) (0.02 ) (0.04 ) (0.08 )
Non-GAAP diluted net income per share $ 0.82   $ 0.82   $ 2.28   $ 3.43  
 
   

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, unaudited)

 
December 31, December 31,
2017 2016
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 62,473 $ 56,780
Short-term investments 211,281 271,661
Accounts receivable, net 154,213 141,768
Inventories 64,657 65,523
Other current assets 14,295   17,346  
Total current assets 506,919 553,078
Property and equipment, net 109,919 118,585
Severance assets 18,302 15,870
Intangible assets, net 228,195 278,031
Goodwill 472,437 471,228
Deferred taxes and other long-term assets 66,162   36,713  
Total assets $ 1,401,934   $ 1,473,505  
 
LIABILIITES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable $ 59,090 $ 59,533
Accrued liabilities 114,058 105,042
Deferred revenue 23,485 24,364
Current portion of term debt —   23,628  
Total current liabilities 196,633 212,567
Accrued severance 23,205 19,874
Deferred revenue 17,820 15,968
Term debt 72,761 218,786
Other long-term liabilities 34,067   30,580  
Total liabilities 344,486   497,775  
 
Shareholders' equity:
Ordinary shares 221 209
Additional paid-in capital 873,979 774,605
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) 1,618 (928 )
Retained earnings 181,630   201,844  
Total shareholders’ equity 1,057,448   975,730  
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $ 1,401,934   $ 1,473,505  
 
 

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd.

Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

(in thousands, unaudited)

 
Year ended December 31,
2017   2016
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income (loss) $ (19,425 ) $ 18,518
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization 103,821 97,731
Deferred income taxes (2,150 ) 809
Share-based compensation 68,864 66,309
(Gains) on short-term investments, net (3,460 ) (1,774 )
Impairment of long-lived assets 12,019 —
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions:
Accounts receivable, net (12,175 ) (41,331 )
Inventories (887 ) 8,263
Prepaid expenses and other assets (681 ) 6,948
Accounts payable 170 13,330
Accrued liabilities and other liabilities 15,216   27,261  
Net cash provided by operating activities 161,312   196,064  
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of severance-related insurance policies (1,312 ) (1,172 )
Purchase of short-term investments (188,745 ) (300,858 )
Proceeds from sales of short-term investments 193,082 237,764
Proceeds from maturities of short-term investments 59,129 149,725
Purchase of property and equipment (41,376 ) (42,976 )
Purchase of intangible assets (2,843 ) (7,962 )
Purchase of investments in privately-held companies (15,021 ) (4,982 )
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (872 ) (693,692 )
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities 2,042   (664,153 )
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from term debt — 280,000
Principal payments on term debt (172,000 ) (34,000 )
Term debt issuance costs — (5,521 )
Principal payments on capital lease and intangible assets obligations (7,369 ) (1,364 )
Proceeds from issuances of ordinary shares through employee equity incentive plans 29,733   22,555  
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (149,636 ) 261,670  
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 13,718 (206,419 )
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period 56,780   263,199  
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period $ 70,498   $ 56,780