InterDigital Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
May 2, 2024

Key Takeaways

  • InterDigital reported $264 million in Q1 revenue, up 30% year-over-year and hitting an all-time high for its CE and IoT licensing program.
  • The company signed seven new license agreements in the quarter, including a landmark deal with Samsung TV—distinct from its smartphone license—to expand its video and Wi-Fi patent coverage.
  • German courts granted injunctions against Lenovo and OPPO for infringing InterDigital’s 4G/5G standard-essential patents, supporting enforcement efforts and prompting licensing negotiations with unlicensed OEMs.
  • InterDigital showcased its AI leadership in wireless and video—highlighted by 6G network demos, an IEEE AI committee appointment, and a 40% increase in EPO patent filings year-over-year.
  • The company generated $41 million in free cash flow in Q1, repurchased $29 million of shares, and reaffirmed its full-year 2024 guidance of $620–$670 million in revenue with ~50% EBITDA margins.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
InterDigital Q1 2024
00:00 / 00:00

There are 7 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the InterDigital First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question and answer Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Raefur Garrabrant, Head of Investor Relations.

Operator

Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Good morning to everyone and welcome to InterDigital's Q1 2024 earnings conference call. I am Raeford Garabrant, Head of Investor Relations for InterDigital. With me on today's call are Liren Chin, our President and CEO and Rich Breske, our CFO. Consistent with prior calls, we will offer some highlights about the quarter and the company and then open up the call for questions. For additional details, you can access our earnings release and slide presentation that accompany this call on our Investor Relations website.

Speaker 1

Before we begin our remarks, I need to remind you that in this call, we will make forward looking statements regarding our current beliefs, plans and expectations, which are not guarantees of future performance and are made only as of the date hereof. Forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from results and events contemplated by such forward looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include those described in the Risk Factors section of our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10 ks and in our other SEC filings. In addition, today's presentation may contain references to non GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of these non GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included in the supplemental materials posted to the Investor Relations section of our website.

Speaker 1

With that taken care of, I will turn the call over to Liren.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Richard. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. On our last call, we provided annual guidance for 2024 revenue of between $620,000,000 $670,000,000 This guidance highlights the increasing momentum of our business and the multiple growth opportunities that we have identified and expect to achieve through the rest of the year. Today, I'm pleased to share that we have made significant headwind in achieving our goal and reconfirm our 2024 annual guidance.

Speaker 2

Revenue for the Q1 were $264,000,000 up by 30% year over year and above the high end of our guidance. Our Q1 revenue was one of the highest in our history and an all time high for our CE and IoT licensing program. Through the quarter, we have made great progress on multiple fronts of our business. We signed 7 new license agreements. We enhanced our position as a leader in the application of AI in both wireless and video, and we received several positive court decisions, which we believe will help us to advance negotiations with certain unlicensed smartphone OEMs.

Speaker 2

We begin the quarter with a new landmark license with Samsung TV Business. The agreement covers patents and our joint licensing program with Sony and introduce our own patent across a range of video and Wi Fi technologies. Samsung is a market leader in TV and this agreement highlights both the value of video and Wi Fi innovation and the growth we continue to build in licensing the consumer electronics sector. I want to emphasize that this new agreement is separate to the Samsung smartphone license. We announced at the start of 2023 that Samsung and InderDigital has agreed to renew the license for their smart TV to our portfolio.

Speaker 2

The final term of the smartphone license include how much sense on mass payoffs are still the subject of an arbitration hearing, which is on track to be held this summer, with a final resolution expected by end of this year. The 7 new agreements that we signed in the Q1 reflect the momentum we continue to see across all our licensing programs and our strength in consumer electronics and IoT in particular. The revenue and recurring revenue in Q1 from our CE and IoT program were both record highs. With Samsung and other agreements that we closed in the quarter, we have increased the cumulative value of contracts that we have signed over the last 3 years to almost $2,700,000,000 giving us the incredible strong base from which to drive new long term agreements and pursue additional growth opportunities. Staying on license, we are making significant progress in our effort to ensure that we receive further compensation for our innovation from unlicensed smartphone OEMs.

Speaker 2

Earlier today, a German court issued a very positive decision for us in our dispute with Lenovo. The court ruled that Lenovo infringed one of our 4 gs and 5 gs standardization patents that InterDigital has acted in a frank manner that Lenovo is an unwavering licensee who engaged in holdout and should therefore be enjoying in the German market. The injunction means that Lenovo will be prohibited from selling 4 gs and 5 gs compatible devices in Germany. Also as part of our dispute with OPPO, a German court also ruled that OPPO infringed InterDigital's 4 gs and 5 gs standard issuance of patenting suit, that InterDigital has acted in a frank manner that OPPO is an on waiting licensee, the court also awarded injunction against OPPO. In India, in another trial against OPPO, we received yet another positive decision as OPPO was ordered to pay royalties in the form of a security deposit to the court.

Speaker 2

The Indian court also heavily criticized and fined OPO for stealing tactics during our negotiations and ordered as the trial be concluded before end of the year. We are encouraged by this recent development in our cases and we believe we have built significant momentum in our negotiations with both companies. As I have said many times before, we always prefer to sign a long term license through amicable negotiations, but we are ready to enforce our patent rights if necessary. Our strength as a fundamental innovator in critical technology technology continue to underpin our progress. Our research team has long been recognized as world leaders in the development of wireless and video technology and increasingly our leadership in AI is coming to the forefront.

Speaker 2

In Q1, one of our senior engineers was appointed to head the AI and Machine Learning Standing Committee of IEEE, the standard development organization which leads the evolution of WiFi. At this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, we showcased 2 demonstrations which had AI at their heart. 1 was in partnership with Keysight, which use a neural network developed by our engineers to demonstrate the application of AI in a 6 gs network and a second combined advanced video compression and AI to significantly reduce energy consumption of streaming video while preserving picture quality. Also at MWC, we demonstrated cutting edge immersive video and haptic technology in a specific use case of esports and showed our increasing leadership in integrated sensing and communication and emerging technology, which will be a pillar of 6 gs. Our research success continue to be reflected in the development of our global patent portfolio.

Speaker 2

Recently, we were confirmed among the top 25 companies globally that filed the most new patent applications with European Patent Office last year. Our number of new applications filed with the EPO increased by 40% year over year, in a clear indication of our success in translating our foundational innovation into patent assets. The strength of our innovation and patent footprint give us an excellent platform to drive further growth in our existing licensing program and in greenfield opportunity such as cloud based video services. And with our track record for delivering new license agreement with leading manufacturers such as Samsung, we believe we are in an excellent position to reach our financial target for the year. With that, I'll hand it over to Rich to talk you through the numbers in more details.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Liran. Q1 was another outstanding quarter for InterDigital as our strong revenue growth drove both non GAAP EPS and adjusted EBITDA to the high end of our guidance range. This growth was powered by new licensing agreements, most notably Samsung TV. These results support our long term objective of delivering consistent revenue growth combined with strong margins. Total revenue increased 30% year over year with CE and IoT leading the way.

Speaker 3

Based on new licensing agreements reached in Q1, recurring revenue for CE and IoT reached an annualized run rate of almost $90,000,000 an increase of 57% year over year and has roughly doubled over the last 2 years. When combined with catch up revenue of 160,000,000 dollars CE and IoT total revenue for the quarter reached an all time high at 183,000,000 dollars This performance highlights our ability to deliver significant growth beyond the smartphone market. Our adjusted EBITDA for the quarter of $130,000,000 equates to an adjusted EBITDA margin close to 50%, consistent with our guidance. These results demonstrate the power of our business model. Our investments in fundamental technologies drive top line growth, while the reuse of those technologies across multiple verticals delivers high margins and drives cash flow.

Speaker 3

Our strong performance in Q1 produced cash from operations of $51,000,000 and free cash flow of $41,000,000 This strong cash flow combined with a cash balance of nearly $1,000,000,000 supports our continued return of capital to shareholders. In Q1, we repurchased approximately 300,000 shares for $29,000,000 We repurchased another 200,000 shares in April for a year to date total of roughly 500,000 shares. Since we first paid our dividend in 2011, we have now returned approximately $1,800,000,000 to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. In that time, we reduced our outstanding share count by almost 45% from more than 45,000,000 shares to just over 25,000,000 shares. And with $246,000,000 left on the current buyback authorization, we're not done yet.

Speaker 3

Looking forward to Q2, we expect recurring revenue will include $93,000,000 to $97,000,000 of revenue from existing contracts, plus any amounts we recognize from any new agreements we may sign over the balance of the quarter. Based only on existing contracts, we expect an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 38% and non GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.70 to 0 point 8 Any additional agreements would be additive to those totals. Our strong first quarter results have us on track to meet our full year 2024 targets and we are reaffirming our prior guidance of revenue in the range of $620,000,000 to $670,000,000 We continue to expect an adjusted EBITDA margin of roughly 50% for the full year 2024 and non GAAP diluted earnings per share of $7.45 to $8.76 Before I conclude, I'd like to mention that we'll be attending 4 conferences over the remainder of the second quarter. The Bank of America Global Tech Conference in San Francisco on June 4th, the William Blair Growth Stock Conference in Chicago on June 4th, the IDEAS Investor Conference in New York on June 12th and the ROTH 10th Annual London Conference on June 26 27th. Please check with your representatives at those firms if you'd like to schedule a meeting.

Speaker 3

With that, I'll turn it back to Raiford.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Rich. At this point, operator, we are ready to take questions.

Operator

Thank Our first question comes from Arjun Bhatia of William Blair.

Speaker 4

All right. Thank you guys. Appreciate you taking the question. To start, Laren, maybe a couple of questions on the Samsung side, more on the smartphone side, not necessarily on the TV side. But as you think about just going through arbitration here over the summer and looking at a potential outcome later this year, how should we think about maybe the range of outcomes that you're considering that could result from that arbitration?

Speaker 4

I mean, is there a possibility that prices are going up and maybe how do you or your royalty rate is going up and how do you handicap that? And then for Rich, the same thing on the Samsung smartphone side, can you just remind us how you're accounting for the license revenue in the recurring line from Samsung thus far? And might that be something that's contributing to the decline in smartphone recurring revenue? Thank you.

Speaker 2

Hey, good morning, Arjun. Thanks for the question. So on the Samsung smartphone arbitration, as we have discussed in the prior call, Samsung has been a customer for the smartphone side for actually a long time, since 1995 and before they released the very first guidance system. The last contract was a 10 year agreement and which covered frankly the previous generation technology and not including very valuable assets like 5 gs and a lot of the advanced video technology we have done. So that agreement expired December 31, 2022 and both parties has agreed through negotiations that they will renew the agreement without disruption and that we frankly couldn't get a pricing agreed upon in time.

Speaker 2

So we both agreed to do a binding arbitration that started January 1, 2023 and we are frankly well into the process. The panel has been assembled and the hearing has been confirmed this summer and will be decided before end of the year as a current projection. So regarding valuation for multiple reasons, we feel very confident that the value of portfolio has gone up, that Samsung has benefited more through the years compared to the time of the last agreement. So that obviously we still need to have the arbitration to go through to confirm our belief and I'll hand it over to Rich to comment on the revenue recognition side.

Speaker 3

Yes. Thanks, Liran. Yes, on the rev rec, we've been recognizing since the Q1 of last year at level with the prior Samsung agreement, which is just shy of $80,000,000 a year. That's what we believe is a conservative estimate. We have effectively a license in place with Samsung and we're just estimating what the ultimate outcome will be on a conservative basis.

Speaker 3

But because of the conservative nature of the GAAP requirement, we're certainly hopeful that we'll have a positive true up when it's ultimately concluded. And as to the question on the decline in recurring revenue, I presume you mean 23% going into 24%.

Speaker 2

So based on

Speaker 3

what I just said, it's not because of Samsung, but rather expiration of other agreements, most notably Huawei, which expired the end of last year. And of course, we're working to Okay. Yes,

Speaker 4

perfect. All right. Thank you. One more, if I can. It was interesting to hear the injunctions against Lenovo and Oppo.

Speaker 4

And I'm curious in the past, Larry, to the extent you have experience with these injections, how do you think they or how have they maybe changed behavior of some of these manufacturers in the past? I mean, is it enough of an incentive to bring them to the negotiation table and say, hey, we want to strike a deal? Like how punitive can those injunctions be for these companies to get them to strike a deal with you?

Speaker 2

Yes. Hey, Arjun. As we announced in a separate press this morning, the court in Munich has issued a decision. In that decision, basically the court decided that InterDigital has consistently act in good faith under the final obligation at all times. The court also said Lenovo has systematically active in holdout and frankly is not in compliance of the final obligation.

Speaker 2

So as a result, the court has issued the injunction of a patent that's standard essential for both 4 gs and 5 gs. And unless if something happens, Lenovo will be prohibited from selling devices with those features in German market. Regarding how the company may behave, I don't want to speculate on Samsung Lenovo, how they will proceed from here. All I can say is Germany is obviously a very major market and this injunction applies to a pretty wide range of devices, IP, beyond just cell phones. So I hope with this decision that Lenovo will come back and frankly take a licensing under the plan and further terms from us and I'm definitely hopeful.

Speaker 4

All right, perfect. Appreciate the color. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. One moment for next question. And our next And our next question comes from Anja Soderstrom of Sidoti. Your line is open.

Speaker 5

Hi. Thank you for taking my question. Can you just you talked about this in the past, but maybe go over again the different opportunities you have to reach your guidance for 2024?

Speaker 2

Yes. Hey, good morning. This is Larry. So we have multiple passes on the smartphone side. Just for example, we have Oppo negotiation where Weibo, as Rich just mentioned here, Huawei has expired, which we are bringing renewal discussion with them.

Speaker 2

And then Lenovo was licensed through the UK court decision for the cellular side until end of last year. Now they are unlicensed as we announced this morning, we will see core injunctions and we hope to be able to frankly sign a long term agreement with them. So that's just on the smartphone side. On the CE side, as we mentioned in the prepared remarks, we signed with Samsung TV, which is the largest vendor in TV space. And we are working diligently on the next multiple layers of TV vendors include LG, TCL and Hisense.

Speaker 2

So on top of all the stuff here, we are also working on the Samsung arbitration and we expect that to be finished before the end of the year. And if we able to get a favorable judgment beyond the revenue recognition, there will be a positive to our parcel.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you. And in terms of Huawei, how constructive were those discussions given you fairly recently signed an agreement with them?

Speaker 2

Yes, our Huawei negotiation proceeding according to plan and our last agreement expires at the end of the year and frankly Huawei's business has gone through a certain amount of period of up and downs. So we are currently in negotiation with them and we are hopeful we'll get a long term deal done with them.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you. That was all for me.

Operator

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from Scott Searle of Roth MKM. Your line is open.

Speaker 6

MKM. Your line is open.

Speaker 3

Hey, good morning.

Speaker 5

Thanks for taking the questions.

Speaker 6

I apologize in advance. I was on the call late, so if you've already covered this. But Laren, in regard to the Lenovo injunction, what is the actual process and procedure there in terms of how that's going to be implemented? And are there additional costs associated with that? I believe that there is an appeal period from their standpoint.

Speaker 6

So could you walk us through the milestones, the timeline and the cost element?

Speaker 2

Yes. Hi, Scott. Good morning. So we have I'm not certain you were on the call when you are describing it earlier. So basically the court has decided that we have acted in fine manner consistently all the time.

Speaker 2

The Lenovo has systematic conduct a holdout and they are not in fine obligation and they are frankly awaiting licensee. As a result, the court has issued injunction against them that covers devices with 4 gs and 5 gs features built in. So there will be some procedure stuff which we are frankly working through and our intention is to enforce this in Jiangsu as quickly as we can. And you're also correct, this is a what they call first insulin decision, which is automatically appealable. So I don't want to speculate on Lenovo's legal strategy, but that's frankly up to them.

Speaker 6

Got you. And Liran, just to quickly follow-up on that front. This is in Germany. Will that extend to the rest of the EU or what is the plan there in terms of how you implement across the Pan European

Speaker 2

marketplace? Yes, Scott. This is a case that this is a German patent and it's a German court. So the decision will be limited to the German market. As you are aware, Scott, we do have other cases, including our case in ITC in U.

Speaker 2

S. Against them in different technology area. So, but this particular decision is Germany only.

Speaker 6

Got you. And 2 others if I could. Just the latest update in terms of video IPs licensing the streaming and services model. Are there any updated thoughts, timelines in terms of how that's evolving and the impact in 2024 and 2025?

Speaker 2

Yes. Hey, Scott. We do view the video cloud service licensing as a very, very good Greenfield opportunity. We are proceeding according to plan, which we believe have very valuable IP assets and frankly very strong technology leadership. Regarding our direct financial impact, as of now we are not projecting material impact to 2024 and if we have more update we will share with you timely.

Speaker 6

Got you. And lastly if I could, you've maintained the guidance range for the year of 620 to 670. I'm wondering if some things have kind of moved around in terms of higher probability versus lower probability. I'm not sure if you can address it, but just kind of I know there are multiple paths to get to that range, if there are certain things that have materialized and become a little bit more confident about. Thanks.

Speaker 2

Yes. Hey, Scott. As I said in my prepared remarks, when we issue the guidance beginning of the year, we feel very strongly that our business momentum has increased and we have identified multiple paths to recent results. And now we have delivered a resounding strong quarter in Q1 for both the top line as well as adjusted EBITDA and EPS. And especially in the record frequency and our key space.

Speaker 2

So we feel very good about where we are and we are on track to deliver the result. And as of now, we are not trying to predict the rest of the quarter and we other than we feel very confident about it delivered for the year. Great. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes the question and answer session. At this time, I'd like to turn it back to Liren Chen for closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you, operator. Before we close, I'd like to thank all our employees for their dedication and contribution to InterDigital, as well as our many partners and licensee for an outstanding start to 2024. Thanks to everyone who joined our call today, and we look forward to updating you in our progress next quarter.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating and you may now disconnect.

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