Himax Technologies Q1 2026 Earnings Report

Himax Technologies EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.05
• Consensus EPS: $0.03
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.02
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.11

Himax Technologies Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $199.01 million
• Expected Revenue: $195.01 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$4.01 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: -7.50%

Himax Technologies Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 2026
• Date: 5/7/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, May 7, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 8:00AM ET

Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) (NASDAQ: HIMX) is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in display imaging technologies. The company designs and develops a comprehensive portfolio of display driver integrated circuits (DDICs), timing controllers, and other high-speed interface chips that enable high-resolution panels for a wide array of electronic devices. Himax’s solutions are tailored to support both LCD and OLED displays, ensuring compatibility with television sets, desktop monitors, laptops, tablets, smartphones and wearable devices.

In addition to core display driver products, Himax offers wafer-level optics and liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) microdisplay solutions for applications in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets. The company also provides CMOS image sensors, touch controller ICs and system-on-chip (SoC) products that address growing automotive, industrial, digital signage and Internet of Things (IoT) markets. Its technology emphasizes low power consumption, high performance and miniaturization to meet the demands of next-generation display and sensing applications.

Founded in 2001 by Dr. Biing-Jiang “Bob” Lu, Himax began as an innovator in display driver technology and has since expanded its research and development efforts globally. The company conducted its initial public offering on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2006. Himax maintains headquarters in Taichung, Taiwan, and operates design and sales offices across North America, Europe and Asia, including key locations in the United States, China, Korea, Japan and India.

Under the leadership of founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lu, Himax continues to invest in advanced process nodes and emerging display technologies. Through strategic partnerships with display panel manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), the company seeks to drive innovation in ultra-thin, high-definition and energy-efficient display solutions for consumer electronics, automotive cockpit displays and immersive AR/VR systems.

Himax Technologies Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat guidance with $199.0M revenue, a 30.4% gross margin and $0.046 per ADS diluted profit, all at or above the high end of prior guidance.
• Positive Sentiment: Management guided Q2 revenue to rise 10%–13% sequentially with gross margin around ~32% and EPS of $0.086–$0.103 per ADS, signalling a planned recovery from the Q1 trough.
• Positive Sentiment: Himax highlights a deep automotive pipeline — "hundreds" of design wins across DDIC, TDDI and T‑Con — and expects automotive content and sequential vehicle-related sales to ramp through H2 2026, aiming to outperform the broader auto market.
• Neutral Sentiment: CPO progress with partner FOCI: Gen1/Gen2 products are in validation with small shipments expected H2 2026 and a target volume ramp in 2027; Himax holds a 5.36% stake in FOCI
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged cost pressure from memory-driven foundry/pack/test tightness and rising gold prices, and is negotiating customer price increases — a headwind that could strain margins if cost inflation persists.

[Operator]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Himax Technologies Incorporation first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will follow at that time. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ms. Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR in Himax. Ms. Tiao, please go ahead.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Welcome, everyone. My name is Karen Tiao, Head of IR/PR at Himax. Joining me today are Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Jessica Pan, Chief Financial Officer. After the company's prepared comments, we have allocated time for questions in a Q&A section. If you have not yet received a copy of today's result release, please email hx_ir@himax.com.tw or HIMX@mzgroup.us or download a copy from Himax website.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Before we begin the formal remarks, I would like to remind everyone that some of the statements in this conference call, including the statement regarding the expected future financial results and industry growth, are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in the conference call.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

A list of risk factors can be found in the company's latest SEC filing, Form 20-F, in the section titled Risk Factors, as it may be amended. Except for the company's full-year 2025 financials, which were provided in the company's 20-F on file with the SEC on March 27, 2026. The financial information included in this conference call is unaudited and consolidated and prepared in accordance with IFRS accounting. Such financial information is generally internally and has not been subjected to the same review as scrutiny and may vary materially from the audited consolidated financial information for the same period.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

On today's call, I will first review the Himax consolidated financial performance for the first quarter 2026, followed by our second quarter outlook. Jordan will then give an update on the status of our business, and after which we will take questions. If it.. You can submit your questions online through the webcast or by phone. We will review our financials on an IFRS basis.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Despite the typical seasonal slowdown during the Lunar New Year holidays, we are pleased to report that our Q1 profit exceeded the guidance range announced on February 10, 12, 2026, while both revenue and gross margin were at the high end of the projected range. This quarter revenues registered $199.0 million, representing a slight sequential decline of 2.0% and reaching the high end of our guidance range of a decline of 2.6%-6.0%. Gross margin was 30.4%, also at the high end of our guidance of flat to slightly down from 30.4% in the previous quarter.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Q1 profit per diluted ADS was $0.046, exceeding the guidance range of $0.020-$0.040. Revenue from large display drivers standing at $24.2 million, representing an increase of 11.7% from the previous quarter's outperforming our guidance range of a single-digit increase sequentially. This was primarily driven by the better-than-expected restocking of high-end TV ICs by a leading panel maker.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Sales of large panel driver IC accounted for 12.2% of total revenues for the quarter, compared to 10.7% last quarter and 11.6% a year ago. Revenue from the small and medium-sized display driver segment totaled $135.8 million, reflecting slight decline of 2.4% sequentially amid a typical low season. In line with guidance, Q1 automotive driver sales, including both traditional DDIC and TDDI, declined double digits sequentially, reflecting Lunar New Year seasonality, customers' inventory control following two consecutive quarters of restocking, and the tapering of the automotive subsidy programs in major markets, including China and the U.S.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

In contrast, revenue for smartphone, covering both LCD and OLED products, increased sequentially, primarily due to the new OLED solution that began mass production with the top-tier panel maker for a leading smartphone brand's mainstream model. Q1 tablet IC sales also increased sequentially, driven by renewed demand for mainstream models from leading customers following several quarters of softness, as well as the commencement of IC shipments to a customer's new premium OLED tablet. The small and medium-sized driver IC segment accounted for 68.2% of total sales for the quarter, compared to the 68.5% in the previous quarter and 30.0% a year ago.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Q1 non-driver sales reached $39.0 million, a 7.7% decrease from the previous quarter, reflecting a decline in ASIC TCON shipments to a leading projector customer, along with the moderation in automotive TCON shipments following several quarters of solid growth. However, underlying demand for automotive TCON business remained robust, supported by a strong pipeline of hundreds of design win projects poised to enter mass production in the coming quarters. Non-driver products accounted for 19.6% of total revenue as compared to the 20.8% in the previous quarter and 18.4% a year ago.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Third quarter operating expenses were $15.3 million, a decrease of 8.4% from the previous quarter, but an increase of 9.9% compared to the same period last year. Both the quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year changes were primarily driven by differences in stock-based compensation expenses, reflecting the timing of major project take-ups.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

The year-over-year increase was also attributable to several expenses and the appreciation of the NT dollar against the U.S. dollar, against the U.S. dollar. Against the backdrop of ongoing macroeconomic challenges, we continue to maintain strict cost and expense discipline while strategically investing in selected non-driver IC areas with compelling growth potential, some of which are poised to ramp by meaningfully starting in 2027.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Third quarter operating profit was $10.2 million, representing an operating margin of 5.1% compared to 3.4% in previous quarters and 9.2% for the same period last year. The sequential increase was the result of the lower operating expenses. The year-over-year decline reflected the lower sales and gross margin, coupled with higher operating expenses. Third quarter after-tax profit was $8.0 million or $0.046 per diluted ADS, compared to $6.3 million or $0.036 per diluted ADS last quarter and down from $20.0 million or $0.114 in the same period last year.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Turning to our balance sheet. We had $287.6 million of cash equivalents and other financial assets as of March 31st, 2026. This compares to $281.0 million at the same time last year and $286.2 million a year ago. As of March 31st, 2026, we had $27.0 million in long-term unsecured loans with $6.0 million being the current portion. Our quarter-end inventory as of the March 31st, 2026, were $151.7 million, slightly lower than $152.7 million last quarter, but higher than $122.9 million the same period last year. Having maintained lean inventory levels in prior years, we made a strategic decision about a year ago to selectively loosen inventory control in response to an industry-wide shift to a tight supply.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Accounts receivable at the end of March 2026 was $190.9 million, down from $200.9 million last quarter and $217.5 million a year ago. DSO was 86 days at the quarter end as compared to 88 days last quarter and 91 days a year ago. First quarter capital expenditure was $2.9 million versus $4.0 million last quarter and $5.2 million a year ago. First quarter CapEx was mainly for R&D related equipment for our IC design business.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Prior to today's call, we announced an annual cash dividend of $0.252 per ADS, totaling $44 million and payable on July 10, 2026, with a payout ratio of 100% of the previous year's profit. The high payout ratio reflects our healthy balance sheet and positive outlook for cash flow generation over the next few years. For business area where we have in-house manufacturing capacity, such as WLO and LCoS, existing capacity is in place to support the strong growth anticipated for the next few years.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Himax will continue to focus on maintaining a healthy balance sheet and driving sustainable long-term growth while delivering shareholder value through high dividends and share repurchases. As of March 31st, 2026, Himax had 174.4 million ADS outstanding, unchanged from last quarter. On a fully diluted basis, the total number of ADS outstanding for Q1 was 174.4 million.

[Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Turning to our second quarter 2026 guidance. We expect Q2 revenue to increase to 10.0%-13.0% sequentially. Gross margin expected to be around 32%, mainly reflecting a more saleable product mix with increased sales from higher margin non-driver products and reduced sales from the lower margin products. Q2 profit attributable to shareholder is estimated to be in the range of $0.086-$0.103 per fully diluted ADS. I will now turn the call over to Jordan to discuss our Q2 outlook. Jordan, the floor is yours.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Thank you, Karen. The rapid rise in AI demand is placing unprecedented strain on memory chip supply, impacting many non-AI applications. This, in turn, has led to capacity tightness across foundry, packaging, and testing in mature process nodes where we are anchored, putting upward pressure on our cost structure. Rising gold prices have further compounded these cost pressures. With cost pressure expected to persist, we are actively working with customers on pricing adjustments to share rising costs, with some price increases already taking effect in Q2. Market conditions remain dynamic, compounded by ongoing geopolitical tensions, and the market visibility remains limited on both consumer electronics and automotive for the second half of the year.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

That said, as indicated in our last earnings call, the first quarter marked the trough with the second quarter recovery tracking as anticipated, primarily triggered by customer inventory restocking. We expect upward momentum through the remainder of 2026, supported by a meaningful number of new automotive projects scheduled to enter mass production in the second half. A view consistent with our outlook from last quarter's call. The positive outlook is also supported by the anticipated growth in our non-driver IC businesses, particularly TCON and WiseEye AI.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

In our display IC business for automotive, we remain confident in our long-term growth prospects, as automotive is an area relatively insulated from memory price impact compared to consumer electronics products such as smartphone and notebook. The long-term positive outlook is underpinned by our leading technology portfolio, broad and diversified customer base, strong design win pipeline across DDIC and TDDI, and substantial lead over competitors.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Our display IC portfolio spans a comprehensive range of solutions which enable novel and stylish automotive displays. Such technologies include automotive TCON with advanced local dimming functionality, LTDI for ultra-large displays, advanced TCON solutions for state-of-the-art head-up displays, as well as automotive OLED and Micro LED technologies. Customer adoption of these advanced display technologies continues to accelerate across new vehicle models, driving higher content value per vehicle for us and creating new growth momentum for Himax's automotive display IC business in the years ahead.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Despite ongoing macro uncertainty, Himax continues to expand beyond its traditional display IC business, focusing on key growth areas, including smart glasses, ultra-low power AI, and CPO. These emerging technologies present significant growth opportunities that help diversify our revenue base into areas with attractive gross margin profiles and profitability, while also strengthening our overall competitiveness.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Starting with smart glasses, a key strategic focus area we are quite optimistic about. Himax is uniquely positioned as one of the few companies with both ultra-low power AI capabilities and microdisplay, both critical for smart glasses. WiseEye provides ultra-low power always-on AI sensing capabilities, targeting a broad range of smart glasses. While our LCoS microdisplay solutions enable display functionality critical for AR glasses with see-through displays. We are pleased to share that a leading brand has adopted our WiseEye for its smart glasses with mass production expected later this year, and additional prominent brands are expected to follow.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

In microdisplays for AR glasses, built on the debut of our proprietary Front-lit LCoS microdisplay at Display Week last year. Himax returned to Display Week 2026 with a new generation upgrade that significantly enhances contrast, dynamic range, and optical efficiency. These advances, driven by Himax's proprietary technologies, deliver a substantial increase in contrast performance or effectively eliminating the postcard effect commonly seen for microdisplays in dark environments.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Himax's Front-lit LCoS solution offers an optimal balance among weight, size, resolution, image quality, power consumption, and cost, positioning it as a competitive choice for AR glasses. For both WiseEye and LCoS microdisplay, supported by expanded customer engagements across technology heavyweights and small and smart glasses specialists globally. We are increasingly optimistic about the new space, even compared to just a few quarters ago. We expect revenues from AI and AR glasses applications to grow substantially over the next few years.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

I would like to provide a brief update on our progress in CPO. Together with FOCI, our strategic partner, we continue to make steady progress on both the Gen 1 and Gen 2 products as planned. Our Gen 1 solution supporting 1.6T and 3.2T transmission bandwidth is now ready with small quantity shipments expected to commence in the second half of this year. Meanwhile, our Gen 2 solution targeting 6.4T bandwidth with significant volume potential is nearing completion of customer product validation for AI data center applications.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Building on this momentum, our main goal for 2026 is to achieve mass production readiness with only limited shipments expected during the year, followed by an accelerated volume ramp starting 2027. At the same time, in close partnership with FOCI, we continue to advance a multiple future generation high-speed data offload transmission technologies and CPO architectures in collaboration with leading global customers and partners, focusing on higher fiber channels, more advanced optical designs, and enhanced optical precision to meet the explosive bandwidth demands of the HPC and AI data center applications. In early March, FOCI completed a NTD 3.16 billion rights issue to support R&D equipment purchases and preparations for CPO mass production.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Himax, for early shareholders through two earliest tranches of our share offerings in 2023 and 2024, participated in the rights issue, which not only demonstrates our continuing support for our partner and further strengthens collaboration between the two companies, also underscores that advancing CPO technology requires highly integrated efforts through close cooperation and joint development. With an average acquisition cost of NTD 420.6 per share. Our equity stake representing 5.36% of FOCI now totals NTD 4.96 billion or $156 million as of May 7th, when the market closed at NTD 815 per share.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

As a reminder, our FOCI investment has been booked as a so-called financial asset measured at fair value through other comprehensive income on the balance sheet since day one of our investment. As such, based on accounting rules, FOCI's share price fluctuations are recognized in our books as so-called accumulated other comprehensive income. A balance sheet item under owner's equity and do not affect our profit and loss. Likewise, upon disposal, any resulting gain or loss will be recognized only on the balance sheet through change of retained earnings and again, will have no impact on the profit and loss. This accounting treatment we chose underscores our long-term commitment to the FOCI investment. We expect CPO to become a major revenue and profit contributor in the years ahead. With that, I will now begin with an update on the large panel driver IC business.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

In Q2, large display driver IC sales are expected to decrease by high teens quarter-over-quarter, attributable to customers pulling forward their inventory purchases for TV applications in prior quarters. In contrast, both monitor and notebook IC products are poised for sequential increases due to higher legacy product shipments to key customers.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Looking ahead to the notebook market, our focus is on premium models featuring OLED displays and LCD displays with touch functionality. We offer a full spectrum of IC solutions for both LCD and OLED notebooks, including DDIC, TCON, touch controller, and TDDI, enabling us to provide customers with a comprehensive one-stop solution while increasing our content per device. We continue to see strong design momentum, particularly in OLED for notebooks, where rising memory prices are depressing lower-end demand and accelerating the shift to premium segments. The scheduled ramp-up of new Gen 8.6 OLED fabs later this year and in 2027 in China adds another tailwind, further driving higher OLED adoption in notebooks.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Turning to the small and medium-sized display driver IC business. In Q2, small and medium-sized display driver IC business is expected to increase high teens from last quarter. Q4 automotive driver IC sales, including TDDI and traditional DDIC, are set to increase by double digits quarter-over-quarter. Both DDIC and TDDI sales are expected to increase sequentially, driven mainly by the broad-based replenishment from panel customers with lean inventories, as well as the ramp-up of new TDDI and DDIC projects for a leading panel customer.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Despite global softness in automotive sales, our long-term competitive position remains solid, supported by hundreds of design wins already secured across TDDI, DDIC, TCON, and expanded OLED portfolio. In addition, Himax is deepening its well-established supply chain in Taiwan while expanding across China, Singapore, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia. This ensures production flexibility and cost competitiveness, while also addressing customers' geopolitical considerations.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

We continue to lead the global automotive display market with a 40% share in DDIC, more than a half in TDDI, and an even higher market share in low-density TCON. We also continue to lead in automotive display IC innovation, pioneering solutions across a wide range of panel types while addressing diverse design re-requirements and cost considerations. Recent evidence of such efforts is our LTDI technology for ultra-large touch displays, where multiple projects have entered mass production in several car brands across different continents. After years of engagement with customers globally, we expect meaningful revenue contributions from LTDI starting this year. Our integrated single-chip solution, combining TDDI and low-density TCON, represents another such innovation.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Targeting smaller and lower resolution automotive touch displays, it delivers a competitive option for cost and space-constrained applications without compromising performance. Design activities continue to expand globally with multiple projects underway across leading panel customers, Tier 1s, and OEMs. Looking ahead, the accelerating adoption of OLED displays in automotive creates significant opportunities for Himax. Our ASIC OLED DDIC and TCON solutions have already been in mass production for several years with continued customer adoption. We now also offer new standard DDIC and TCON products to support scalable deployment. In parallel, our collaborations are underway with leading panel makers on customs, ASICs, positioning us well to address diverse customer requirements across a wide range of automotive display applications. Together, these efforts position Himax to capture increasing semiconductor content as premium automotive displays evolve from LCD to OLED.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

In addition, Himax's OLED touch ICs are a key pillar of our automotive OLED portfolio, delivering industry-leading signal-to-noise performance and high-precision multi-finger touch capability, enabling reliable operation even when wearing thick gloves or with wet fingers. Our OLED touch ICs started mass production in 2024. Since then, they have been increasingly adopted by leading panel makers and end customers across Korea, China, and the U.S., and Europe. Multiple new projects are poised to enter mass production in the coming quarters.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Moving to smartphone IC sales, we expect Q2 smartphone revenue, covering both LCD and OLED products, to decrease quarter-over-quarter following the initial ramp-up of an OLED IC for a leading smartphone brand's mainstream model in the prior quarter. For tablet ICs, Q2 sales are expected to increase sequentially, driven by customers' early pull-in demand against the backdrop of rising memory price sentiment in the market, with ongoing shipments for a customer's premium OLED tablet also contributing to sequential growth.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

I would like to now turn to our non-driver IC business update, where we expect Q2 revenue to increase by double digits sequentially. First, for an update of our TCON business. We anticipate Q2 TCON sales to increase by double digits quarter-over-quarter. Our automotive TCON business is expected to deliver decent double-digit growth in Q2, driven by shipments from prior design wins across the board. Despite automotive market headwinds, Himax continues to enjoy strong growth momentum in automotive TCON, particularly in solutions featuring local dimming functionality.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Backed by hundreds of secure design wins across a broad and diversified customer base, we are well positioned for sustained growth. In Q2, we expect TCON to account for over 12% of total sales, with more than half contributed by automotive TCON. Meanwhile, head-up displays are poised to become an integral part of next-generation smart cockpits, driving demand for sophisticated TCON technologies, an area where Himax holds a strong leadership position. Our multifunctional TCON not only delivers excellent contrast, eliminating the so-called postcard effect often seen in SUVs. It also supports full-area selectable local dewarping to correct image distortion caused by windshield curvature and/or projection angle.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

In addition, integrated on-screen display function ensures that critical safety information remains visible even when the system is malfunctioning and/or powered down. Together, these features make our TCON a compelling solution for customers' SUV applications, as evidenced by fast-expanding design activities with leading panel makers and Tier 1 players. This growing SUV pipeline positions us well for broader deployment and meaningful revenue contribution starting in 2037.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Switching gears to the WiseEye product line, a cutting-edge ultra-low power AI sensor node solution. Targeting endpoint device markets. WiseEye stands out due to its industry-leading ultra-low power design, operating at merely a few milliwatts. Combined with an extremely compact size, on-device AI inference, and 24/7 always-on image and voice sensing. This combination enables advanced AI capabilities in endpoint devices that were once constrained by power and size limitations, and has already been widely adopted across a wide range of applications, including notebooks and smart glasses, with further customer engagements currently underway.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

On the WiseEye modules front, design activities continue to expand, driven by their plug-and-play architecture, combined with ultra-low power consumption and on-device AI capabilities. These features help developers accelerate innovation and scale their products from prototypes to commercial deployment. This broad applicability has led to adoption across a wide range of domains, including smart access control, space management, computer monitoring, automotive, and bicycle applications. In particular, our PalmVein module is rapidly securing design wins, offering a touchless, high security solution with high accuracy and advanced liveness detection. Combined with GDPR compliance architecture, one of the world's strictest data privacy laws, our PalmVein solution ensures robust data privacy and protection of user biometric information through privacy-centric on-device processing.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

We are seeing growing PalmVein module adoption across applications such as smart access control, workforce management, and smart door locks, where multiple projects are progressing towards mass production in the coming quarters. As mentioned earlier, WiseEye is gaining broad market recognition in smart glasses as a compact, ultra-low power, always-on perpetual front end. WiseEye supports those outward-facing environmental sensing. Mainly, object classification and scene understanding. Inward-facing capabilities, including eyeball tracking and iris authentication, delivering environment-aware vision AI and responsive, low-latency human-machine interaction for smart glasses. This combination of capabilities makes WiseEye ideally suited for wearable devices requiring real-time responsiveness with minimal battery impact and is a key factor driving design momentum among smart glasses players.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Moving on to our latest advancements in LCoS microdisplay technology. At Display Week 2026 this week in Los Angeles, we showcased our ultra luminous, high-contrast, miniature Front-lit LCoS microdisplay. We were also invited to deliver an in-depth presentation at the symposium, highlighting Himax's recognized expertise and leadership in LCoS microdisplay technology.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Our LCoS solution is a full-color microdisplay that integrates illumination optics and LCoS panel into an exceptionally compact form factor of just 0.09 cc and 0.2 g. Delivering up to 350,000 nits of brightness and one lumen output at just 20 mW of power consumption. It can also be configured for high brightness, low power, green-only mode, and uh..frictionlessly, switched back upon command from the central processor, allowing for improved power efficiency across different ambient light conditions while supporting customers' cost targets.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

In addition, its ultra-high luminous ensures excellent visibility in bright environments where our proprietary technologies significantly enhances contrast and reduce the postcard effect frequently observed in low light conditions. Himax is currently working closely with multiple WiseEye partners across China, Europe, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S. to bundle these technologies into display systems for AR glasses, strengthening system integration and driving future design opportunities. We will provide further updates in due course. That concludes my report for this quarter. Thank you for your interest in Himax. We appreciate you joining today's call, and we are now ready to take questions.

[Operator]

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Wu. Ladies and gentlemen, we are now in question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad, and you will enter the queue. After you are announced, please ask your question. If you find that your question has been answered before it is your turn to speak, you may press star two to cancel the question.

[Operator]

In addition to submitting questions via phone, you may also submit questions through the webcast, where a chat box is available on the right-hand side of the screen. Now please dial star one on your telephone keypad if you would like to ask a question. Thank you. You may also submit questions through the webcast page. Thank you. Now we'll have our first question, Donnie Teng, Nomura. Go ahead, please.

[Donnie Teng, Analyst at Nomura]

Well, thank you, Jordan and Karen, for taking my question. I have two questions. The first question is regarding to the automotive business. Wondering, Jordan, if you can give us a full-year outlook regarding to the automotive-related business growth. Also, what could be the possible quarterly revenue pattern into the second half this year? Because it looks like customers still maintain pretty low inventory, so I'm not sure whether it will be still like a restocking, de-stocking coming off for the coming quarters.

[Donnie Teng, Analyst at Nomura]

The second question is regarding to the CPO. You have mentioned about the Gen 1 and Gen 2 products. Wondering if you can share with us regarding to the competition landscape for the Gen 1 product and Gen 2 product. Are you seeing different competitors? Also another thing is I'm curious is like the overall optical communication supply chain is facing supply tightness at upstream, like indium phosphide substrate for lasers, et cetera. Are you seeing other components are facing the short supply as well? For example, whether the micro lens will be under shortage. Thank you.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Thank you, Donnie. If I may, I would address your second question first, on CPO, on competition, or the, you know, potential supply shortage of other components, etc. They are not really our major concern, to be honest, because for now, you know, once the mass production gets started and is successful, what we're seeing is with the multiple customers we have already in hand. I'm talking about major customers that we really focus on. There are actually other customers. I mean, they are all very big clients, but they are still, so to speak, priorities internally. With their demand, actually they have their potential demand is much bigger than what we can supply for now.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

To be honest, we are not worried about competition. I'm not saying whether they are good or whether they exist. What I'm saying is, we just need to focus on our completion of validation, then smoothly enter mass production. Once that happens, the customers have put it alright to us that they are potential demand in early stage, and that actually much outweighs what we can supply. I think competition, I mean, for now is not really the issue. I mean, I can say the same to answer your question on the potential shortage of other components.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

I think I said in the prepared remarks earlier that, you know, 2027 is likely to see meaningful top and bottom line contribution for us. What I'd like to add is that even before the official mass production, early shipments for engineering runs will already have positive impact on our financials. As I said earlier, you know, the customer demands are much outweighs what we can supply. Once volume shipments get started, the growth will likely be explosive because the demands are indeed there. Once mass production begins, we believe CPO will deliver the strongest growth among all our product lines. A growth that is likely to sustain for the years to come. That is my answer to your CPO question and on automotive.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

First, for the whole full-year outlook. I mean, bear in mind, we don't actually provide full-year guidance, so I'm not going to give numerical projections. We can say quite confidently, we are well positioned to see sales growth for the year, with improved gross margin compared to last year. That is primarily, among other things, driven by automotive's outlook. The overall automotive industry outlook, as we all know, remains muted. With, I think most market surveys projecting for a sluggish total vehicle shipment year-over-year. However, I think we believe we will be able to outperform the market like we did last year.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

I did say in the prepared remarks that we expect sales for automotive to grow quarter-by-quarter this year. That is a response to your question. Yes, the customers' inventory level remains lean, but even that, they seem to [inaudible] ...have this such a cycle. I cannot predict whether this cycle will repeat this year in the second half. Our confidence level for quarter-after-quarter growth comes mainly from a few major projects with top customers, which are steady for mass production in second half. They are after years of design efforts. With that, we are now also projecting some growth for this year's automotive sales. Again, I think our automotive business is well-positioned to beat the market like last year in terms of growth.

[Donnie Teng, Analyst at Nomura]

Okay. Understood. Thank you, Jordan. A follow-up on CPO-

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Yes.

[Donnie Teng, Analyst at Nomura]

...a follow-up on CPO is, like, are you able to quantify the sales contribution for this year and next year potentially? I'm also curious is that are you, do you require to expand the capacity for the demand coming in 2027, or you will utilize the existing fab first? Thank you.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

We will utilize our existing fab, which, actually, if fully utilized for this application, can already generate, you know, hundreds of millions of annual sales for us with a very decent profit. Our partner, FOCI, actually, I cannot comment on their behalf, but they did say in their prospectus issued a few months back in their recent rights issue that, I mean, they do have plan to continue to expand their capacity. You know, as we all know, the part of their purpose for the rights issue recently was to build the capacity for this purpose, for mass production. In the prospectus, they did something in the line of, you know, given the right conditions, they would certainly continue to expand the capacity.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

That is what they say in the prospectus. You know, I mean, certainly, you know, beyond that, you know, I cannot say anything more on their behalf. What I can say is, our capacity actually outweighs their capacity. To be honest, they have to expand first. Given where they are at the moment, I think we again feel confident that, you know, you know, somehow along the line of mass production, progressing, they will sort out that issue as well. Yes, our existing capacity is more than sufficient. It's sufficient to support up to hundreds of millions of annual sales for us.

[Donnie Teng, Analyst at Nomura]

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

And with that, I'm afraid I am not able to quantify sales contribution for this year or next for now. But this year is still small. They are primarily sampling and, you know, engineering shipments. They are not, I mean, quarter-over-quarter, good growth, but they come from very small base. For an overall group perspective, they are still not meaningful. Next year, as I said, regardless of when mass production will commence, the likely, even before mass production, the engineering runs will contribute meaningfully to our top line and especially bottom-line growth.

[Donnie Teng, Analyst at Nomura]

Understood. Thank you, Jordan. Congrats on the good guidance.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

Thank you, Donnie.

[Operator]

Thank you. There are no questions at the moment. We thank you for all your questions. I'll pass the call back to Mr. Jordan Wu. Thank you.

[Jordan Wu, President and CEO at Himax Technologies Incorporation]

As a final note, Karen Tiao, our Head of IR/PR, will maintain investor marketing activities and continue to attend investor conferences. We'll announce the details as they come about. Thank you. Have a nice day.

[Operator]

Thank you, Mr. Wu. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes first quarter 2026 earnings conference. You may now disconnect. Thank you again. Goodbye.

Participants

Executives

• Jordan Wu, President and CEO
• Karen Tiao, Head of IR and PR

Analysts

• Donnie Teng, Analyst at Nomura