Ceva Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Ceva posted Q1 revenue of $27 million, up 11% year over year, and said licensing was the main driver with its strongest licensing quarter in three years. Management said results exceeded expectations on both revenue and non-GAAP EPS.
• The company highlighted multiple design wins in Bluetooth, satellite communications, UWB, Wi-Fi and edge AI, including a more integrated Bluetooth HDT solution and a first mass-volume automotive AI deployment in the 2026 Toyota RAV4 through Renesas.
• Ceva raised its full-year 2026 outlook to the top end of its prior revenue growth range and now expects non-GAAP operating margin and net income to rise 40% to 50% year over year, citing stronger second-half demand and improving royalty trends.

Ceva NASDAQ: CEVA reported an 11% year-over-year increase in first-quarter 2026 revenue, driven by its strongest licensing quarter in three years and new design wins across Bluetooth, satellite communications, ultra-wideband, Wi-Fi and edge AI.

Chief Executive Officer Amir Panush said the company “exceeded our expectations on both revenues and non-GAAP EPS,” with licensing and related revenue of $17.8 million. He said the quarter reflected “strong execution” and alignment with trends including the convergence of AI and wireless connectivity, rising system complexity and demand for integrated solutions that help customers reduce development risk and accelerate time to market.

Licensing Revenue Leads Quarterly Growth

Total revenue for the quarter was $27 million, up 11% from the prior-year period, Chief Financial Officer Yaniv Arieli said. Licensing and related revenue rose 18% year-over-year to $17.8 million, representing 66% of total revenue. Royalty revenue was $9.2 million, in line with the year-ago quarter and accounting for 34% of revenue.

Ceva signed 14 licensing agreements during the quarter, including two with OEMs. Panush highlighted three strategic deals that he said demonstrate the company’s strategy of selling more integrated system-level solutions rather than discrete IP blocks.

In Bluetooth, Ceva secured a licensing win for a complete Bluetooth High Data Throughput, or HDT, solution with a leading U.S.-based semiconductor company. Panush said the engagement includes modem software and RF and is tied to capabilities expected for the upcoming Bluetooth 7 standard. He said the same customer had previously licensed Bluetooth technology from Ceva and is now approaching high-volume production on that earlier engagement.

“This also reflects a broader shift in the industry from internally developed connectivity to licensing proven platforms,” Panush said. During the question-and-answer session, he said the HDT engagement includes “the full stack and the software, including our own internal developed RF,” and that the more integrated offering should lead to “meaningfully higher royalty” than licensing individual components.

Satellite, UWB and Wi-Fi Wins Expand Connectivity Footprint

Ceva also expanded an existing relationship with a satellite OEM, moving from DSP cores to a more integrated baseband processing solution. Panush tied the opportunity to non-terrestrial networks, or NTN, which he described as an emerging market expected to scale as satellite connectivity becomes part of global communications infrastructure.

In ultra-wideband, Ceva introduced its next-generation UWB platform and signed a new customer, a major U.S.-based MCU provider. Panush said UWB demand is shifting toward industrial, automotive and enterprise applications, including access, asset tracking and indoor navigation.

The company also secured a Wi-Fi 7 design targeting consumer IoT, a Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth combo engagement with a leading AI system-on-chip platform company and additional Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wins. In response to analyst questions, Panush said Wi-Fi shipments are benefiting from customers moving from older Wi-Fi standards to Wi-Fi 6, as well as new customer ramps from licensing agreements signed over the past two to three years.

AI and Automotive Deployments Gain Traction

Panush said AI represented more than 20% of Ceva’s licensing and related revenue in the quarter, with two new AI licensing agreements signed. He described a market shift toward hybrid AI, in which inference increasingly occurs on-device while more complex processing remains in the cloud or connected systems.

Ceva’s AI technology is also moving into production. Panush said Renesas’ R-Car V4H platform, which integrates Ceva’s AI DSP and accelerator, is now in production in the 2026 Toyota RAV4. He called it Ceva’s “first mass volume automotive AI deployment” and said the company believes it marks the beginning of a meaningful long-term royalty stream.

Ceva also announced a collaboration with NXP during the quarter, integrating its AI DSP and accelerator into NXP’s S32E2 and S32Z2 software-defined vehicle processors. Panush said Ceva’s NeuPro-Nano NPU won an artificial intelligence award at Embedded World 2026, and added that the AI licensing pipeline remains strong, with evaluations and advanced negotiations across multiple end markets.

Royalty Trends Mixed as Wi-Fi Hits Record Shipments

Ceva shipped 458 million Ceva-powered devices in the quarter, up 9% from the first quarter of 2025, Arieli said. That included 46 million mobile handset modem units, down from 49 million a year earlier; 394 million consumer IoT units, up from 337 million; and 18 million industrial IoT units, down from 34 million.

Despite the decline in industrial IoT units, Arieli said industrial IoT royalty revenue increased 19% year-over-year, reflecting a better mix of higher average selling price products, including 5G wireless infrastructure and automotive AI.

• Bluetooth shipments were 206 million units, down from 233 million in the year-ago quarter.
• Cellular IoT shipments were 66 million units, up 38% year-over-year.
• Wi-Fi shipments reached a record 91 million units, up 158% year-over-year.

Panush said non-mobile royalties grew 8% year-over-year, offset by softness in smartphones. He said first-quarter royalties were affected by typical mobile seasonality, memory availability constraints and inventory issues in lower-tier smartphone segments. Ceva expects improvement as the year progresses, supported by inventory normalization, seasonality and anticipated stronger high-end smartphone royalties in the second half.

Company Raises Full-Year Outlook Toward High End of Prior Range

Ceva reported GAAP gross margin of 86% and non-GAAP gross margin of 87%. GAAP operating loss was $5.1 million, compared with a GAAP operating loss of $4.4 million in the first quarter of 2025. Non-GAAP operating income was $500,000, or 2% of revenue. GAAP net loss was $4.5 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, compared with a GAAP net loss of $3.3 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, a year earlier. Non-GAAP net income was $1.1 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, compared with $1.4 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, in the prior-year quarter.

Arieli said Ceva ended the quarter with approximately $260 million in cash equivalents, marketable securities and bank deposits. He said the company remains focused on disciplined capital allocation, including investments in its roadmap and a selective approach to strategic M&A.

For 2026, Ceva now expects total revenue growth at the top end of its previously communicated 8% to 12% range over 2025. Arieli said the company expects lower growth in the first half and stronger growth in the second half, subject to memory pricing and supply conditions. Ceva also now expects non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP net income to increase 40% to 50% year-over-year, above prior expectations.

For the second quarter, Ceva guided for revenue of $26 million to $30 million, with GAAP gross margin of 87% and non-GAAP gross margin of 88%. GAAP operating expenses are expected to range from $27.7 million to $28.7 million, while non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to range from $22.2 million to $23.2 million.

About Ceva NASDAQ: CEVA

Ceva, Inc NASDAQ: CEVA is a leading licensor of signal processing IP cores and platforms that enable intelligent, connected devices. The company designs a broad portfolio of digital signal processing (DSP) and AI processors, software development toolkits and reference frameworks for applications ranging from 5G wireless communications and Bluetooth connectivity to audio, computer vision, sensor fusion and edge AI. Its solutions target a variety of end markets including smartphones, automotive, IoT devices, smart home, industrial automation and wearable electronics.

Founded in 1999 as a spin-off from DSP Group, Ceva has built its reputation on delivering modular, power-efficient IP that can be customized to meet stringent performance, area and power requirements.

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