Cirrus Logic NASDAQ: CRUS reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $448.5 million, finishing above the midpoint of its guidance range, as the company pointed to strong demand for components shipping into smartphones. For the full fiscal year 2026, the company delivered record revenue of $2.0 billion, up 5% year over year, and posted record GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per share, according to Chief Executive Officer John Forsyth.
Quarterly and full-year financial performance
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Woolard said fourth-quarter revenue declined 23% sequentially due to lower smartphone unit volumes, but rose 6% year over year “driven primarily by strong demand for components shipping into smartphones.” He added that results were partially offset by pricing reductions and, to a lesser extent, lower general market sales.
On profitability, Woolard reported non-GAAP gross profit of $237.9 million in the March quarter and non-GAAP gross margin of 53%. He attributed the year-over-year decline in quarterly gross margin primarily to higher freight expenses. For fiscal 2026, he reported non-GAAP gross profit of $1.1 billion and non-GAAP gross margin of 52.8%, saying the year-over-year increase reflected a more favorable product mix.
Non-GAAP operating expenses were $126.1 million in the quarter, down $6.9 million sequentially primarily due to lower variable compensation and employee-related expenses, but up $6.1 million year over year “mostly due to higher employee-related expenses.” Non-GAAP operating income for the quarter was $111.8 million, or 24.9% of revenue.
For fiscal 2026, Woolard said non-GAAP operating expenses were $506.4 million, up $12.3 million, driven primarily by employee-related costs. Non-GAAP operating income was $548.8 million, and operating margin improved to 27.5% from 26.5% a year earlier. The non-GAAP tax rate was 16% for the quarter and 16.4% for the full year.
Non-GAAP net income in the March quarter was $102.3 million, or $1.95 per share. For the full year, non-GAAP net income was $489.3 million, producing record earnings per share of $9.26, up from $7.54 in fiscal 2025.
Balance sheet, cash flow, and repurchases
Woolard said Cirrus ended fiscal 2026 with approximately $1.2 billion in cash and investments, up $319 million from the prior year, primarily due to cash from operations and partially offset by share repurchases. He noted the company had no debt outstanding.
Inventory rose to $240.9 million at quarter-end from $189.5 million in the prior quarter, with 104 days of inventory. Operating cash flow was $151.4 million in the March quarter and capital expenditures were $2.4 million, resulting in a non-GAAP free cash flow margin of about 33%. For fiscal 2026, operating cash flow was $650.6 million and capex was $14.8 million, for a non-GAAP free cash flow margin of 32%.
In the fourth quarter, Cirrus spent $70 million to repurchase 491,000 shares at an average price of $142.54. For fiscal 2026, it returned $280 million via repurchases of 2.5 million shares at an average price of $113.91. Remaining authorization stood at $274.1 million at quarter-end.
Outlook and seasonality commentary
For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, management guided revenue to a range of $430 million to $490 million, which Woolard said implies 3% sequential growth and 13% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. Gross margin is expected to be 51% to 53%, and non-GAAP operating expense is expected to be $132 million to $138 million, up sequentially “largely due to increases in R&D.” Woolard also said the fiscal 2027 non-GAAP tax rate is expected to be approximately 16% to 18%.
During Q&A, management addressed seasonality and the strength implied by the June-quarter outlook. Forsyth said the June guidance was “a little stronger than the typical average for this quarter,” which he attributed to “continued strength of our customers’ current products” and a “greater proportion of our content being ramped a little earlier than in the past.” He added that these dynamics “likely contribute to a smaller delta between the June and September quarters than what we’ve seen in the past.”
Strategic priorities: smartphones, high-performance mixed signal, and diversification
Forsyth said Cirrus’ long-term strategy is built on three pillars: maintaining leadership in flagship smartphone audio, expanding high-performance mixed-signal (HPMS) content in smartphones and similar products, and leveraging its expertise to grow in new markets beyond smartphones.
In smartphone audio, Forsyth highlighted demand for the company’s “latest generation custom boosted amplifier and 22-nanometer smart codec.” He said Cirrus expects these products to have extended life cycles and to ship for longer than is typical for consumer products, providing “solid long-term visibility and sustained revenue contribution.”
In HPMS, Forsyth said demand for camera controllers remained strong and that engagement around the future roadmap was “equally robust.” Later in the Q&A, he added that the company is “in design of next generation components today,” and described the impact of new content as “more linear than big step functions” due to varying attach rates, multiple SKUs, and multiple product generations selling at once.
Forsyth also described progress in advanced battery and power applications, including validation of new technologies and intellectual property in silicon to improve battery performance and efficiency for application-specific power management. He said Cirrus delivered new high-performance power solutions for accessory and tablet devices and referenced a recent announcement from its largest customer related to Face ID implementations in future products. Forsyth said Cirrus is in the design phase of its first product in this area, “a smart power IC for 3D sensing that integrates high-efficiency power delivery, precision current drive, and programmable control.” When asked about timing, Forsyth said that from the current design stage, it would likely be “a couple of years before that gets introduced,” while emphasizing limits on what the company could disclose.
Forsyth said Cirrus plans to increase R&D investment throughout fiscal 2027 to capitalize on what he called the “strongest pipeline of opportunities” the company has seen in recent history.
PC momentum and GlobalFoundries collaboration
Forsyth and analysts also focused on the company’s PC business, which management cited as a driver of fiscal 2026 growth. Forsyth said Cirrus does not formally break out PC revenue, but provided “color” on momentum: PC revenue grew from “low $10s million” in fiscal 2025 into the “$40s million” in fiscal 2026. He said the company is shipping into the “top 6 laptop vendors” and expects “continued strong growth in fiscal 2027,” supported by increasing adoption of SDCA and higher content per device.
Forsyth described an ongoing transition in PC audio from the legacy HDA interface to SDCA, noting that SDCA revenue tripled in fiscal 2026 and became almost 60% of total PC revenue. For fiscal 2027, he said Cirrus expects SDCA-related designs to account for closer to 80% of PC revenue. He also said the company expects more than half of PC revenue in fiscal 2027 to come from mainstream devices, describing that as important for volume growth.
Addressing concerns about potential PC market softness and memory constraints, Forsyth said Cirrus believes it can deliver strong PC growth in fiscal 2027 even if the broader market pulls back, noting that the company tends to serve the largest OEMs and is skewed toward higher-tier devices.
On supply chain and manufacturing, Forsyth highlighted participation in its largest customer’s American Manufacturing Program and collaboration with GlobalFoundries to develop new process technologies and work toward manufacturing products at the GlobalFoundries facility in Malta, New York. In Q&A, Forsyth said the collaboration is focused on process technologies for high-voltage products such as amplifiers, haptics drivers, and power conversion and control chips, typically around 55-nanometer nodes. He added that the process development is aimed at “higher performance, greater power efficiency, [and] greater cost effectiveness,” while also supporting customer interest in U.S.-fabricated semiconductors.
Woolard closed the prepared remarks by reiterating that the company would not discuss specifics about its relationship with its largest customer, citing company policy.
About Cirrus Logic NASDAQ: CRUS
Cirrus Logic, Inc, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in high-precision analog and mixed-signal processing solutions. The firm develops low-power, high-performance audio, voice, and power management integrated circuits, serving prominent consumer electronics OEMs. Its semiconductor devices are designed to enhance audio quality, battery life, and system integration in mobile phones, tablets, wireless headsets and other portable devices.
The company's product portfolio includes digital-to-analog converters (DACs), analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), audio codecs, power management ICs, voice processors and integrated amplifiers.
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