CEVA, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2013 Financial Results

Strategic license agreement signed with tier-one player in mobile infrastructure
Total of 3 new licensees for flagship CEVA-XC4000 DSP family signed during the quarter

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 2, 2013 ( PRNewswire) -- CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) platform solutions and DSP cores for the mobile, portable and consumer electronic markets, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013.

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Total revenue for the first quarter of 2013 was $12.1 million, a decrease of 20% compared to $15.1 million reported for the first quarter of 2012. First quarter 2013 licensing and related revenue was $5.0 million, representing a decrease of 16% when compared to $6.0 million reported for the same quarter a year ago. Royalty revenue for the first quarter 2013 was $7.1 million, a decrease of 22% compared to $9.1 million reported for the first quarter of 2012.

During the quarter, CEVA concluded eight new license agreements. Five of the agreements were for CEVA DSP cores, platforms and software, including three new licensees for the CEVA-XC4000 DSP family targeting advanced communications. In addition, two agreements were signed for CEVA SATA/SAS product lines and one agreement for CEVA Bluetooth technology. Target applications for customer deployment are mobile infrastructure, advanced Wi-Fi access points, broadband satellite communications, enterprise storage and Bluetooth low energy connectivity. Geographically, one of the agreements signed was in the U.S., two were in Europe and five were in Asia Pacific, including Japan.

Gideon Wertheizer, Chief Executive Officer of CEVA, stated, "We concluded a number of important licensing deals during the quarter, with the highlight being a strategic and comprehensive agreement with a tier-one customer in the mobile infrastructure space, which intends to deploy our CEVA-XC4000 DSP architecture in its next generation products. It is a noteworthy milestone: represents a key new customer win, expansion and diversification of our customer portfolio and a testament to our technology in a market that is known for its high barriers to entry. We are encouraged by the licensing dynamics for our best-of-breed CEVA-XC4000 DSP, of which we signed three agreements during the quarter, all with new customers."

U.S. GAAP net income for the first quarter of 2013 was $1.7 million, a 65% decrease from $4.9 million reported for the same period in 2012. U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2013 were $0.08, a decrease of 60% compared to $0.20 for the first quarter of 2012.

Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2013 were $2.9 million and $0.13, respectively, representing a 51% and 46% decrease, respectively, over the $5.9 million and $0.24 reported for the first quarter of 2012. Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2013 and 2012 excluded an aggregate equity-based compensation expense, net of taxes, of $1.2 million and $1 million, respectively.

Yaniv Arieli, Chief Financial Officer of CEVA, stated: "Our licensing and related revenue was slightly below what we forecasted primarily due to recognizing partial revenue in the quarter of an important agreement we signed with a tier-one customer in the mobile infrastructure space. We anticipate recognizing the remaining revenues to be generated from this agreement during future periods. Our royalty revenue was primarily impacted by softness in the consumer electronics space while 3G smartphones powered by our DSPs outpaced the seasonal trend. During the first quarter we repurchased approximately 130,000 shares of our common stock for an aggregate consideration of approximately $2 million. At the end of the quarter, our cash balance, marketable securities and bank deposits totaled $157 million."

Financial Tables

To read financial tables, click here

CEVA Conference Call

On May 02, 2013, CEVA management will conduct a conference call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the operating performance for the quarter.

The conference call will be available via the following dial in numbers:

U.S. Participants: Dial 1-800-860-2442 (Access Code: CEVA)
International Participants: Dial +1-412-858-4600 (Access Code: CEVA)

The conference call will also be available live via the Internet at the following link: http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=93239. Please go to the web site at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

For those who cannot access the live broadcast, a replay will be available by dialing +1-877-344-7529 or +1-412-317-0088 (access code: 10027202) from one hour after the end of the call until 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on May 10, 2013. The replay will also be available at CEVA's web site www.ceva-dsp.com.

About CEVA, Inc.

CEVA is the world's leading licensor of silicon intellectual property (SIP) DSP cores and platform solutions for the mobile, portable and consumer electronics markets. CEVA's IP portfolio includes comprehensive technologies for cellular baseband (2G / 3G / 4G), multimedia (vision, imaging and HD audio), voice processing, Bluetooth, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA (SATA). In 2012, CEVA's IP was shipped in more than 1 billion devices, powering smartphones from many of the world's leading OEMs, including HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony, TCL and ZTE. Today, more than 40% of handsets shipped worldwide are powered by a CEVA DSP core. For more information, visit www.ceva-dsp.com. Follow CEVA on twitter at www.twitter.com/cevadsp.