Akoustis Q4 Results Disappoint; Shares Fall 9%

Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (AKTS) reported a wider-than-expected loss and revenue miss in the fourth quarter owing to semiconductor supply chain disruptions and the COVID-19 pandemic. Shares fell 8.7% following the news to close at $9.12 on August 30.

The company is an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) of BAW high-band RF filters for mobile and other wireless applications. It reported a quarterly loss of $0.19 per share, the same as the prior-year period, but wider than analysts’ estimated loss of $0.16 per share.

Furthermore, Akoustis’ fourth-quarter revenue increased a whopping 489% year-over-year to $2.2 million but failed to meet the Street’s estimate of $2.5 million.

On an annual basis, the company’s full-year revenue grew 270% to $6.6 million, and the loss remained the same at $0.78 per share. (See Akoustis Technologies stock charts on TipRanks)

Jeff Shealy, founder and CEO of Akoustis, said, “Our existing design win pipeline supports a return to double-digit sequential revenue growth in the December quarter, as we ramp volume XBAW™ RF filter solutions to multiple customers across the WiFi 6, WiFi 6E, 5G network infrastructure and defense markets… We continue to experience strong demand and a growing sales funnel for our WiFi 6E, 5G mobile, and CBRS XBAW™ filters.”

Additionally, the company announced that they have shipped early 5G mobile filter prototypes to its tier-1 mobile customer and are on track to deliver two fully qualified filters in the next calendar year.

In response to the company’s results, Roth Capital analyst Sujeeva De Silva maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $16, implying 75.4% upside potential to current levels.

De Silva stated that while the company’s Q1 FY22 guidance is cautious, Akoustis does expect its Q2 revenue to show a strong rebound.

Moreover, the analyst believes that the broadening of production ramp WiFi customers from one to five is AKTS’s “most prominent” growth driver, and will enable the company to grow significantly towards the end of 2021, despite supply chain constraints and wireless infrastructure rollout fluctuations.

Overall, the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 2 Buys. The average Akoustis Technologies price target of $17 implies 86.4% upside potential to current levels. Shares have gained 15% over the past year.