Universal Electronics Inc. (UEIC) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Universal Electronics Inc. (NASDAQ:UEIC) Q2 2025 Earnings Conference Call August 7, 2025 4:30 PM ET

Company Participants

Bryan M. Hackworth - Senior VP & CFO
Richard K. Carnifax - Interim CEO & Principal Executive Officer

Conference Call Participants

Steven Bruce Frankel - Rosenblatt Securities Inc., Research Division
Kirsten F. Chapman - Lippert/Heilshorn & Associates, Inc.

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Universal Electronics Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Kirsten Chapman, Alliance Advisors Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Kirsten F. Chapman

Thank you, Angelina, and thank you all for joining us for the Universal Electronics Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. By now, you should have received a copy of the press release. If you have not, please contact Alliance Advisors at (415) 433-3777 or visit the Investor Relations section of the website. This call is being broadcast live over the Internet. A webcast replay of this call, including any additional updated material nonpublic information that might be discussed during this call will be available on the company's website at uei.com for 1 year.

During this call, management may make forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future financial performance of companies and cautions you that these statements are not -- are just projections, and actual results or events may differ materially from those projections. These statements include the company's goals focused strategies and opportunities, market trends, including the connected home and home entertainment channels; expectations with respect to customer orders and customer demand, including short-term and long-term demand; plans with respect to closing our Mexico facility, including expected benefits and timing; financial projections and forecasts, including the revenue and gross profit; our ability to respond to business and regulatory changes such as tariffs; and expectations with respect to ongoing litigation. The company undertakes no obligation to revise or update these statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after today's date and refers you to the press release mentioned at the onset of this call and the documents the company with the SEC, including its 2024 annual report on Form 10-K and the periodic and current reports filed or furnished since then.

In management's financial remarks, adjusted non-GAAP metrics will be referenced. Management provides adjusted non-GAAP metrics because it uses them for budget planning purposes and for making operational and financial decisions and believes that providing these non-GAAP financial measures to investors as a supplement to GAAP financial measures helps investors evaluate UEI's core operating and financial performance and business trends consistent with how management evaluates such performance and trends. In addition, management believes these measures facilitate comparisons with the core operating and financial results and business trends of competitors and other companies. A full description and reconciliation of these adjusted non-GAAP measures versus GAAP are included in the company's press release issued today.

Joining me today are Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer, Rick Carnifax; and Chief Financial Officer, Bryan Hackworth. Rick will provide an overview of our business, and Bryan will deliver the detailed financial results and conclusions.

It's my pleasure to introduce Rick Canafax. Please go ahead, Rick.

Richard K. Carnifax

Thank you, Kirsten, and thank you all for joining us. I'm excited to be here leading UEI's transition to capture more of the home with our industry-leading patented wireless control technology. I joined UEI 5 years ago in manufacturing and operations and helped drive our footprint optimization resulting in strong margin recovery and a return to healthy cash generation. Our foundation to bring innovation and value to our customers is fortified by our strong balance sheet. As Bryan will review, we are on the right track relative to debt. Notably, we have achieved a net cash position for the first time since December 2021.

In Q2, we delivered 46% revenue growth in connected home, helping to drive overall business gross margins to 29.9% and EPS of $0.18. Year-to-date operating cash flow was also very strong at almost $18 million. We remain focused on allocating investment to profitable growth areas, particularly in connected home, where we see attractive long-term opportunities. During Q2 2025, we continue to scale revenue on core connected home accounts and collaborate with them on the next product solutions, including kicking off 3 new design projects with 1 of our major HVAC OEM accounts for release in 2026 and 2027.

Also, during the quarter, we shipped a new smart home security product to be launched later this year by a new customer in the consumer DIY security and home automation space. In parallel, we are nearing completion on our standard climate control solutions, which will be delivered to customers in OEM, energy and multi-dwelling unit channels later this year. Our customer traction gives us confidence in our long-term vision for growth in connected home. But as we stated previously, customer orders in this channel can be inconsistent as the product makes its way through the distributors dealers and HVAC contractors and ultimately, into consumer homes.

Over time, we expect this to stabilize as we grow the number of customers and products in this channel. For the time being, this variability in order demand can and does influence quarterly revenue forecast, which we expect to be evident in the latter half of 2025. In addition to the connected home trends we are seeing, we expect home entertainment to continue to be uncertain over the next 12 to 24 months. While we continue to develop and ship new products in North America with major telecom and pay TV operators, revenues for these new products are being offset by the impact of our value remote business in EMEA and Latin America. We expect these trends to continue and our home entertainment business overall to continue to decline into 2026 and beyond.

Overall, our revenues in the first half of 2025 were strong. However, we expect total revenue to decline in the third and fourth quarters compared to the same periods last year, reflecting the inconsistency in connected home and continued pressure in home entertainment. That said, for full year 2026, we expect new and existing connected home product projections to support growth in the channel. To support both strong financial performance and funding of investments in the more attractive long-term potential of connected home, we will continue to refine our operating model and ensure the business is sized appropriately for the opportunities we see ahead.

For example, having achieved strong productivity at our facility in Vietnam and with the current trends in home entertainment resulting in lower volume in our facility in Mexico, we have decided to optimize our footprint further. We will close our facility in Mexico and expect to complete the process by the end of this year. It is critical to customer continuity and stable financial performance that we have the flexibility to respond to business and regulatory changes, such as tariffs, that can quickly shift volumes and impact factories.

We have proven to be adept at navigating similar challenges in the past, and we are confident in our ability to continue this in the future. as we have built this into our supply chain through both internal capacity and external partners. We are also reviewing contribution margins, and we'll act to reallocate resources to areas that better drive value, such as adjacent product categories in connected home and potentially complementary products and services and home entertainment.

Finally, protecting our IP remains critical to UEI. I want to provide a recent update regarding the pending litigation against Roku, which was stated in the District Court. The court has ruled in our favor to consolidate our actions and move forward with the case. We will know more after our scheduling conference with the judge in late September 2025. The judges posed many questions to both sides, which will be answered at the hearing. But this latest ruling is a very positive sign that UEI will finally be able to move forward and present our case in court.

Now I'll turn it over to Bryan to provide an update on our financials.

Bryan M. Hackworth

Thank you, Rick. Just as a reminder, beginning in the first quarter, we began breaking out sales between 2 channels, connected home and home entertainment. The connected home channel represents climate control, smart home and security products sold primarily to HVAC, security, home automation and home appliance customers. The home entertainment channel represents entertainment- related product sales sold primarily to video service providers, consumer OEMs and retailers. It also includes sales associated with IP licensing and our cloud software solutions. .

In the second quarter of 2025, net sales grew 8% to $97.7 million compared to $90.5 million for the second quarter of 2024. Sales in our connected home channel continued to exhibit strong growth as sales increased by $10.8 million or 46% to $34.1 million for the quarter ending June 30, 2025. This growth reflects new orders for products launched earlier this year, primarily in climate control, SKU expansion with existing customers and an innovative security product recently launched with a new customer. Home entertainment decreased by $3.6 million or 5% to $63.6 million for the quarter ending June 30, 2025, reflecting lower demand for subscription broadcasting products in Latin America. The majority of our sales in Latin America are basic remote controls with limited to no advanced features. As a result, we compete on price with low-cost providers in this region.

Gross profit for the second quarter of 2025 was $29.2 million, or 29.9% of sales, up from 28.3% in the first quarter of 2025 and 28.7% in second quarter of 2024. We continue to improve operationally at our Vietnam factory with production metrics now on par with

those at our more experienced factory in China. Favorable currency rate fluctuations in Asia and EMEA also contributed to our gross margin rate improvement. We expect continued strength in our gross margin rate for the remainder of the year.

Operating expenses decreased $26.3 million from $27.1 million in the second quarter of 2024, reflecting actions taken to reduce expenses. SG&A expenses decreased to $19.5 million from $19.7 million in the prior year quarter. R&D expenses decreased to $6.8 billion for the second quarter of 2025 compared to $7.4 million in the prior year quarter. Operating income was $2.9 million compared to an operating loss of $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2024. Net income for the second quarter of 2025 was $2.4 million or per diluted share compared to a net loss of $1.2 million or $0.09 per diluted share or per share in the second quarter of 2024.

Next, I'll review our cash flow and balance sheet. We have made significant progress over the past several quarters in improving our cost structure and working capital. In the first half of 2025, we generated $17.7 million in cash flow from operations. And the first time since December 2021, we are in a net cash position of $4.1 million with cash of $34.3 million and debt of only $30.2 million.

Now turning to our guidance. For the third quarter of 2025, we expect sales to range from $92 million to $102 million compared to $102.1 million in the third quarter of 2024. We expect connected home sales to range from $30 million to $34 million compared to $26.4 million in the third quarter of 2024, representing growth between 14% and 29%. In home entertainment, we expect sales to range from $62 million to $68 million compared to $75.7 million in the third quarter of 2024, representing a 10% to 18% decline. We expect EPS to range from $0.08 to $0.18 per diluted share compared to $0.10 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2024.

Before I turn the call back to Rick for closing remarks, I would like to point out a few things. For the 6 months -- for the first 6 months of the year, connected home sales in terms of dollars have exceeded the sales decline in home entertainment. Connected home grew 39% compared to a decline of 8% in home entertainment versus the same period in the prior year. Our guidance for the third quarter suggest the same will be true for the 9 months ending in September. This is important because to achieve sustainable top line growth, sales in the connected home channel must continue to outpace the persistent headwinds in home entertainment.

As Rick mentioned earlier, we expect ordering patterns from customers related to new launches in the connected home Channel to be inconsistent and at times unpredictable. The fourth quarter is expected to exhibit this type of market dynamic. While the connected home grew in the first 3 quarters, as we stand today, we expect fourth quarter connected home and home entertainment sales to be down sequentially. That said, because we have taken measures to rightsize our cost structure, we're able to maintain profitability in the fourth quarter. There's only one way to alleviate this problem and that is to continue to launch products already secured and to win new projects with existing and new customers.

Now I'll turn the call back to Rick.

Richard K. Carnifax

Thanks, Bryan. In summary, we are focused on nurturing the long-term growth potential we see in connected home, while continuously evaluating and improving our operating model. Our goal is to materially improve profitability and continue to strengthen the balance sheet, creating value for customers and generating a positive return for our stockholders. We are actively engaged in driving initiatives in support of this goal, with the support of our Board and operational review committee, and we look forward to reporting progress in future quarters. Operator, we can now open the call for questions.

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Steven Frankel of Rosenblatt Securities.

Steven Bruce Frankel

You made some comments about weakness in Latin America in the subscription broadcast business. What can you tell us about your North American business, especially as it pertains to looking towards Q3 and maybe into Q4.

Bryan M. Hackworth

Yes. So as we look at North America, we see the trends continuing in line with what we've seen so far. I think the problem is they're being offset by what we covered in the call relative to Latin America and Europe.

Steven Bruce Frankel

Remind me what -- are you -- so you're still seeing stabilization? That was, I believe, your comments in the prior quarter.

Bryan M. Hackworth

Yes. So relative to major customers, we are seeing that stabilization. I'll see -- I would say that relative to previous year, there was a unique product launch that drove growth, but we're not seeing any tremendous declines beyond -- like we're seeing in Latin America and Europe. .

Steven Bruce Frankel

Okay. And what was the customer concentration in the quarter?

Bryan M. Hackworth

There were 2 10% customers, Daikin is at 18.7% in Comcast is at 12.2%.

Steven Bruce Frankel

All right. SP114603752 And then just help us understand this dynamic with the Q4 declines. Could you tell us what connected home and home entertainment did last year in Q4.

Bryan M. Hackworth

Last year, it was 26 -- connected home was $26.4 million in the third quarter of 2024, and home entertainment was $75.7 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Steven Bruce Frankel

Yes, I was asking about Q4.

Bryan M. Hackworth

I'm not providing -- for Q4, we're not providing specific guidance. All we're saying -- we're just giving general guidance from a top level saying that right now, as we currently stand in the fourth quarter, I expect the sales in total to be down sequentially, actually for

both them as well, both connected home and home entertainment, down sequentially versus Q3. But it's still early, Steve. We've got a ways to go. And as you know, in the past, we've always provided you guys 1 quarter out...

Steven Bruce Frankel

Again, Bryan, I'm not asking for guidance. I'm asking for historically in Q4 of last year what connected home and home entertainment did. Just understand that -- what that business...

Bryan M. Hackworth

Yes, I don't -- we're still breaking that out. Because what we're doing on a quarterly basis, Steve, is because we're now breaking this out, we don't have our systems in place. So we're having to do some things manually. So right now, we're going quarter-to-quarter. So from a specific breakout between connected home and home entertainment, I don't have that number yet. That's why in total, I felt comfortable telling you it's going to -- we expect it currently to be down sequentially for both, but I can't give you an exact number. .

Steven Bruce Frankel

Okay. Let me switch gears. I wouldn't be -- the current environment, if we didn't talk a little bit about tariffs, it wasn't in your script, so maybe give us some insight on how tariffs impact the 2 different business units, especially with the decision to pull out of Mexico, which may or may not have helped you. [indiscernible]

Richard K. Carnifax

Yes. I mean, obviously, the last few months have been as eventful as the whole earlier in the year has been. I think from our perspective, we continue to monitor the situation because even as we see these deals come into place, particularly the 20% on Vietnam, we continue to see amendment of deals or different discussions of those other deals with other countries evolve. From our perspective, within our supply chain through the balance we alluded to in our internal factories as well as external partners, we're confident we can manage through that and are working closely with customers and suppliers on managing that. And that's reflected in our margin guidance for the rest of the year. .

Steven Bruce Frankel

All right. So you don't think you're going to have a problem where you're going to have to eat material tariff costs at this point?

Richard K. Carnifax

Not at this point.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I will now turn it back to Richard Carnifax.

Richard K. Carnifax

Yes. Thank you for your continued support of Universal Electronics, and have a great day.

Operator

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.