Company Reports

We view Littelfuse as a differentiated supplier of electrical protection for cars and industrial applications. While it is smaller than other competitors we cover in the components market, it has aligned its portfolio toward secular themes of safety, efficiency, and connectivity to pursue growth. Among Littelfuse’s best organic growth opportunities are vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure; battery electric vehicles require 5 times the circuit protection content of their internal combustion counterparts, and charging infrastructure presents a lucrative opportunity for the company's growing power semiconductor business.

Littelfuse’s second-quarter results exceeded guidance, with sales rising 20% year over year to $739 million. Likewise, third-quarter guidance calls for returns significantly above our model, implying 26% year over year growth to $790 million at the midpoint.

Littelfuse hosted a bullish investor day on May 14, focused on growth, profitability, and cash flow targets for 2030. In 2030, Littelfuse targets $4.5 billion in revenue (implying 14% annualized growth), $1.1 billion in adjusted EBITDA (implying 25% margin), and $25.00 in non-GAAP EPS (19% growth).

We view Littelfuse as a differentiated supplier of electrical protection for cars and industrial applications. While it is smaller than other competitors we cover in the components market, it has aligned its portfolio toward secular themes of safety, efficiency, and connectivity to pursue growth. Among Littelfuse’s best organic growth opportunities are vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure; battery electric vehicles require 5 times the circuit protection content of their internal combustion counterparts, and charging infrastructure presents a lucrative opportunity for the company's growing power semiconductor business.

Littelfuse's first-quarter results beat guidance, with revenue rising 19% year over year to $657 million. Second-quarter guidance is equally strong, implying 14% growth to $700 million at the midpoint and coming in well ahead of our model.

We view Littelfuse as a differentiated supplier of electrical protection for cars and industrial applications. While it is smaller than other competitors we cover in the components market, it has aligned its portfolio toward secular themes of safety, efficiency, and connectivity to pursue growth. Among Littelfuse’s best organic growth opportunities are vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure; battery electric vehicles require 5 times the circuit protection content of their internal combustion counterparts, and charging infrastructure presents a lucrative opportunity for the company's growing power semiconductor business.

Littelfuse's fourth-quarter results were positive and above the top end of management guidance. Revenue rose 12% year over year to $594 million. First-quarter guidance calls for strong sequential growth, with the acquisition of Basler Electric included.

We view Littelfuse as a differentiated supplier of electrical protection for cars and industrial applications. While it is smaller than other competitors we cover in the components market, it has aligned its portfolio toward secular themes of safety, efficiency, and connectivity to pursue growth. Among Littelfuse’s best organic growth opportunities are vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure; battery electric vehicles require 5 times the circuit protection content of their internal combustion counterparts, and charging infrastructure presents a lucrative opportunity for the company's growing power semiconductor business.

We view Littelfuse as a differentiated supplier of electrical protection for cars and industrial applications. While it is smaller than other competitors we cover in the components market, it has aligned its portfolio toward secular themes of safety, efficiency, and connectivity to pursue growth. We think Littelfuse’s best organic growth opportunities will come from vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure; battery electric vehicles require 5 times the circuit protection content of their internal combustion counterparts, and charging infrastructure presents a lucrative opportunity for the company's growing power semiconductor business.

Littelfuse's third-quarter results were at the high end of guidance, with sales rising 10% year over year to $625 million. Fourth-quarter guidance implies a seasonal sequential decline in sales and margin. Littelfuse also announced the acquisition of Basler Electric for $350 million in cash.

Littelfuse's second-quarter results crushed management's guidance, and third-quarter guidance exceeded FactSet consensus expectations. Second-quarter sales of $613 million rose 10% year over year, and the third-quarter outlook implies consistent growth.

We view Littelfuse as a differentiated supplier of electrical protection for cars and industrial applications. While it is smaller than other competitors we cover in the components market, it has aligned its portfolio toward secular themes of safety, efficiency, and connectivity to pursue growth. We think Littelfuse’s best organic growth opportunities will come from vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure; battery electric vehicles require 5 times the circuit protection content of their internal combustion counterparts, and charging infrastructure presents a lucrative opportunity for the company's growing power semiconductor business.

We view Littelfuse as a differentiated supplier of electrical protection into cars and industrial applications. While it is a smaller player than other competitors we cover in the components market, it has aligned its portfolio toward secular themes of safety, efficiency, and connectivity to pursue growth. We think Littelfuse’s best organic growth opportunities will come from vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure; battery electric vehicles require 5 times the circuit protection content of an internal combustion counterpart, and charging infrastructure presents a lucrative opportunity for the firm’s growing power semiconductor business.

Littelfuse's first-quarter results beat management's guidance, highlighted by revenue rising 4% year over year to $554 million. Second-quarter guidance implies further growth, including revenue of $580 million at the midpoint.

Littelfuse's fourth-quarter results weakened year over year, but were in line with management guidance. Sales of $530 million declined 1% and non-GAAP operating margin of 12% was down by 120 basis points, both year over year. Guidance implies roughly flat levels in the March quarter.

We think Littelfuse is a differentiated supplier of electrical protection into cars and industrial applications. While it is a smaller player than other competitors we cover in the components market, it has aligned its portfolio toward secular themes of safety, efficiency, and connectivity to pursue growth. We think Littelfuse’s best organic growth opportunities will come from vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure; battery electric vehicles require 5 times the circuit protection content of an internal combustion counterpart, and charging infrastructure presents a lucrative opportunity for the firm’s growing power semiconductor business.

We maintain our $295 fair value estimate for shares of narrow-moat Littelfuse as we push out our recovery thesis but maintain our long-term confidence in the firm. Littelfuse is seeing broadly weaker demand across its served markets, particularly for industrial applications. We view softer demand as cyclical and like Littelfuse’s opportunity longer term as a beneficiary of electrification. We now expect a slower year of growth in 2025 as demand takes longer to recover but forecast a stronger rebound in 2026. Shares dipped about 3% intraday on soft guidance, and we continue to believe investors have a good entry point on Oct. 30 for a high-quality stock with strong long-term prospects.

We maintain our $295 fair value estimate for shares of narrow-moat Littelfuse, as our long-term thesis is intact after it reported second-quarter results. Many of Littelfuse's end markets remain weak in 2024, including soft demand in the industrial and commercial transportation end markets. Second-quarter results were better than we expected, but third-quarter guidance missed our model. We expect results through the second half of 2024 to stay depressed, but we continue to forecast a recovery in 2025. In the long term, we see Littelfuse as well-positioned to capitalize on trends toward electrification across its end markets, particularly as applications move to higher voltages. We see shares as lightly undervalued.

We maintain our $295 fair value estimate for shares of narrow-moat Littelfuse after its first-quarter results fell in line with our longer-term recovery thesis. Littelfuse is still seeing weaker demand in most of its end markets, resulting from customers working down inventories built up over the past two years. The firm’s outlook for sales fit our model, and while its short-term profit forecast was below our expectations, we continue to see progression back from current low levels over the next two years. We maintain our confidence in Littelfuse’s long-term opportunity in electrification and see the current period of weakness as a short-term, cyclical dynamic. We see shares as nicely undervalued for long-term investors.

We have lowered our fair value estimate for narrow-moat Littelfuse to $295 per share from $310 to incorporate weaker results in the short term. Fourth-quarter results met our expectations, but guidance for the first quarter and commentary on the full year missed our model. Littelfuse continues to manage mixed demand across its end markets, with inventory destocking hampering new electronics orders, pockets of weakness affecting industrial demand, and automotive orders staying stable. We expect headwinds to continue in 2024 but make way in the back half of the year for growth. Still, we now expect a modest decline in sales in 2024, compared with our previous expectation for modest growth. We continue to believe Littelfuse is well positioned to capitalize on electrification and higher voltages across vehicles, industrial equipment, and consumer devices in the long run. We anticipate demand and results will rebound toward the end of 2024 and continue into 2025. We see the shares as nicely undervalued.