Synopsys's stock is another chip and AI play that's soaring after earnings report

By Tomi Kilgore

Synopsys says its electronic-design-automation software is 'turbocharged' with its full-flow AI platform, Synopsys.ai

Shares of Synopsys Inc. rocketed into record territory as the semiconductor-design-software company beat quarterly profit expectations and raised its full-year outlook, while touting its "turbocharged" artificial-intelligence platform, Synopsys.ai.

"The first quarter marked an excellent start to the year with strong execution across the company as AI continues to drive our customers' investments in silicon and systems that position them for future growth," Chief Executive Sassine Ghazi said.

The stock (SNPS) blasted 10.4% higher in midday trading, toward its biggest one-day gain in four years and its first close above $600 since the company went public 32 years ago.

It was the fifth-best performer among S&P 500 index SPX components on Thursday. The biggest gainer was the stock of AI-chip leader Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), which also reported results late Wednesday.

Synopsys's fiscal first-quarter report comes about a month after it announced an agreement to buy design-software company Ansys Inc. (ANSS) in a deal valued at $35 billion, riding the AI trend.

Synopsys reported net income for its fiscal first quarter, which ended Jan. 31, of $449.1 million, or $2.89 a share, up from $271.5 million, or $1.75 a share, in the same period a year ago.

Excluding nonrecurring items, such as stock-based compensation costs and gains on the sale of investments, adjusted earnings per share of $3.56 beat the FactSet consensus of $3.43.

Revenue grew 21.1% to $1.649 billion, just above the FactSet consensus of $1.645 billion, as total products revenue rose 20.8% to $1.35 billion and maintenance and service revenue increased 22.5% to $297 million.

Gross margin improved to 80% from 79.1%.

For the full fiscal year through October, the company maintained its revenue guidance of $6.57 billion to $6.63 billion but raised its adjusted EPS outlook to $13.47-$13.55 from $13.33-$13.41.

KeyBanc Capital analyst Jason Celino reiterated his overweight rating on Synopsys's stock and his $675 price target following the earnings report.

"[W]e come away positive and continue to view [Synopsys] as a core decade-long growth holding, and view the upcoming investors day on March 20 as the next potential catalyst," Celino wrote.

On the post-earnings conference call with analysts, CEO Ghazi said that across industries, "a paradigm shift is under way" as companies race to deliver in an era of "pervasive intelligence" in which AI and smart technologies are omnipresent and interconnected.

"To capitalize on this shift, the technology industry is ... converging on a Silicon-to-Systems approach to innovation," Ghazi said, according to an AlphaSense transcript. "As the company at the heart of Silicon and Systems, Synopsys was made for this moment."

Regarding the design-automation business, Ghazi boasted about "strong design win activity" and about winning several "full-flow displacements" at chip and networking companies.

"A key differentiator in these competitive wins was the breadth and leadership of our [electronic-design-automation] platform, from digital-to-analog and from architecture to sign-off, all turbocharged with the industry's leading full-flow AI platform, Synopsys.ai," Ghazi said.

Synopsys's stock has run up 69% over the past 12 months, while the VanEck Semiconductor exchange-traded fund SMH has gone up 78.9% and the S&P 500 has advanced 26.8%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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02-22-24 1210ET

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