Astera Labs Announces Financial Results for the First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2025

   -- Record quarterly revenue of $159.4 million, up 13% QoQ and 144% YoY 
 
   -- Strong demand for PCIe scale-up and Ethernet scale-out in custom ASIC 
      platforms 
 
   -- PCIe 6 connectivity portfolio poised to ramp in leading GPU-based 
      rack-scale systems starting in Q2 

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Astera Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALAB), a global leader in semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for cloud and AI infrastructure, today announced preliminary financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, ended March 31, 2025.

"Astera Labs started the year strong, with Q1 revenue growing 13% sequentially and 144% year-over-year, and exceeding our first quarter guidance for gross margin and earnings per share," said Jitendra Mohan, Astera Labs' Chief Executive Officer. "Our design wins across AI platforms, expanding portfolio with increasing value for customers, and significant traction with Scorpio fabric solutions strategically position us as a critical connectivity supplier for the entire AI rack. During the quarter, we saw strong demand for PCIe scale-up and Ethernet scale-out connectivity solutions in custom ASIC platforms, along with initial shipments for Scorpio P-Series and Aries 6 Retimers for merchant GPU-based platforms. These factors and new opportunities for scale-up interconnects boost our confidence in accelerating R&D development to further strengthen our connectivity platform and to deliver results that outpace industry growth."

First Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights

GAAP Financial Results:

   -- Revenue of $159.4 million, up 13% sequentially and up 144% year-over-year 
 
   -- GAAP gross margin of 74.9% 
 
   -- GAAP operating income of $11.3 million 
 
   -- GAAP operating margin of 7.1% 
 
   -- GAAP net income of $31.8 million 
 
   -- GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.18 

Non-GAAP Financial Results (excluding the impact of stock-based compensation expense and the income tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments):

   -- Non-GAAP gross margin of 74.9% 
 
   -- Non-GAAP operating income of $53.7 million 
 
   -- Non-GAAP operating margin of 33.7% 
 
   -- Non-GAAP net income of $59.6 million 
 
   -- Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.33 

Q1 2025 and Recent Business Highlights

   -- Announced the production ramp of our PCIe Gen 6 connectivity portfolio to 
      drive next-generation AI and cloud infrastructure deployments. We are 
      currently shipping PCIe Gen 6 Scorpio P-Series Smart Fabric Switches, 
      Aries 6 PCIe/CXL Smart Retimers, and Aries 6 PCIe Smart Cable Modules. We 
      have also recently added Aries 6 PCIe Smart Gearboxes and will continue 
      to expand the portfolio with PCIe 6 over Optics Technology. This broad 
      PCIe 6 portfolio seamlessly integrates with our COSMOS software suite to 
      deliver a smart, customizable connectivity backbone that enables data 
      center observability, enhanced security, and extensive fleet management 
      capabilities. 
 
   -- Introduced a PCIe 6-ready reference design based on NVIDIA 
      Blackwell-based MGX platform leveraging Scorpio Smart Fabric Switches for 
      AI and cloud infrastructure. The modular design scales across different 
      NVIDIA MGX configurations to accelerate time-to-market and deliver 
      leading performance for next-generation AI systems. Scorpio-based 
      solutions enable customers to maximize GPU productivity through enhanced 
      data center observability, telemetry, and diagnostics using our COSMOS 
      rack-scale management software. 
 
   -- Ultra Accelerator Link$(TM)$ (UALink(TM)) Consortium announced the 
      ratification of the UALink 200G 1.0 Specification which defines a 
      low-latency, high-bandwidth interconnect for communication between 
      accelerators and switches supporting up to 1,024 accelerators within an 
      AI computing pod. As a board member and key contributor, Astera Labs 
      proudly supports this new standard and is uniquely positioned to lead in 
      this space by delivering a complete portfolio of connectivity solutions 
      based on our deep expertise within scalable AI infrastructure. 
 
   -- Expanded our Cloud-Scale Interop Lab to accelerate time-to-market of PCIe 
      6 AI platforms powered by Scorpio Smart Fabric Switches. Rigorous 
      interoperability and performance testing of Scorpio P-Series Fabric 
      Switches is accomplished with a wide range of PCIe 6.x exercisers, 
      analyzers, GPUs, CPUs, NICs and SSDs across multiple PCIe generations and 
      topologies. At the GTC 2025 show, we showcased the first end-to-end PCIe 
      6 interoperability with NVIDIA's Blackwell GPU and Micron's NVMe SSD with 
      both our Aries 6 PCIe Smart Retimer and Scorpio-P PCIe Smart Fabric 
      Switch. The expansion of our Cloud-Scale Interop Lab will enable 
      customers to design with confidence, minimize interoperation risk, and 
      reduce overall development time and costs. 
 
   -- Appointed seasoned technology industry veteran Dr. Craig Barratt to our 
      Board of Directors. Dr. Barratt brings decades of experience as an 
      impactful leader and board member across multiple networking, 
      semiconductor, and medical device companies. His deep technical expertise 
      and strategic insights will provide Astera Labs with critical guidance 
      that assists our efforts in expanding our leadership position in 
      high-performance connectivity solutions for AI and cloud infrastructure. 

Second Quarter of Fiscal 2025 Financial Outlook

Based on current business trends and conditions, Astera Labs estimates the following:

GAAP Financial Outlook:

   -- Revenue within a range of $170 million to $175 million 
 
   -- GAAP gross margin of approximately 74% 
 
   -- GAAP operating expenses within a range of approximately $113 million to 
      $115 million 
 
   -- GAAP tax rate of approximately 21% 
 
   -- GAAP diluted earnings per share within a range of approximately $0.10 to 
      $0.11 on weighted-average diluted shares outstanding of approximately 178 
      million 

Non-GAAP Financial Outlook (excluding the impact of stock-based compensation expense and the income tax effects of non-GAAP adjustments):

   -- Non-GAAP gross margin of approximately 74% 
 
   -- Non-GAAP operating expenses within a range of approximately $73 million 
      to $75 million 
 
   -- Non-GAAP tax rate of approximately 10% 
 
   -- Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share within a range of approximately $0.32 
      to $0.33 on non-GAAP weighted-average diluted shares outstanding of 
      approximately 178 million 

Earnings Webcast and Conference Call

Astera Labs will host a conference call to review its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 and to discuss our financial outlook today at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Interested parties may join the conference call by dialing 1-800-715-9871 and using conference ID 5908687. The call will also be webcast and can be accessed at the Astera Labs website at https://ir.asteralabs.com/. The webcast will be recorded and available for replay on the company's website for the next six months.

Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We use certain non-GAAP financial measures, including those concerning our financial outlook, to supplement the performance measures in our consolidated financial statements, which are presented in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the closest GAAP measure can be found later in this release. The timing and impact of any adjustments to arrive at the corresponding GAAP financial measures concerning our financial outlook are inherently dependent on future events that are typically uncertain or that may be outside of our control. These non-GAAP financial measures include non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP tax rate, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP pro forma diluted earnings per share, and non-GAAP pro forma weighted-average share count. We use these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to assist us in evaluating period-to-period comparisons. By excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our recurring core operating results, we believe that, non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP tax rate, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP pro forma diluted earnings per share, and non-GAAP pro forma weighted-average share count provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance. Accordingly, we believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors and others because they allow for additional information with respect to financial measures used by management in its financial and operational decision-making and they may be used by our institutional investors and the analyst community to help them analyze the health of our business. However, there are a number of limitations related to the use of non-GAAP financial measures, and these non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from, our financial results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate these non-GAAP financial measures differently or not at all, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures.

We adjust the following items from one or more of our non-GAAP financial measures:

Stock-based compensation expense

We exclude stock-based compensation expense, which is a non-cash expense, from certain of our non-GAAP financial measures because we believe that excluding this item provides meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance. In particular, companies calculate non-cash stock-based compensation expense using a variety of valuation methodologies and subjective assumptions. Moreover, stock-based compensation expense is a non-cash charge that can vary significantly from period to period for reasons that are unrelated to our core operating performance, and therefore excluding this item provides investors and other users of our financial information with information that allows meaningful comparisons of our business performance across periods.

Employer payroll taxes related to stock-based compensation resulting from our IPO

We exclude employer payroll taxes related to the time-based vesting and net settlement of restricted stock units in connection with our initial public offering (the "IPO"), because this does not correlate to the operation of our business. We believe that excluding this item provides meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance given the amount of employer payroll tax-related items on employee stock transactions was immaterial prior to our IPO.

Income tax effect

This represents the impact of the non-GAAP adjustments on an after-tax basis and one-off discrete tax adjustments that are unrelated to our core operating performance in connection with the presentation of non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per diluted share. This approach is designed to enhance investors' ability to understand the impact of our non-GAAP tax expense on our current operations, provide improved modeling accuracy, and substantially reduce fluctuations caused by GAAP to non-GAAP adjustments.

Non-GAAP pro forma weighted-average shares to compute non-GAAP pro forma net income per share

We present non-GAAP pro forma weighted-average shares, assuming our redeemable convertible preferred stock is converted from the beginning of each respective periods presented, to provide meaningful supplemental information regarding EPS trend on a consistent basis. All of our outstanding redeemable preferred stock converted into the equivalent number of shares of common stock in connection with our IPO.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on Astera Labs' current expectations. The words "believe," "confidence," "continue, " "deliver," "enable," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "opportunities," "provide," "will," and similar phrases as they relate to Astera Labs are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current views and assumptions of Astera Labs as of May 6, 2025, and are subject to various assumptions, beliefs, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our future operating results, financial position and guidance, including for the second quarter of fiscal 2025; our business strategy and plans, including our ability to accelerate R&D development, expand our product offerings, increase our market opportunity, and scale our connectivity platform; our objectives for future operations; our development, delivery and/or testing (e.g., via our Cloud-Scale Interop Lab) of new or enhanced products such as our PCIe 6 connectivity solutions and our Scorpio P-Series Smart Fabric Switches and the anticipated performance and results of those products for our customers; our competitive positioning; our R&D and strategic IP plans; our board composition and the effects thereof; and macroeconomic trends in cloud and AI infrastructure. A variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation: the competitive and cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry; the concentration of our customer base; the changes in demand for AI; the macroeconomic and/or geopolitical environment, including economic uncertainty and increased volatility in the capital markets; risks that demand for our products and the supply chain may be adversely affected, including by the imposition of tariffs by the United States or any other jurisdiction and any corresponding retaliatory tariffs, changes in political policies, military conflict (such as between Russia/Ukraine and Israel/Hamas), terrorism, sanctions or other geopolitical events globally (including conflict between Taiwan and China); quarterly fluctuations in revenues and operating results; difficulties developing new products that achieve market acceptance; risks associated with managing international activities (including trade barriers, particularly with respect to China); absence of long-term commitments from customers; risks that Astera Labs may not be able to manage strains associated with its growth; credit risks associated with its accounts receivable; stock price volatility; information technology risks, including cyber-attacks against Astera Labs' products and its networks; and other risks and uncertainties that are detailed under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Annual Report on 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 14, 2025, and in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and the other SEC filings and reports Astera Labs may make from time to time. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment, and new risks may emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor(s) may cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Accordingly, you should not unduly rely on any of the forward-looking statements. Astera Labs disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

About Astera Labs

Our PCIe, CXL and Ethernet semiconductor-based connectivity solutions are purpose-built to unleash the full potential of accelerated computing at cloud-scale. Inspired by trusted partnerships with hyperscalers and the data center ecosystem, we are an innovation leader of products that are customizable, interoperable, and reliable. Discover how we are transforming AI and modern data-driven applications at www.asteralabs.com.

 
 
                          ASTERA LABS, INC. 
 
          CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) 
                            (In thousands) 
 
                                                     As of 
                                         ----------------------------- 
                                          March 31,     December 31, 
                                             2025           2024 
                                         -----------  ---------------- 
Assets 
Current assets 
   Cash and cash equivalents             $   86,431    $     79,551 
   Marketable securities                    838,295         834,750 
   Accounts receivable, net                  69,778          38,811 
   Inventory                                 51,057          43,215 
   Prepaid expenses and other current 
    assets                                   30,258          16,652 
                                          ---------       --------- 
      Total current assets                1,075,819       1,012,979 
Property and equipment, net                  39,474          35,651 
Other assets                                  6,401           5,878 
                                          ---------       --------- 
Total assets                             $1,121,694    $  1,054,508 
                                          =========       ========= 
 
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity 
Current liabilities 
   Accounts payable                      $   29,513    $     26,918 
   Accrued expenses and other current 
    liabilities                              47,767          59,624 
                                          ---------       --------- 
      Total current liabilities              77,280          86,542 
Other liabilities                             2,852           3,167 
                                          ---------       --------- 
      Total liabilities                      80,132          89,709 
                                          ---------       --------- 
 
Stockholders' equity 
   Common stock                                  16              16 
   Additional paid-in capital             1,216,495       1,173,153 
   Accumulated other comprehensive 
    income                                    2,028             426 
   Accumulated deficit                     (176,977)       (208,796) 
                                          ---------       --------- 
      Total stockholders' equity          1,041,562         964,799 
                                          ---------       --------- 
Total liabilities and stockholders' 
 equity                                  $1,121,694    $  1,054,508 
                                          =========       ========= 
 
 
                       ASTERA LABS, INC. 
 
  CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited) 
            (In thousands, except per share amounts) 
 
                                    Three Months Ended 
                          -------------------------------------- 
                          March 31,   December 31,    March 31, 
                             2025         2024           2024 
                          ---------  --------------  ----------- 
Revenue                   $159,442    $    141,096   $ 65,258 

(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2025 16:05 ET (20:05 GMT)