CEVA, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2015 Financial Results

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 4, 2015 -- CEVA, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEVA), the leading licensor of DSP and IP platforms for cellular, multimedia and connectivity, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2015.

Total revenue for the first quarter of 2015 was $13.8 million, a 1% increase compared to $13.7 million reported for the first quarter of 2014, exceeding the Company's guidance. First quarter 2015 licensing and related revenue was $7.8 million, 1% lower when compared to $7.9 million reported for the same quarter a year ago. Royalty revenue for the first quarter of 2015 was $6.0 million, an increase of 4% when compared to $5.8 million reported for the first quarter of 2014.

Gideon Wertheizer, Chief Executive Officer of CEVA, stated: "CEVA had an excellent start to 2015, with our first quarter revenues coming in above our guidance range. Demand for our DSP and connectivity product portfolios continues to grow, with a record twelve licensing agreements signed in the quarter. We also delivered year-over-year royalty revenue growth, driven primarily by LTE shipments. Overall, our results are encouraging and we remain confident in our growth prospects for the remainder of the year."

U.S. GAAP net income for the first quarter of 2015 was $0.5 million, a 76% decrease from $2.0 million reported for the same period in 2014. U.S. GAAP diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2015 were $0.02, a decrease of 78% when compared to $0.09 for the first quarter of 2014.

Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2015 were $1.6 million and $0.08, respectively, representing a 51% and 50% decrease, respectively, over the $3.4 million and $0.16 reported for the first quarter of 2014. Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2015 excluded (a) equity-based compensation expense of $0.8 million, and (b) the impact of the amortization of acquired intangibles and other costs, net of tax, of $0.3 million associated with the acquisition of RivieraWaves. Non-GAAP net income and diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2014 excluded an aggregate equity-based compensation expense, net of taxes, of $1.4 million.

During the quarter, CEVA completed 12 new license agreements. Seven of the agreements were for CEVA DSP cores, platforms and software and five of the agreements were for CEVA connectivity IPs. Of the twelve agreements signed during the quarter, ten are for non-baseband applications, and eight are with first time customers for CEVA, which reinforces both the importance and success of the Company's diversification strategy. Target applications for customer deployment are smartphones, LTE routers, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), surveillance cameras, wearables and storage systems. Geographically, five of the agreements signed were in the U.S, one was in Europe and six were in Asia.

Yaniv Arieli, Chief Financial Officer of CEVA, stated: "Our first quarter results reflect excellent licensing execution and continued growth in LTE smartphones enabled by our DSPs in the quarter, reaching an all-time high of more than seven million units shipped. During the quarter, we repurchased approximately 94,000 shares of our common stock for an aggregate consideration of approximately $1.9 million. At the end of the quarter, our cash balance, marketable securities and bank deposits totaled $128 million."

Financial Tables

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CEVA Conference Call
On May 4, 2015, CEVA management will conduct a conference call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the operating performance for the quarter.

The conference call will be available via the following dial in numbers:

• U.S. Participants: Dial 1-866-364-3869 (Access Code: CEVA)
• International Participants: Dial +1-412-902-4215 (Access Code: CEVA)

The conference call will also be available live via the Internet at the following link: http://www.videonewswire.com/event.asp?id=102027. Please go to the web site at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

For those who cannot access the live broadcast, a replay will be available by dialing +1-877-344-7529 or +1-412-317-0088 (access code: 10063393) from one hour after the end of the call until 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) on May 19, 2015. The replay will also be available at CEVA's investor web site investors.ceva-dsp.com.

About CEVA, Inc.
CEVA is the leading licensor of cellular, multimedia and connectivity technologies to semiconductor companies and OEMs serving the mobile, consumer, automotive and IoT markets. Our DSP IP portfolio includes comprehensive platforms for multimode 2G/3G/LTE/LTE-A baseband processing in terminals and infrastructure, computer vision and computational photography for any camera-enabled device, audio/voice/speech and ultra-low power always-on/sensing applications for multiple IoT markets. For connectivity, we offer the industry's most widely adopted IPs for Bluetooth (Smart and Smart Ready), Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n/ac up to 4x4) and serial storage (SATA and SAS). One in every three phones sold worldwide is powered by CEVA, from many of the world's leading OEMs including Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, HTC, LG, Coolpad, ZTE, Micromax and Meizu. Visit us at www.ceva-dsp.com and follow us on Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.