Dolby Laboratories Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Dolby Laboratories has reported their third quarter 2024 financial results, which were in line with the company's expectations
San Francisco, CA ( August 7, 2024 ) -

“Our third quarter results were in line with expectations,” said Kevin Yeaman, President and CEO, Dolby Laboratories. “This quarter we continued to build momentum for the content available in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, especially in sports, with viewers around the world enjoying the T20 Cricket World Cup, UEFA EURO 2024, Wimbledon, the NHL and NBA post seasons and right now, the Olympics in Dolby.”

Third Quarter Fiscal 2024 Financial Highlights

  • Total revenue was $288.8 million, compared to $298.4 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
  • GAAP net income was $38.4 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $16.4 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2023. On a non-GAAP basis, third quarter net income was $68.8 million, or $0.71 per diluted share, compared to $54.1 million, or $0.55 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
  • Dolby repurchased approximately 423,000 shares of its common stock and ended the quarter with approximately $72 million of stock repurchase authorization available going forward.
  • A complete listing of Dolby’s non-GAAP measures are described and reconciled to the corresponding GAAP measures at the end of this release.

    Recent Business Highlights

  • Cadillac announced the 2025 OPTIQ EV with Dolby Atmos.
  • Electric automotive manufacturer Rivian launched the second generation of its flagship vehicles, the R1S SUV and R1T pickup, that feature support for Dolby Atmos.
  • Great Wall Motors launched its new smart cabin system, Coffee OS 3, and a new automobile model with Dolby Atmos.
  • Transsion added a Dolby enabled low cost phone for consumers in Malaysia.
  • Sharp Singapore launched the R8s Pro smartphone series with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
  • Realme launched the GT6, the first smartphone to support Dolby Vision video capture in telephoto video.
  • The T20 Cricket World Cup, UEFA EURO 2024, Wimbledon, and the NHL and NBA post seasons were all available in Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.
  • Comcast announced that the 2024 Olympics coverage will be available in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.
  • Sonos launched headphones that support Dolby Head Tracking with Dolby Atmos.
  • VIZIO announced integration of Dolby Atmos across its entire 2024 soundbar lineup.
  • Lenovo launched several new flagship products that support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos – including the Yoga Air, moto razr, and moto S50 Neo.
  • Melco Resorts & Entertainment opened Studio City Cinema, which is the first Dolby Cinema in the Hong Kong Macau Region.
  • Dividend

    Today, Dolby announced a cash dividend of $0.30 per share of Class A and Class B common stock, payable on August 27, 2024, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 19, 2024.

    Stock Repurchase Program

    Today, Dolby also announced that its Board of Directors has approved increasing the size of its stock repurchase program by $350 million, bringing the amount available for future repurchases of its Class A Common Stock to approximately $422 million. Stock repurchases under this program may be made through open market transactions, negotiated purchases, or otherwise, at times and in amounts that the company considers appropriate.

    Financial Outlook

    Dolby’s financial outlook relies, in part, on estimates of royalty-based revenue that take into consideration various factors that are subject to uncertainty, including consumer demand for electronic products. In addition, actual results could differ materially from the estimates Dolby is providing below due in part to uncertainty resulting from the macroeconomic effect of certain conditions, including supply chain constraints, international conflicts, geopolitical instability, and fluctuations in inflation and interest rates. The uncertainty resulting from these factors has greatly reduced its visibility into Dolby’s future outlook. To the extent possible, the estimates Dolby is providing for future periods reflect certain assumptions about the potential impact of certain of these items, based upon a consideration of currently available external and internal data and information. These assumptions are subject to risks and uncertainties. For more information, see “Forward-Looking Statements” in this press release for a description of certain risks that Dolby faces, and the section captioned “Risk Factors” in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter of fiscal 2024, to be filed on or around the date hereof.

    Dolby is providing the following estimates for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2024:

  • Total revenue is estimated to range from $300 million to $320 million.
  • Licensing revenue is estimated to range from $275 million to $295 million.
  • Gross margins are anticipated to be approximately 88%.
  • Operating expenses are anticipated to range from $225 million to $235 million on a GAAP basis and from $190 million to $200 million on a non-GAAP basis.
  • Effective tax rate is anticipated to be around 29% on a GAAP basis and around 23% on a non-GAAP basis.
  • Diluted earnings per share is anticipated to range from $0.31 to $0.46 on a GAAP basis and from $0.61 to $0.76 on a non-GAAP basis.
  • Dolby is providing the following estimates for the full year of fiscal 2024:

  • Total revenue is expected to range from $1.27 billion to $1.29 billion.
  • Gross margins are anticipated to be roughly 89%.
  • Operating expenses are anticipated to range from $875 million to $885 million on a GAAP basis and from $735 million to $745 million on a non-GAAP basis.
  • Dolby expects operating margins on a GAAP basis to be roughly 20% and on a non-GAAP basis to be roughly 31%.
  • Diluted earnings per share is anticipated to range from $2.40 to $2.55 on a GAAP basis and from $3.60 to $3.75 on a non-GAAP basis.
  • Non-GAAP Financial Information

    To supplement Dolby’s financial statements presented on a GAAP basis, Dolby management uses, and Dolby provides to investors, certain non-GAAP financial measures as an additional tool to evaluate Dolby’s operating results in a manner that focuses on what Dolby’s management believes to be its ongoing business operations and performance. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are also helpful to investors in enabling comparability of operating performance between periods and among peer companies. Additionally, Dolby’s management regularly uses our supplemental non-GAAP financial measures to make operating decisions, for planning and forecasting purposes and determining bonus payouts. Specifically, Dolby excludes the following as adjustments from one or more of its non-GAAP financial measures:

    Stock-based compensation expense: Stock-based compensation, unlike cash-based compensation, utilizes subjective assumptions in the methodologies used to value the various stock-based award types that Dolby grants. These assumptions may differ from those used by other companies. To facilitate more meaningful comparisons between its underlying operating results and those of other companies, Dolby excludes stock-based compensation expense.

    Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles: Dolby amortizes intangible assets acquired in connection with business combinations. These intangible assets consist of patents and technology, customer relationships, and other intangibles. Dolby records amortization charges relating to these intangible assets in its GAAP financial statements, and Dolby views these charges as items arising from pre-acquisition activities that are determined by the timing and valuation of its acquisitions. As these amortization charges do not directly correlate to its operations during any particular period, Dolby excludes these charges to facilitate an evaluation of its current operating performance and comparisons to its past operating results. In addition, while amortization expense of acquisition-related intangible assets is excluded from Non-GAAP Net Income, the revenue generated from those assets is not excluded.

    Restructuring charges or credits: Restructuring charges are costs associated with restructuring plans and primarily relate to costs associated with exit or disposal activities, employee severance benefits, and asset impairments. Dolby excludes restructuring costs, including any adjustments to charges recorded in prior periods (which may be credits), as Dolby believes that these costs are not representative of its normal operating activities and therefore, excluding these amounts enables a more effective comparison of its past operating performance and to that of other companies.

    Income tax adjustments: The income tax effects of the aforementioned non-GAAP adjustments do not directly correlate to its operating performance so Dolby believes that excluding such income tax effects provides a more meaningful view of its underlying operating results to management and investors.

    Using the aforementioned adjustments, Dolby provides various non-GAAP financial measures including, but not limited to: non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP operating margin, and non-GAAP effective tax rate. Dolby’s management believes it is useful for itself and investors to review both GAAP and non-GAAP measures to assess the performance of Dolby’s business, including as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Dolby’s management does not itself, nor does it suggest that investors should, consider non-GAAP financial measures in isolation from, superior to, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. Whenever Dolby uses non-GAAP financial measures, it provides a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most closely applicable GAAP financial measures. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures as detailed above and below. Investors are also encouraged to review Dolby’s GAAP financial statements as reported in its US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures is provided at the end of this press release and on the Dolby investor relations website, http://investor.dolby.com.

    About Dolby Laboratories
    Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) is based in San Francisco, California with offices around the globe. From movies and TV shows, to apps, music, sports and gaming, Dolby transforms the science of sight and sound into spectacular experiences for billions of people worldwide. Dolby partners with artists, storytellers, developers, and businesses to revolutionize entertainment and communications with Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, Dolby Cinema, and Dolby.io.

    Dolby, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, Dolby Cinema, Dolby.io, and the double-D symbol are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.