Nordic delivered strong results and robust guidance. This was rewarded with a solid gain during the day. Both YoY and compared to Q3, the trends were positive. It seems cellular didn’t soften at all. Similarly, the nRF54 series was said to account for about 15% of short-range sales. It’s on the rise. It was also mentioned that adoption has been slightly faster than expected and the feedback is very good.
In the conference call, I think for the first time it was emphasized how NS sees itself as a full-service IoT solution provider, whereas previously they viewed themselves as a chip manufacturer. Fleet management and other support services generate recurring revenue after the chip sale, which is healthy.
The technical capabilities of the nRF54 chips were also highlighted. In the ultra-low-power segment, it was mentioned that the NPUs in the nRF54 models are an order of magnitude more powerful than the competition, providing a clear technical backbone to lean on. And customers have noticed this as well. NPUs enable a power-efficient way to perform edge computing by significantly reducing the link budget.
Additionally, perhaps NS’s only direct peer, Silicon Labs, was sold to TI. The CEO was asked about this in the conference call. It’s interesting to see if someone comes after NS. At these valuation multiples, I think the price is far too low even if you added a premium similar to the SL offer on top.