Press Release Details

Latest Events

Press Release Details

Rambus Reports Third Quarter Earnings; Earnings Per Share of 10 Cents for Third Quarter Includes Tax Benefits Revenue Growth of 36% Over Third Quarter Last Year

October 14, 2004

LOS ALTOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2004--Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS - News), a leading developer of chip interface products and services, today reported financial results for the third quarter of 2004. Earnings per share for the quarter were 10 cents, compared to 5 cents in the third quarter last year and 8 cents in the previous quarter. Approximately 3 cents of the earnings per share for the third quarter was attributable to an anticipated lower effective tax rate for the year which resulted primarily from increased credits on foreign taxes withheld. Net income for the third quarter was $10.4 million (27% of revenue), compared to $5.0 million in the third quarter last year and $8.3 million in the previous quarter. Approximately $2.7 million of the net income for the third quarter was attributable to the previously mentioned foreign tax credit utilization. Revenue for the third quarter was $38.8 million, up 36% over the third quarter last year and up 11% from the previous quarter.

"Our revenue growth of 36% demonstrates the excellent progress our team is making on multiple fronts," said Geoff Tate, chief executive officer at Rambus. "Our contract revenue doubled over a year ago primarily as a result of our best ever quarter in our serial link business as well as significant development work in our XDR and Redwood customer programs."

Third quarter results reflected $8.3 million in contract revenues, up 107% over the third quarter last year and up 55% from the previous quarter. This increase in contract revenues over the third quarter last year primarily reflects revenues from contracts signed in 2003 for our XDR memory interface and Redwood interface technologies and a serial link contract. Third quarter results include $30.5 million in royalties, up 24% over the third quarter last year and up 3% from the previous quarter.

Total costs and expenses were $28.1 million compared with $22.2 million in the third quarter last year and $24.4 million last quarter. This 15% sequential increase in costs and expenses was primarily attributable to a $1.9 million increase in litigation expense and a $1.3 million increase in marketing, general and administrative expenses.

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities decreased $13 million to $219 million since June 30, 2004. This decrease resulted primarily from $11.1 million in cash paid to Cadence Design Systems for the purchase of certain serial link patents and cells, $7.6 million used for the repurchase of Rambus common stock and $6.5 million invested in property and equipment. These uses of cash were partially offset by operating cash flow of $10.3 million.

The earnings announcement call will be broadcast live on our website (www.rambus.com) at 2:00 p.m. PDT today. Please log-on early if you do not already have the necessary software to listen to the call.

The conference call replay number is 800-642-1687 and the ID number is 1133935. For international callers, the number is 706-645-9291. The replay will be available on our website beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT today.

About Rambus

Rambus is one of the world's leading providers of advanced chip-to-chip interface products and services. Since its founding in 1990, the Company's innovations, breakthrough technologies and integration expertise have helped industry-leading chip and system companies solve their most challenging and complex I/O problems and bring their products to market. Rambus's interface solutions can be found in numerous computing, consumer, and communications products and applications. Rambus is headquartered in Los Altos, California, with regional offices in North Carolina, Taiwan and Japan. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including our CEO's statements contained herein regarding our progress on multiple fronts and the significance of our ongoing development work. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's industry, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by the Company's management. Actual results may differ materially. Among the reasons which could cause actual results to differ materially are the uncertainty of realizing significant benefits from our serial link business or our investment in developing new and improving our existing products and services. Our business generally is subject to a number of risks which are described in our SEC filings including our 10-K and 10-Qs.

                              RAMBUS INC.
                 CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
               (in thousands, except per share amounts)
                              (unaudited)


                           Three Months Ended      Nine Months Ended
                       --------------------------  -----------------
                      Sept. 30, June 30, Sept. 30, Sept. 30, Sept. 30,
                          2004     2004     2003      2004     2003
                       -------- -------- --------  -------- --------
Revenues:
 Contract revenues       $8,276   $5,349   $4,005   $18,704  $11,015
 Royalties               30,483   29,616   24,555    87,561   74,819
                        -------- -------- --------  -------- --------
 Total revenues          38,759   34,965   28,560   106,265   85,834
                        -------- -------- --------  -------- --------
Costs and expenses:
 Cost of contract
  revenues                5,328    4,957    4,247    15,519   10,805
 Research and
  development             8,056    7,929    7,565    23,412   22,968
 Marketing, general &
  administrative          8,065    6,724    5,711    21,819   17,771
 Litigation expense       6,662    4,747    4,650    15,587   18,095
                        -------- -------- --------  -------- --------
  Total costs and
   expenses              28,111   24,357   22,173    76,337   69,639
                        -------- -------- --------  -------- --------
Operating income         10,648   10,608    6,387    29,928   16,195
Interest and other
 income, net              1,149    2,199      976     7,452    5,281
                        -------- -------- --------  -------- --------
Income before income
 taxes                   11,797   12,807    7,363    37,380   21,476
Provision for income
 taxes                    1,410    4,483    2,356    10,364    6,872
                        -------- -------- --------  -------- --------
Net income              $10,387   $8,324   $5,007   $27,016  $14,604
                        ======== ======== ========  ======== ========
Net income per share -
 basic                    $0.10    $0.08    $0.05     $0.27    $0.15
                        ======== ======== ========  ======== ========
Net income per share -
 diluted                  $0.10    $0.08    $0.05     $0.24    $0.14
                        ======== ======== ========  ======== ========
Shares used in per
 share calculations:
    Basic               101,875  102,500   97,498   101,781   97,361
    Diluted             107,573  109,850  106,001   110,441  105,044


                              RAMBUS INC.
                      CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
                            (in thousands)
                              (unaudited)

                                        Sept. 30,  June 30,  Dec. 31,
                                           2004      2004      2003
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
 ASSETS
 Current assets:
      Cash and cash equivalents           $28,443   $42,967   $42,005
      Marketable securities                88,507    43,042    24,777
      Accounts receivable                   1,742       454    10,263
      Prepaid and deferred taxes           12,310    12,370    12,890
      Prepaids and other current
       assets                               4,487     6,861     5,652
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
           Total current assets           135,489   105,694    95,587
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
 Property and equipment, net               17,892    13,121    10,965
 Marketable securities, long-term         102,123   145,705   121,756
 Restricted investments                     4,816     5,081     4,576
 Deferred taxes, long-term                 69,198    60,462    43,557
 Purchased intangible assets, net          22,672    12,522    13,184
 Other assets                               1,171     1,179     3,461
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
 Total assets                            $353,361  $343,764  $293,086
                                        ========== ========= =========

 Total cash, cash equivalents and
  marketable securities                  $219,073  $231,714  $188,538

 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
 Current liabilities:
      Accounts payable and other
       current liabilities                $15,793   $13,251   $10,804
      Deferred revenue                     24,485    23,320    24,180
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
           Total current
            liabilities                    40,278    36,571    34,984
 Deferred revenue, less current
  portion                                   5,453    11,134    18,022
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
           Total liabilities               45,731    47,705    53,006
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
 Stockholders' equity:
      Common Stock                            102       102        99
      Additional paid-in capital          319,720   319,012   278,187
      Accumulated other
       comprehensive gain                    (800)   (1,277)      201
      Accumulated deficit                 (11,392)  (21,778)  (38,407)
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
           Total stockholders'
            equity                        307,630   296,059   240,080
                                        ---------- --------- ---------
 Total liabilities and
  stockholders' equity                   $353,361  $343,764  $293,086
                                        ========== ========= =========