 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Semiconductors |
| Founded | 1960; 65 years ago (1960) inNewbury Park, California |
| Headquarters | Camarillo, California, U.S. |
Key people | Ye Jane Li (chairwoman) Dr. Hong Q. Hou[1](president &CEO) |
| Products | Semiconductors |
| Revenue |  US$869 million (2024) |
 US$−371 million (2024) | |
| US$−371.8 million (2024) | |
| Total assets | US$1.37 billion (2024) |
| Total equity | US$−307 million (2024) |
Number of employees | 1,917 (2024) |
| Website | semtech |
| Footnotes / references Financials as of January 28, 2024[update][2] | |
Semtech Corporation is an American supplier ofanalog andmixed-signalsemiconductors and advanced algorithms for consumer, enterprise computing, communications and industrial end-markets. It is based inCamarillo,Ventura County,Southern California. It was founded in 1960 in Newbury Park, California. It has 32 locations in 15 countries inNorth America,Europe, andAsia.[3]
Semtech is the developer ofLoRa, a long-range networking initiative for theInternet of Things.[4] As of March 2021, over 178 million devices use LoRa worldwide.[5] LoRa has been used in satellites, tracking of animals,[6]UAVradio control,[7] and natural disaster prediction,[8]
Semtech has been publicly traded since 1967. In 1995, Semtech ranked fifth on the Bloomberg 100 list of top-performing stocks of 1995 on theNew York andAmerican stock exchanges and the NASDAQ National Market.[9]
Semtech offers a variety of products, including LoRa, a long-range, low-power networking platform; receivers and transmitters; touch and proximity devices; wireless charging; and power management solutions.[10] Semtech's chips were utilized in products using theAmazon Sidewalk protocol,[11] as well as to monitor water leaks.[12] A collaboration with Unabiz to produce IoT devices that use both Semtech's LoRaWAN as well as Unabiz'sSigfox systems was announced in July 2023.[13] Semtech additionally offersHDMI toSDI converter chips[14] as well as LoRa transceiver with global coverage.[15] Semtech also offers cloud connectivity andVoice over LTE services.[16][17]
In December 1999, Semtech bought USAR Systems Inc., a maker of embedded devices for handheld and notebook computers, for $26.7 million in stock.[18][19]
In March 2012, it bought Gennum Corporation, a supplier of high-speed analog semiconductors, for approximatelyCA$500 million (US$494 million).[20] In the same month, they acquired Cycleo SAS, a supplier of wireless semiconductor products, for $5 million in cash.[21][22][23]
In August 2022, Semtech agreed to buy CanadianInternet of things (IoT) technology companySierra Wireless in an all-cash transaction valued at US$1.2 billion including debt,[24] representing a 25% premium on Sierra's market value at the time[25] The acquisition, completed in January 2023, was championed by then Semtech President & CEOMohan Maheswaran. The subsequentwrite down of $887M in 2024 against the all cash purchase price[26][27] suggests that the deal was significantly over valued.[27] There was also a reduction of in gross profit margins of the combined entity, reducing overall margin from Semtech's average profit margin of63% for 2021 to 2023 to49% for the combined entity in 2024, resulting in a significant loss for Semtech shareholders.[28]
The activist shareholder Lion Point Capital played a significant role in driving the acquisition. Having acquired a 9.4% stake in Sierra Wireless in April 2020, Lion Point entered into a cooperation agreement with Sierra Wireless resulting in the restructuring of the Sierra Wireless Board.[29] By the time Semtech announced its intent to acquire Sierra Wireless in August 2022, Lion Point Capital had become a significant shareholder of Sierra Wireless, enabling them to influence the acquisition process.[30] During this period Semtech's stock price plummeted from a high of$89.05 on November 29, 2021 to$26.53 in September 25, 2022 following the announcement of Semtech's intent to acquire Sierra Wireless.
While specific details are not public, Lion Point acquired a total of 4% of Semtech Corporation's outstanding shares through March 20, 2023 before entering into a cooperation agreement with Semtech, leading initially to the appointment of two independent directors by Lion Point, the subsequent forced"retirement" of Maheswaran[31] and theresignations of Semtech's ChairmanRockell N. Hankin (77); who had served on Semtech's Board of Directors from 1988 and as Chair from August 2006; andSylvia Summers Couder (72), who served on Semtech's Board from June 2012 including as Chair of Semtech's Board Audit Committee.[32]
As a result of his "retirement", Maheswaran earned an additional$1.7 million in cash and$7 million in stock as part of the separation agreement authorized by the Semtech Board of Directors.[33] Maheswaran does not currently serve in any executive capacity based on publicly available information. Hankin continues to serve as Chairman of theKavli Foundation, as a member of theState Bar of California and on the Board of Ultraviolet Devices Inc. Couder continues to serve as a Non Executive Board Director ofAristocrat Leisure.
By January 2024, the latest date for which figures are publicly available, Semtech had fired approximately40% of the headcount added through the acquisition of Sierra Wireless, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that the great majority of layoffs were born by the business units that comprised Semtech before the Sierra acquisition.[34]
Between November 29, 2021 and October 20, 2023 Semtech shareholders suffered an83% fall in the value of their investment in the company, substantially greater than the9.3% decrease observed in theS&P 500 Index during the same time frame.[35] In the same period Semtech's reported GAAP diluted EPS fell from a high of$0.91 profit per share in fiscal year2021 to a$(17.03) loss per share in 2023 and a$(9.98) loss per share in 2024, resulting in significant shareholder value destruction.
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