Company Overview
QuickLogic Corporation operates as a fabless semiconductor company that specializes in delivering embedded FPGA intellectual property, low power multicore semiconductor system-on-chips, discrete FPGAs, and AI software, alongside end-to-end artificial intelligence and machine learning solutions featuring accurate sensor algorithms. This technology-focused entity functions within the Technology sector and the Semiconductors industry, positioning itself to supply critical components for embedded systems that require high processing efficiency and flexibility. The company's current scale is defined by a market capitalization of $172.38M, annual revenue of $16.18M over the trailing twelve months, and an employee count of 59. These figures indicate that QuickLogic is a small-cap entity with a relatively compact workforce, suggesting a niche operational scope rather than a broad market dominance, which is typical for specialized fabless semiconductor firms focusing on specific embedded FPGA and AI software applications.
Financial Health
The company reported revenue of $16.18M for the trailing twelve months, while recording a net income of -$9,612,000 and an EBITDA of -$4,623,000, highlighting a significant gap between top-line generation and bottom-line profitability that reveals a cost structure where operating expenses substantially exceed gross profits. This negative financial performance is further evidenced by a free cash flow of -$2,974,875, which indicates that the company is currently burning cash and lacks the immediate financial flexibility to fund expansion without external capital injections or operational efficiencies. The margin profile shows a gross margin of 35.3%, which suggests reasonable pricing power on its semiconductor products, yet this is overwhelmed by an operating margin of -93.5% and a profit margin of -56.7%, indicating that overhead costs and research and development expenditures are severely compressing earnings before interest and taxes and after taxes respectively. On the balance sheet, QuickLogic holds $18.84M in cash against $18.24M in debt, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of 81.26, which characterizes a highly leveraged position where debt obligations nearly equal liquid assets. Short-term liquidity is constrained by a current ratio of 1.18, meaning current assets barely exceed current liabilities, leaving little room for error in managing working capital. Additionally, the return on equity stands at -42.1% and the return on assets is -11.5%, metrics that reveal management has yet to generate positive returns on the capital invested by shareholders or utilized in its asset base.
Valuation Assessment
Valuation metrics present a complex picture, with a trailing P/E ratio listed as N/A due to negative earnings, while the forward P/E stands at 62.31, implying that the market is pricing in a significant recovery in earnings over the next year despite current losses. The price-to-book ratio is 6.76, indicating that the market is assigning a substantial premium to the company's intangible assets, such as its FPGA intellectual property and AI software, which far exceed its net book value. Alternative valuation multiples provide further context, with a price-to-sales ratio of 10.65 and an EV/EBITDA of -36.73, suggesting that investors are willing to pay a high multiple for revenue growth potential even when traditional earnings-based metrics are distorted by losses. Price momentum over the past year ranges between a 52-week high of $10.20 and a 52-week low of $4.26, and while the exact current price is not provided in the source data, the wide trading range of nearly 140% demonstrates significant volatility in the stock's valuation over the last twelve months. Risk assessment is supported by a beta of 0.68, which indicates that the stock's price volatility is lower than the broader market, suggesting it may be less sensitive to general market swings compared to larger technology peers.
Growth & Income
The growth profile is currently negative, with revenue growth year-over-year at -34.6% and earnings growth listed as N/A due to the absence of positive earnings in the prior period, implying that the company is in a contractionary phase rather than a growth phase. QuickLogic does not pay dividends, evidenced by a dividend yield of N/A and a payout ratio of 0.0%, meaning the company reinvests all available resources, including the $18.84M in cash on hand, back into operations, R&D, or debt reduction rather than distributing income to shareholders. Consequently, the overall growth and income profile is characterized by a contraction in top-line revenue and a complete absence of dividend income, reflecting a strategy focused on survival and future expansion rather than current profitability or income generation for investors.