Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Ralph Schackart: Definitely. Thanks for taking the question. Kevin, you talked about the partnerships and design wins maybe they are lengthened or delayed because of the macro. I just wanted to get some more context on that, is that something that you’ve seen a little bit more pronounced this quarter and perhaps last, just any more color you could give, sort of linearity of extension of these partnerships or designs throughout the last fiscal year.

Kevin Yeaman: Yeah. I think as we as we said at the top, I wouldn’t say that we’ve seen a significant change in the macro since last time we talked, but obviously we’ve been operating in this environment for some time now. So there is kind of the cumulative effect of those things and we do continue — I do want to emphasize that we continue to bring on some great partners like BYD, like the wins we on mobile this quarter adding Honor and a number of smart speakers and headphones partners. But you’ll remember, Ralph, we were seeing some deals push out about a year, year and a half ago. Then we saw some of them land this last year, it’s just a little bit harder to predict the timing in this environment. And like I said and as you know, in the best of times, these adoption cycles are not always linear.

But when we have the level of momentum we have with content and the amount of adoption we have through distribution, we develop a very high degree of confidence that we can and will get on a much higher number of devices. But predicting that trajectory is not always easy, and it’s a little bit harder in this environment that could take the form of design win taking longer, it could take the form of once we get the design win, the customer is waiting for a chipset to launch that product. It could be that they are moving the launch around, how the external environment is affecting them.

Ralph Schackart: Great. And then one for Robert. Sounds like there is some further cost initiatives in the quarter. Maybe just kind of revisit your philosophy around operating expenses or how you’re thinking about them for this fiscal year and kind of maybe your philosophy going forward and I guess really you’re focusing on OpEx. Thank you.

Robert Park: Yeah, in terms of operating expenses, as Kevin said, we’re always looking at ways we can be more efficient and more effective in meeting our topline priorities, which is growing revenue in the most efficient way possible. You’ve seen that, what we’ve done in Q3 and in Q4, and finishing those actions here in November. And we’re going to continue doing. I don’t think you ever stop looking at it and make sure that you can be as effective and efficient as possible and the results of that as you see is expansion of the operating margins between 1 and 2 percentage points for the year. And that’s how we’re looking at it for this next year.

Ralph Schackart: Okay, thanks Rob. Thanks. Kevin.

Operator: Thank you. We’ll go next now to James Goss at Barrington Research.

James Goss: All right. Thank you. I was wondering, first on televisions, if you think there’s enough runway in terms of greater penetration with Atmos and Vision in the domestic markets, domestic manufacturers, for that to be our priority or do you think to the extent you’ve mentioned a couple of international television makers that could provide some opportunity that could rival whatever you’re doing domestically.

Kevin Yeaman: Yeah. I think that we have had some great wins internationally over the last couple of quarters. I think the way to think about it, Jim, is that we have a very-high penetration across the high end of the market. And there is a larger amount of televisions in the low-to mid-tier and we’re really confident in our ability to bring the Dolby experience to those devices given the momentum we have with movies and TV and given the increasing momentum we have with live sports. And that part of the market is going to be also about getting more of those international providers like the ones we’ve won, it’s also quite a bit of big box retailers and white-label brands and we’ve had design wins coming in, but the opportunity is still in front of us.

James Goss: Okay, but international probably is still significant to be a meaningful factor dollar-wise?

Kevin Yeaman: No. I would say it is the way to think about it is that we have high penetration at the high end. And so where that — where that falls geographically is largely about consumption. We have high penetration in the high-end in Europe, in China, and in many other markets. So, you have seen some wins from us in the last couple of quarters in India this quarter and in Indonesia, so certainly there is more opportunity there, but I think in terms of the growth opportunity that we’re excited about, we’re really thinking first and foremost about increasing our penetration on the low-to-mid-tier devices and sports is a really important value proposition for that and we really increased our presence in sports and we’re excited about where that’s going forward.