Keysight reported a net loss for the quarter due to a $315 million tax-related expense in Singapore
Keysight Technologies beat the high end of its guidance for the most recent quarter, but still saw lower revenues than the year-ago period and recorded a loss due to foreign taxes.
For the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, revenue was $1.29 billion, compared with $1.31 billion during the same period last year. Net loss was $73 million, compared to income of $226 million during the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023; Keysight said that this was due to a $315 million tax-related charge due to a “new Singapore tax incentive and corresponding decrease in deferred tax assets.”
Keysight saw a run of record revenue during 2023, but 2024 has seen a pullback of revenue—albeit with steady performance by the company—amid an overall softer telecom market globally.
For the full fiscal year, Keysight reported revenue of $4.98 billion, compared with $5.46 billion last year. Net income for the full fiscal year 2024 was $0.61 billion, compared to just over a billion dollars during fiscal 2023.
Keysight said that in terms of its operating businesses, its Communications Solutions Group (CSG) had flat revenues year-over-year of about $900 million for the quarter; aerospace, defense and government spending was down, but AI-related spending in commercial communications balanced that it out. Its Electronic Industrial Solutions Group (EISG) saw revenues down 6% from the same time last year to $393 million, which the company said was due to “ongoing constraint in manufacturing-related customer spending.”
“Keysight executed well and delivered fourth quarter revenue and earnings per share above the high end of guidance under market conditions which remained consistent with our expectations,” said Satish Dhanasekaran, Keysight’s President and CEO, in a statement. “As we look ahead, the strength of our differentiated portfolio, deep engagement with customers, and the accelerating pace of technology innovation give us confidence in our ability to outperform as markets recover.”
In other test news:
-ICYMI: Ookla collected and analyzed Speedtest data looking at the early performance of the newly released iPhone 16 in 11 countries. Read the performance breakdowns here.
-Danish digital infrastructure provider TDC Net will be using Viavi Solutions’ Nitro AIOpens for automated, end-to-end network monitoring across multiple domains. Viavi said that the deployment is part of TDC NET’s “larger transformation strategy that includes other vendors integrated by Infosys.”
“As a connectivity pioneer in Denmark, TDC Net is focused on improving and automating the operations for both fixed-line and mobile networks, so we rely on proven innovation and performance from partners like Viavi,” said Carsten Rasmussen, TDC Net’s head of IT enablement. “The end-to-end network monitoring offered by Nitro AIOps is essential for maintaining optimal network performance, enhancing service quality and improving the experience for our customers.”
–Keysight Technologies said that it worked with Samsung Electronics to use Keysight’s Ultra-Wideband (UWB) test solution to validate secure Fine Ranging (FiRa) 2.0 test cases for on Samsung’s Exynos Connect U100 chipset. Keysight noted that the FiRa 2.0 test specification lays out test cases meant to confirm that FiRa 2.0 products have robust security, including against certain types of physical layer attack scenarios.
“Ultra-wideband technology is rapidly emerging as a transformative force, and security is essential for its effective implementation. Secure-ranging test cases contribute to the UWB ecosystem’s advancement into markets with higher security requirements,” said Peng Cao, VP and GM of Keysight’s Wireless Test group. “Keysight is committed to offering cutting-edge test solutions that ensure our customers’ devices meet FiRa 2.0 test specifications and interoperability standards.”
Keysight also had a couple of pieces of software news this week: The company said that it added artificial intelligence, machine learning and Python integration to its Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software portfolio. The company said that the enhanced solution cuts radio device frequency modeling time from days to hours.
“AI is transforming how engineers approach complex design challenges. Automating traditionally time-intensive tasks enables engineers to focus on innovation rather than repetitive refinements, resulting in real productivity gains,” said Nilesh Kamdar, EDA Design and Verification GM at Keysight, in a statement. “The foundation for the practical application of AI and ML is first having an open, interoperable workflow and then providing turn-key solutions tuned for specific applications. It’s a fascinating time, and AI and ML will undoubtedly be a huge driver of design innovation in the future.”
Keysight also said that it is providing its EDA software to six of the eight hubs that participate in the Microelectronics Commons created in 2023 as part of the United States’ CHIPS and Science Act to speed up domestic microelectronics hardware prototyping and workforce development.
–Anritsu has joined the OpenROADM Multi-Source Agreement (MSA), which lays out specifications to enable multi-vendor interoperability for optical transmission networks, as the first participating test and measurement vendor.
“The OpenROADM MSA Group is committed to the open evolution of network management and vendor interoperability. We eagerly anticipate collaborating on network orchestration, which will enable us to control and monitor the quality of the entire network,” said Tadanori Nishikobara, marketing director of the Service Infrastructure Solutions Division at Anritsu. “Additionally, we are excited about the prospect of introducing test & measurement innovations facilitating network fault detection and causal analysis.”
Anritsu also highlighted its support of OpenROADM this week at the the Supercomputing Conference 24 in Atlanta, Georgia. The test company collaborated with the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) to demonstrate a system, as Anritsu described it, “combines OpenROADM for flexible network configuration and IPoDWDM for high-capacity transmission and demonstrates an orchestration system to control the entire network and monitor network quality.
“The collaboration is an example of Anritsu contributing to system development focusing on the future automatic autonomous network configuration,” the company added.
