Royalty revenue more than doubled quarter-on-quarter; driven by a compromise with an existing licensee who took an additional 2-year license, including a catch-up for past months.
Recurring payments will continue every quarter; licensing income expected to grow ~50% per year, with line of sight to double within 2 years.
$300 million IP-related revenue figure includes some module business (NBM) tied to licensing deals; standalone licensing run rate in Q3 was $90 million.
Mgmt stance: Bullish – licensing business growing rapidly, lumpy but with significant upside; Vicor should be valued as a combination of licensing and module businesses.
Q2 — Jonathan Tanwanteng
Topic: Licensing customer details and bookings outlook
Key points:
Q3 licensing strength came from a second license with an existing licensee (still holds first license); prior deals included a hyperscaler before ITC case and a settlement with an ITC respondent in Q2.
Book-to-bill stepped up; base business (industrial, aerospace, defense) strengthened in Q3 as expected.
Expects to fill the fab, reducing underabsorption, leading to growth in bookings, backlog, and product revenue.
Mgmt stance: Bullish – product bookings and shipments growth driven by second-generation VPD and generation components; base business strengthening.
Q3 — Richard Shannon
Topic: IP licensing customer count, litigation returns, and second-gen VPD engagement
Key points:
Expects to sign up each OEM and hyperscaler in AI/data center space over next 2 years; existing exclusion order from ITC case remains for life of patents, affecting all parties dependent on infringing products.
Total returns from first ITC action (LEO 1) target has been raised; will continue through end of 2026 and beyond.
Second-gen VPD: lead customer production in Q1 2025; engaging 2–3 companies (hyperscaler + OEMs) with pre-production expected in H2 2025 (Q3/Q4).
Mgmt stance: Bullish – IP strategy effective; VPD solutions far ahead of competition (thinness <3mm vs. 5mm, current density); no alternative solutions meet specs.
Q4 — Unknown Analyst
Topic: Second-gen VPD performance and production timeline clarification
Key points:
Delivered units meeting original 100% target; working on 133% solution with a device taped out, initial samples in January.
Lead customer production in Q1 2025; other customers (hyperscaler/OEMs) production in Q3/Q4 2025.
Current 100% solution already sufficient for design wins with other customers due to thinness and current density advantages over VRs/IVRs.
Mgmt stance: Bullish – VPD technology scalable, adoption accelerated by lack of acceptable alternatives; conventional approaches (VRs, IVRs) fundamentally constrained by physics.
Q5 — Unknown Analyst
Topic: Second sourcing concerns and yield data
Key points:
Multi-sourcing is an ongoing issue; licensing model provides flexibility (covenant not to sue) but not know-how; open to shared fab ownership or other arrangements.
Licensing enables replication of fab in other regions with ~1-year lead time.
98% yield reported for a specific module produced at >100,000 units/month; not applicable to devices not in mass production.
Mgmt stance: Neutral – acknowledges need for multi-sourcing due to AI growth pace; prepared to enable it via licensing and flexible business models.