Netherlands-based chipmaker NXP Semiconductors NV today reported earnings and revenue that came in ahead of expectations, sending its stock slightly higher in after-hours trading.

The company reported net income of $657 million for the quarter, with earnings before certain costs such as stock compensation coming to $3.45 per share. That was better than expected, since Wall Street was looking for earnings of just $3.18 per share. NXP also reported revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, up 22% from a year ago and surpassing analysts’ consensus of $3.1 billion in sales.

NXP’s stock gained more than 1% on the report, following 3.5% gain earlier in the day.

NXP President and Chief Executive Kurt Sievers (pictured) said the company’s revenue was a record for the first quarter and above the midpoint of its own guidance.

“The strong growth we have anticipated for 2022 is materializing,” he continued. “We continue to see robust customer demand, especially our company-specific accelerated growth drivers. Overall, demand continues to outstrip increased supply, and inventory across all end markets remains very lean.”

The chipmaker manufactures a wide portfolio of silicon chips but is best known for its automotive semiconductors, which power everything from car infotainment systems to tire pressure monitoring systems and vehicle-to-vehicle communications. Notably, its chips are built with gateways that prevent communication with every network within a car independently, in order to protect vehicles from being hacked.

Besides automotive chips, NXP also sells semiconductors used in identification, wired and wireless infrastructure, lighting, industrial, consumer, mobile and computing applications.

NXP’s automotive business unit is not only the company’s biggest but also the fastest-growing. During the quarter it amassed $1.55 billion in revenue for the company, up 27% from a year ago. Industrial and IoT chip sales added an additional $682 million in sales, up 19% from a year ago, while mobile chip sales raked in $401 million, up 16%. Lastly, NXP’s communications infrastructure and other business segment added $496 million in sales, up 18% from one year ago.

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE that NXP delivered a strong quarter, doing remarkable work on the cost side of its business while also growing revenue by 20% and gross margin by  an impressive 50%.

“It’s rare to see a company’s profit grow by more than double its  revenue growth, especially in the semiconductor industry,” Mueller said.  “The other highlight is that all segments grew, not only year-over-year but also quarter-over-quarter, while NXP’s days sales outstanding was reduced by three days to 27. That’s important because getting paid 10% faster helps with cashflow and as such, it is a good fundamental. If there is one concern then it is management is predicting pedestrian growth with 4% at the mid point. But it’s better to be conservative and deliver.”

NXP said it’s looking at second-quarter revenue in a range of between $3.18 billion and $3.38 billion, well ahead of Wall Street’s forecast of $3.15 billion.

Photo: NXP Semiconductors