Vicor Lifts Q3 Growth Forecast as Licensing Royalties Rise

Vicor shares rose nearly 9.9% in premarket trading on September 22 after the company raised its third-quarter revenue growth outlook to more than 20% sequentially, from nearly 10%. The Andover, Massachusetts-based power electronics maker said royalties from a recently announced technology license drove the change.

The revised forecast followed a September 16 announcement that Vicor had granted a new original equipment maker a non-exclusive license to its Vertical Power Delivery technology. The agreement lets the licensee buy covered modules from suppliers that do not hold Vicor licenses.

Vicor says VPD technology supplies power to high-performance AI processors. It aims to address limits in conventional power delivery as computing systems require more power in smaller spaces.

Chief Executive Patrizio Vinciarelli said four companies among original equipment makers and hyperscalers had secured licenses to Vicor’s power system technology. He also said some unlicensed hyperscalers contacted Vicor after import bans involving systems that allegedly infringed its patents.

The royalties add a licensing stream to Vicor’s sales of power components and systems. In its second quarter, ended June 30, Vicor reported $143.4 million in product and royalty revenue, up 26.9% from the first quarter, according to its earnings release.

The company’s licensing push is unfolding alongside plans to expand manufacturing. Vicor said in September it was purchasing two New Hampshire sites for planned ChiP Fab-2 and Fab-3, which together would cover nearly one million square feet.

Investors will look for the third-quarter results to show how much of the forecast increase comes from royalties and how much from product sales. Vicor’s September 21 guidance update did not give a dollar revenue estimate or break out the expected royalty contribution.