Ambiq Micro Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
Ambiq Micro (NYSE:AMBQ) said first-quarter 2026 results exceeded its expectations as demand for edge artificial intelligence accelerated across its customer base, with management pointing to strong product launch ramps, a new customer entering production and expanding use cases beyond wearables.
Chief Executive Officer Humi Esaka said Ambiq began 2026 with “exceptional momentum,” citing rapid growth in the edge AI market and demand for the company’s ultra-low power SPOT platform. She said more than 80% of units shipped in the quarter were running AI algorithms, and that inventory levels remain lean as the company sees more expedited customer requests.
“The market for Edge AI is growing rapidly and is outpacing our expectations from the start of the year,” Esaka said. She added that Ambiq expects momentum to continue through the rest of 2026.
First-quarter sales rise nearly 60%
Chief Financial Officer Jeff Winzeler said first-quarter net sales were $25.1 million, up 59.3% year over year, driven by broad-based strength across the customer base. He said two customers showed particularly strong demand tied to new product launch ramps, while Ambiq also benefited from a new major customer that entered production during the quarter.
Non-GAAP gross profit rose 56.2% year over year to $11.6 million. Non-GAAP gross margin was 46.2%, down 90 basis points from a year earlier, which Winzeler attributed primarily to a nonrecurring credit in the prior-year quarter. Excluding that impact, he said non-GAAP gross margin increased 210 basis points year over year.
Non-GAAP research and development expense rose 43.3% year over year to $10.1 million, reflecting accelerated investment across the Apollo and Atomiq product platforms. Non-GAAP selling, general and administrative expense increased 31.8% to $8.1 million, driven by go-to-market investments and public company infrastructure. Ambiq ended the quarter with no debt and $204.5 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Winzeler also highlighted progress on customer diversification. The company’s three largest customers accounted for 86% of sales in the first quarter of 2025, while those same customers accounted for about 71% of first-quarter 2026 sales. Sales to end customers in China represented 13.7% of total net sales, up from 6.2% a year earlier.
Second-quarter outlook calls for sharp growth
For the second quarter, Ambiq expects net sales of $31 million to $32 million, which Esaka said would represent approximately 75% year-over-year growth. The company expects non-GAAP gross margin of 45% to 46% and non-GAAP operating expense of $21 million to $22 million, including $1.7 million related to intellectual property purchases. Ambiq forecast a non-GAAP loss per share of $0.29 to $0.23, based on 21.38 million weighted average shares outstanding.
Winzeler said the second-quarter outlook reflects multiple customer launches entering production at the same time, but he characterized the increase as “a step up in the baseline rather than a peak.” He said the company still expects fourth-quarter seasonality, while second-half year-over-year net sales growth is expected to be similar to first-half growth.
For the full year, Ambiq continues to expect gross margins to be roughly flat year over year, as yield improvements are offset by broader industry cost dynamics. The company also continues to expect about $85 million in operating expense for 2026, including engineering headcount increases, contract engineering and $7 million to $10 million of IP purchases tied to product development.
Wearables remain key, but diversification expands
Esaka said wearables remain a major growth driver as the category shifts from basic consumer devices toward more sophisticated health and wellness platforms. She pointed to expanding form factors such as watches, display-less bands, rings and eyewear.
At the same time, Ambiq is seeing traction in healthcare, industrial, smart home and building applications. Esaka said revenue from medical, industrial and smart home and buildings markets is expected to more than double in 2026. In response to an analyst question, she said non-wearables represent about one-quarter of Ambiq’s pipeline and that non-wearable market revenue grew 100% in the first quarter.
Examples of non-wearable applications cited on the call included ECG, glucose monitoring, bike computing, smart pens, battery monitors, remote controls and livestock tracking. Esaka said customers are deploying AI directly on devices to enable applications such as real-time health monitoring, intelligent audio, predictive maintenance, smart sensing and automation.
Product roadmap remains central to growth strategy
Ambiq said it is advancing its Apollo 340, Atomiq110 and Atomiq120 products in parallel. Esaka said Atomiq110 remains on track for tape-out toward the end of 2026, with an initial customer ramp expected in late 2027. She said Atomiq120 is drawing interest from potential alpha customers, particularly in smart glasses.
Founder and Chief Technology Officer Scott Hanson said Apollo 340 is in design, with sampling expected in the first half of 2027, initial customer ramps toward the end of 2027 and more meaningful revenue in 2028. Hanson said the product is expected to serve a more diverse set of customers, including medical products, industrial sensors, smart home sensors, smart grid sensors and wearables such as smart rings.
Hanson also discussed Ambiq’s compressionKIT software, saying it will be restricted to Ambiq products for now. He said the combination of Apollo and compressionKIT provides a stronger value proposition than using the technologies separately.
Management discusses profitability and supply
During the question-and-answer session, Winzeler said Ambiq would need revenue of roughly $47 million per quarter at about 46% gross margin to reach profitability based on its current spending level. He said investments in products such as Atomiq110 and Apollo 340 are intended to pull in the revenue needed to reach that level, potentially moving cash flow breakeven and profitability from mid-2028 to early 2028 or the second half of 2027.
On supply, Esaka said Ambiq has strong manufacturing partnerships but acknowledged that some very short lead-time demand increases are difficult to fulfill. She said the company expects to support customers when orders fall within normal lead times.
Winzeler said the company expects growth in 2026 to be driven primarily by higher unit shipments, though Apollo5 is contributing more each quarter and providing some average selling price uplift. He said Ambiq is evaluating opportunities to maximize pricing across customers and markets while remaining competitive in winning new business.
About Ambiq Micro (NYSE:AMBQ)
Ambiq Micro (NYSE: AMBQ) is a semiconductor company specializing in the design and development of ultra-low-power microcontroller units (MCUs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). The company's core technology leverages sub-threshold voltage operation to dramatically reduce energy consumption, enabling extended battery life in a broad range of portable and always-on devices. Ambiq's products are particularly well suited for applications where power efficiency is critical, such as wearable electronics, IoT sensors, medical monitoring equipment, and industrial automation systems.
The company's flagship product family, the Apollo series of MCUs, offers multi-core architectures, integrated wireless connectivity options, and advanced security features.
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