Mobileye ends brutal year with 20% revenue decline and $3 billion loss
Mobileye ends brutal year with 20% revenue decline and $3 billion loss
Stock sinks as investors react to weak earnings and ongoing market challenges.
Autonomous vehicle company Mobileye capped the most challenging year in its history with a 23% drop in fourth-quarter revenue to $490 million.
The company's operating loss, according to accounting standards, totaled $86 million, while the net loss stood at 9 cents per share. After adjusting for write-offs and other accounting expenses, Mobileye posted an adjusted profit of 13 cents per share. While these results represent a significant decline compared to the same period last year, they were in line with forecasts.
For full-year 2024, Mobileye reported $1.65 billion in revenue, a 20% decline from 2023. The company posted a $3 billion loss, largely due to a $2.6 billion write-off in the third quarter, reflecting the gap between Mobileye’s valuation when it was acquired by Intel and its current market value.
Mobileye’s stock has plunged 40% over the past year, now trading at $12 billion—below both its valuation in the secondary offering and the $15 billion price at which it was sold to Intel.
On the positive side, Mobileye’s operations generated $400 million in cash flow, slightly exceeding its 2023 performance, and the company ended 2024 with $1.4 billion in cash reserves.
Mobileye, which has been hit hard by volatility in China’s automotive market, now forecasts a return to growth in 2025. The company projects revenues of $1.7–1.8 billion, signaling some recovery but still falling short of 2023 levels.
The operating loss, including accounting adjustments, is expected to range between $489 million and $574 million, while the adjusted operating profit is forecasted at $175–260 million. However, after consecutive quarters of declining revenue and mounting losses, investors had hoped for a more optimistic outlook—sending Mobileye’s stock plunging in pre-market trading.
Mobileye’s troubles began in late 2023 when it first reported an inventory buildup among customers, leading to write-offs and declining gross margins. Throughout 2024, the company implemented multiple efficiency measures, culminating in the closure of its lidar division, which focused on advanced motion sensors for autonomous vehicles.
Lidar technology was once seen as a key enabler of self-driving cars, but falling sensor prices and advancements in AI have raised doubts about its necessity. Mobileye now believes that imaging radar, combined with cameras, will be the future of autonomous vehicle perception.
The closure of the lidar division—which affected 60 employees—followed an earlier strategic shift: phasing out Mobileye’s original driver-assistance warning systems, the business that launched the company. As part of this transition, 130 employees were laid off.
