Penguin Solutions Names Stephen Cumming CFO On Earnings Day, Yet Interim Chief Aaron Johnson Presents The Results
The new CFO did not speak on the call, and the interim finance chief reported $163 million of cash used in operations.
Penguin Solutions said Tuesday that Stephen Cumming has joined as chief financial officer, but he stayed silent on the company's fourth-quarter earnings call that evening. Interim CFO Aaron Johnson, who has held the job since July, presented the numbers.
What Shaikh said on the call
Kash Shaikh, Penguin's president and chief executive, opened the earnings call by announcing the hire. Cumming joined earlier Tuesday, Shaikh said, and he called him "an experienced public company executive with a strong track record in financial leadership, operational scaling, and investor relations."
Johnson would walk listeners through the results and the fiscal 2027 outlook "as planned," Shaikh said. Johnson then goes back to his role as Vice President of Finance and Accounting.
Investors will have the opportunity to get to know Cumming in the coming months, Shaikh said. Investor relations head Lana Adair listed Cumming among the executives on the call, but he did not speak.
The numbers Johnson presented
Shaikh said net sales were $567 million in the quarter, up 68% from a year earlier. Earnings per share were $1, up 133%. Full-year net sales were about $1.73 billion, up about 26%.
Integrated memory sales reached a record $341 million, or 60% of company net sales, up 158% from a year earlier. Advanced computing sales were $154 million, up 11%.
The cash side was weaker. Johnson reported cash used in operating activities of $163 million for the quarter, which he tied to working capital investment in memory and AI infrastructure. Net accounts receivable ended the quarter at $796 million, up from $308 million a year earlier, Johnson said.
He said improving working capital efficiency remains an important priority for fiscal 2027.
What to watch
Shaikh said the company is raising its fiscal 2027 growth outlook from the preliminary view given last quarter. That earlier view was growth of about 30% in both net sales and diluted EPS. The next thing to watch is Cumming's first appearance with investors, which Shaikh said would come in the coming months.
Cumming's first remarks to investors, which Shaikh put in the coming months, will be the first time holders hear from the new CFO on cash used in operations.
Sources
- Penguin Solutions Stock Pops on Q4 Earnings Beat, Strong Guidance — benzinga.com
- Penguin Solutions Non-GAAP EPS of $1.00 beats by $0.23, revenue of $567M beats by $46.01M (PENG:NASDAQ) | Seeking Alpha — seekingalpha.com
- Penguin Solutions Sees FY2027 GAAP EPS $2.80-... — benzinga.com
- Penguin Solutions (NASDAQ:PENG) Reports Strong Q3 But Inventory Levels Increase — Yahoo Finance
- Penguin Solutions Stock: Raised Outlook Sends Shares Higher — Barron's
