Vicor

Vicor brought in 197.1 million dollars in revenue this quarter, up 78.5% from a year ago and 37.5% from just three months earlier. Profit jumped to 63.3 million dollars, more than double the 28.3 million from a year ago, and that was after paying a normal tax bill. The order book kept climbing too, reaching 406 million dollars, up 166% from last year, with customers spanning AI computing, factories, transportation, and defense.

Patent licensing brought in 66.6 million dollars this quarter, roughly triple the 21.7 million from a year ago, and it now makes up about a third of all revenue. Because that money costs almost nothing to earn, Vicor now keeps about 68 cents of every sales dollar after making its products, up from 58 cents last quarter. Vicor also signed its first license with an AI computer maker, and a new federal trade investigation into companies using its designs without paying is pushing more of them to ask about deals.

A big chunk of Vicor's growth now depends on enforcing its patents, and that is a fight, not a sure thing. Total operating costs, which include fees paid to the law firms enforcing those patents, rose to 62.5 million dollars from 42.6 million a year ago. If a court case or trade ruling goes the wrong way, that super profitable royalty stream could shrink quickly.

Vicor bought two more sites for new factories, aiming for nearly five times the output of its current plant. Spending on buildings and equipment hit 16.1 million dollars this quarter, four times the 4.0 million from a year ago, and building out three factories will push that higher for years. The stock is also a wild ride, tending to swing about 2.4 times as hard as the overall market in both directions.