Raspberry Pi profits drop in first results since June listing

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Raspberry Pi’s pre-tax profits fell more than 50 per cent in 2024 as the semiconductor designer and maker of tiny, low-cost computers battled inventory issues, in its first full-year results since it went public on the London Stock Exchange last June.

The company said pandemic-related inventory problems led to a 57 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to $16.3mn. But it said these had been “normalised” and it now expected a “steady build-up in demand throughout the year, positioning us strongly despite ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties”.

The Cambridge-based company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $37.2mn for the year to the end of December — above analysts’ estimates of $36.6mn but 15 per cent less than in 2023. Revenues fell 2 per cent to $259.5mn.

The company’s shares rose 4 per cent at Wednesday’s open. Analysts at Jefferies upgraded the stock from hold to buy on Wednesday morning. 

Raspberry Pi’s initial public offering last year at a valuation of £542mn was seen as a rare victory for the London market, which has been struggling to attract listings, particularly from technology companies, which generally prefer to list in the US.

Chief executive Eben Upton said the company had released more products in the second half of 2024 than in any prior full year, which “helped to meet market expectations in a year dominated by the widely reported inventory correction”. 

Raspberry Pi sold 1.9mn units of its $120 Pi 5 computer, launched in October 2023. It said it expected “promising” discussions with original equipment manufacturers to make an increasing contribution to sales from next year.

Raspberry Pi began selling its products to the public in 2012. It was set up under the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK charity founded in 2008 to promote computing to young people.

Its IPO raised £178.9mn, including £31.4mn for the company. Raspberry Pi said the funds would be used for engineering projects and new product releases.