“We continue to grow and continue to enhance shareholder value," said Michael Hsing, CEO and founder of MPS.

Business Outlook

The following are MPS’ financial targets for the first quarter ending March 31, 2018:

• Revenue in the range of $122 million to $128 million.
  
  
• GAAP gross margin between 54.8% and 55.8%. Non-GAAP (1) gross margin between 55.3% and 56.3%, which excludes an estimated impact of stock-based compensation expenses of 0.3% and amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets of 0.2%.
  
  
• GAAP research and development (“R&D”) and selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses between $45.6 million and $50.6 million. Non-GAAP (1) R&D and SG&A expenses between $32.1 million and $35.1 million, which excludes an estimate of stock-based compensation expenses in the range of $13.5 million to $15.5 million.
  
  
• Total stock-based compensation expense of $13.9 million to $15.9 million.
  
  
• Litigation expenses of $250,000 to $350,000.
  
  
• Interest and other income, net, of $600,000 to $700,000 before foreign exchange gains or losses.
  
  
• Fully diluted shares outstanding between 43.9 million and 44.9 million.
  
  
• Tax rate between 5% and 10%.

(1) Non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per share, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP R&D and SG&A expenses, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP interest and other income, net, non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP income before taxes differ from net income, earnings per share, gross margin, R&D and SG&A expenses, operating expenses, interest and other income, net, operating income and income before taxes determined in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (GAAP). Non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP earnings per share exclude the effect of stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, deferred compensation plan income/expense and related tax effects. Non-GAAP gross margin excludes the effect of stock-based compensation expense and amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets. Non-GAAP operating expenses exclude the effect of stock-based compensation expense and deferred compensation plan income/expense. Non-GAAP interest and other income, net excludes the effect of deferred compensation plan income/expense. Non-GAAP operating income excludes the effect of stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets and deferred compensation plan income/expense. Non-GAAP income before taxes excludes the effect of stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets and deferred compensation plan income/expense. Projected non-GAAP gross margin excludes the effect of stock-based compensation expense and amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets. Projected non-GAAP R&D and SG&A expenses exclude the effect of stock-based compensation expense. These non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. A schedule reconciling non-GAAP financial measures is included at the end of this press release. MPS utilizes both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures to assess what it believes to be its core operating performance and to evaluate and manage its internal business and assist in making financial operating decisions. MPS believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP financial measures, together with GAAP measures, provides investors with an alternative presentation useful to investors' understanding of MPS’ core operating results and trends. Additionally, MPS believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures, together with GAAP measures, provides investors with an additional dimension of comparability to similar companies. However, investors should be aware that non-GAAP financial measures utilized by other companies are not likely to be comparable in most cases to the non-GAAP financial measures used by MPS.

Conference Call
MPS plans to conduct an investor teleconference covering its quarter and year ended December 31, 2017 results at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET, February 8, 2018. To access the conference call and the following replay of the conference call, go to http://ir.monolithicpower.com and click on the webcast link. From this site, you can listen to the teleconference, assuming that your computer system is configured properly. In addition to the webcast replay, which will be archived for all investors for one year on the MPS website, a phone replay will be available for seven days after the live call at (404) 537-3406, code number 2489619. This press release and any other information related to the call will also be posted on the website.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains, and statements that will be made during the accompanying teleconference will contain, forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among other things, (i) projected revenues, GAAP and non-GAAP gross margin, GAAP and non-GAAP R&D and SG&A expenses, stock-based compensation expenses, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, litigation expenses, interest and other income, diluted shares outstanding and tax rate, (ii) our outlook for the long-term prospects of the company, including our performance against our business plan, revenue growth in certain of our market segments, our continued investment into R&D, expected revenue growth, customers’ acceptance of our new product offerings, the prospects of our new product development, and our expectations regarding market and industry segment trends and prospects, (iii) our ability to penetrate new markets and expand our market share, (iv) the seasonality of our business, (v) our ability to reduce our expenses, (vi) the impact of the 2017 Tax Act on our tax rate and provision; and (vii) statements of the assumptions underlying or relating to any statement described in (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), or (vi). These forward-looking statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance or events, are based on current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, goals, and objectives, and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results expressed by these statements. Readers of this press release and listeners to the accompanying conference call are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, our ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers; acceptance of, or demand for, MPS’ products, in particular the new products launched recently, being different than expected; our ability to efficiently and effectively develop new products and receive a return on our R&D expense investment; competition generally and the increasingly competitive nature of our industry; any market disruptions or interruptions in MPS’ schedule of new product development releases; adverse changes in production and testing efficiency of our products; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of companies and products that we acquire, and our ability to effectively and efficiently integrate these acquired companies and products into our operations; our ability to manage our inventory levels; adverse changes in government regulations in foreign countries where MPS has offices or operations; the effect of catastrophic events; adequate supply of our products from our third-party manufacturing partners; the risks, uncertainties and costs of litigation in which we are involved; the outcome of any upcoming trials, hearings, motions and appeals; the adverse impact on MPS’ financial performance if its tax and litigation provisions are inadequate; adverse changes or developments in the semiconductor industry generally, which is cyclical in nature; difficulty in predicting or budgeting for future customer demand and channel inventories, expenses and financial contingencies; the ongoing consolidation of companies in the semiconductor industry; and other important risk factors identified in MPS’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 1, 2017 and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 6, 2017.