Data I/O (NASDAQ:DAIO) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.18 EPS

Data I/O (NASDAQ:DAIO) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The electronics maker reported ($0.27) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.18), Zacks reports. Data I/O had a negative net margin of 16.16% and a negative return on equity of 21.44%.

Here are the key takeaways from Data I/O’s conference call:

• The company says its multi-year transformation is ~one year ahead of schedule, with investments in its core platform, cloud migration, cybersecurity remediation and company-wide AI deployment to drive faster product development and operational efficiency.
• Data I/O is shifting from a programming CapEx focus to a larger data provisioning addressable market, announcing a strategic partnership with IAR for security provisioning and citing early customer demand from the build-out of edge AI infrastructure.
• Financials showed near-term weakness — Q4 net sales of $4.0M (down from $5.2M), full-year revenue of $21.5M, bookings down, gross margin compression (Q4 43% vs. 52.2% prior year) and a full-year net loss of $5.0M, with cash declining to $7.9M.
• Recurring revenue (consumables, adapters and services) provided stability at 58% of 2025 revenue, deferred revenue rose to about $1.5M, the company remains debt-free and targets an additional $1M of run-rate cost reductions to improve margins.
• Management has an active, disciplined M&A pipeline to expand into programming services/tests and is exploring non‑equity financing options; a shelf registration gives flexibility but there is no immediate plan to issue shares.

Data I/O Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of DAIO traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $2.81. 59,518 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,437. Data I/O has a 52 week low of $1.88 and a 52 week high of $3.57. The company has a market cap of $26.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.02 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $5.22 price target on shares of Data I/O in a report on Friday, October 31st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Data I/O in a report on Monday, February 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. Singular Research raised shares of Data I/O to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Data I/O to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Data I/O in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.11.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Data I/O

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Data I/O by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 268,906 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $871,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Data I/O by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 43,472 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 8,555 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Data I/O by 45.4% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 22,402 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Data I/O in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 36.95% of the company’s stock.

Data I/O Company Profile

Data I/O Corporation is a provider of device programming solutions for semiconductor and microcontroller manufacturers, test houses, contract manufacturers and electronics design engineers. The company’s product portfolio includes universal and site-specific programmers, automated programming systems and software tools that enable high-volume production, development and field programming of non-volatile memories and microcontrollers. Data I/O’s solutions are designed to support a wide range of programmable devices, including Flash, EPROM, EEPROM, PLDs, FPGAs and automotive-grade microcontrollers.

The company’s flagship technologies include its high-speed FlashCORE III programming engines and the SB-OS-A automated handling system, which together streamline production workflows by providing scalable, multi-site programming capabilities.