Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:HIMX) stock rose in premarket trading Thursday after the semiconductor company reported first-quarter results that topped Wall Street expectations and issued stronger-than-expected second-quarter guidance.

Strong First-Quarter Earnings Beat

The Taiwan-based chipmaker posted first-quarter revenue of $199 million, down 7.5% from a year earlier but ahead of analyst estimates of $195 million. Revenue declined 2% sequentially.

Earnings were 4.6 cents per American depositary share, beating analysts' estimates of 3 cents per share.

Gross margin was 30.4%, at the high end of the company's guidance range and roughly flat compared with the prior quarter.

Display Driver Business Performance

Revenue from large display drivers increased 11.7% from the previous quarter to $24.2 million, helped by stronger-than-expected restocking of high-end television integrated circuits by a major panel maker.

Small- and medium-sized display driver revenue fell 2.4% sequentially to $135.8 million during what the company described as a typical seasonal slowdown.

Non-driver ...