Here are 1-2 brief analogies for Adeia:

• Adeia is like Arm Holdings for media technology IP.
• Adeia is like Dolby Laboratories for smart TVs and entertainment tech.

Adeia (ADEA) Major Products and Services

• Media IP Licensing: Licenses foundational intellectual property for digital media, entertainment, and consumer electronics technologies.
• Semiconductor IP Licensing: Licenses intellectual property for advanced semiconductor manufacturing, packaging, and memory technologies.

Adeia (ADEA) primarily sells its intellectual property (IP) through licensing agreements to other companies, making its business model B2B (business-to-business). Its customer base spans two main segments: Semiconductor IP and Media & Entertainment IP. While Adeia's financial disclosures indicate that no single customer accounted for 10% or more of its total consolidated revenue during recent fiscal years, it maintains numerous significant licensing agreements with industry-leading companies globally.

Major customer companies and types of customers include, but are not limited to, the following (with symbols for public companies):

• 1. Semiconductor IP Licensing Customers:

  These companies license Adeia's foundational technologies in areas like advanced packaging (e.g., hybrid bonding), memory, and display, which are critical for chip manufacturing and related processes.

  • NVIDIA (NVDA)
  • Samsung (005930.KS)
  • TSMC (TSM)
  • Micron Technology (MU)
  • United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) (UMC)
  • Himax Technologies (HIMX)
  • SK hynix (private company)
• 2. Media & Entertainment IP Licensing Customers:

  These companies license Adeia's technologies related to video delivery, discovery, and monetization (derived from its TiVo heritage), as well as advanced audio and multimedia solutions (derived from its DTS heritage).

  • Comcast (CMCSA) - A major pay-TV operator and broadband provider.
  • Charter Communications (CHTR) - Another major U.S. cable operator.
  • Mediatek (2454.TW) - A fabless semiconductor company that develops chips for various consumer electronics.
  • Various global consumer electronics manufacturers (e.g., for smart TVs, soundbars, mobile devices) and automotive manufacturers that incorporate DTS audio and video technologies into their products.

Paul Davis, Chief Executive Officer & Director

Paul Davis was named Chief Executive Officer of Adeia Inc. effective October 1, 2022, following its separation as a stand-alone company. Prior to this, he served as Chief Legal Officer of Xperi Holding Corporation and President of its IP licensing business. His previous roles include General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Xperi Corporation before its 2020 merger with TiVo Corporation, and Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Tessera Technologies, Inc. before the acquisition of DTS, Inc. in 2016. Mr. Davis joined the company in 2011. Before his tenure at the company, he was an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, corporate securities matters, and corporate governance.

Keith Jones, Chief Financial Officer

Keith Jones was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Adeia, the intellectual property business of Xperi, joining on August 8, 2022, and assuming the CFO role upon the separation of Xperi's IP and product businesses. Before joining Adeia, Mr. Jones held several key finance positions at Rambus (NASDAQ: RMBS), a technology company focused on developing and licensing chip interface technologies, including most recently serving as Interim CFO since 2018.

Kevin Tanji, Chief Legal Officer

Kevin Tanji serves as Adeia's Chief Legal Officer. Before the spin-off of Adeia's product business, Xperi Inc., in 2022, he was Senior Vice President and General Counsel, IP of Xperi Holding Corporation. He previously held the position of Senior Vice President, Commercial Legal Affairs of TiVo Corporation prior to its merger with Xperi Corporation in 2020. Mr. Tanji began his career with the company in 2010 as Director, Commercial Legal Affairs of Rovi Corporation. Earlier in his career, he was an attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, concentrating on corporate finance.

Dr. Mark Kokes, Chief Licensing Officer & General Manager - Media

Dr. Mark Kokes is Adeia's Chief Licensing Officer and General Manager - Media, a role he took on in late 2021 as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Media IP. His prior experience includes serving as Chief Intellectual Property Officer for NantWorks and the Nant family of companies. Before NantWorks, Dr. Kokes was Senior Vice President of Intellectual Property, Licensing and Standards at BlackBerry, where he was responsible for monetizing its comprehensive IP portfolio. From late 2014, he was Vice President of Corporate Development and Intellectual Property Licensing at Intertrust Technologies Corporation. With over 15 years in the mobile industry, he has also held senior engineering, corporate strategy, and intellectual property-related positions at Nokia Research Center, Sony Ericsson's Corporate Technology Office, and HTC's Corporate Strategy Group. Dr. Kokes is also an inventor with 14 U.S. and international patents.

Dana Escobar, Chief Licensing Officer & General Manager - Semiconductor

Dana Escobar holds the position of Chief Licensing Officer and General Manager - Semiconductor at Adeia. Prior to the 2022 spin-off of Adeia's product business, Xperi Inc., he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Semiconductor IP at Xperi Holding Corporation. He joined the company in 2020 as Vice President of IP Licensing. Before his time at Xperi, Mr. Escobar was Vice President of IP Licensing at GE, Chief IP Counsel at Sharp Laboratories of America and Director of Sharp Corporation's U.S. IP Center, and Senior Director of IP Licensing at LSI Corporation/Avago. His diverse background also includes serving as a Licensing & Litigation Attorney at Discovision Associates and as a Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles County.

1. Dependence on IP Licensing and Patent Enforcement (Litigation Risk): Adeia's business success is heavily reliant on the strength of its patent portfolios and its ability to effectively enforce these IP rights. This often involves costly and prolonged patent infringement litigation, which can introduce significant revenue volatility and adversely affect the company's financial outlook. For example, recent patent infringement lawsuits against major companies like AMD and The Walt Disney Company highlight this inherent risk in Adeia's business model.
2. Market Changes and Revenue Volatility: A substantial portion of Adeia's revenue and cash flow is dependent on its customers' sales and other factors beyond its control, making its royalty-based business model inherently risky. The decline in traditional Pay-TV, coupled with intense competition in the patent development market and rapid technological shifts, particularly the move towards Over-The-Top (OTT) services, poses a risk to future revenue streams. The company's ability to renew existing license agreements or secure new ones on favorable terms upon expiration or termination is crucial for sustained revenue.
3. Significant Indebtedness: Adeia carries significant indebtedness, which could negatively impact its financial position and flexibility. The company's variable rate indebtedness exposes it to interest rate risk, potentially leading to increased debt costs. Consequently, the ability to generate sufficient cash flow to service these debt obligations is a key financial risk.

The clear emerging threat to Adeia is the growing industry adoption of royalty-free video codecs, most notably AV1.

Developed by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), a consortium that includes major tech and media companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Netflix, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, AV1 is a high-efficiency video coding format designed to be royalty-free. Adeia derives significant revenue from licensing intellectual property related to video compression technologies, including proprietary codecs like HEVC (H.265), which are widely used in streaming, broadcasting, and consumer electronics devices.

The increasing deployment and hardware support for AV1 by major content providers (e.g., Netflix, YouTube) and device manufacturers directly threatens Adeia's core business model in video technology licensing. As the industry shifts towards royalty-free alternatives that offer comparable or superior performance, the demand for Adeia's proprietary licensed video codec technologies may diminish, leading to reduced licensing revenue and market share for its IP portfolio in this critical area.

• Expansion in High-Growth Verticals: Adeia is actively expanding its licensing agreements in burgeoning sectors such as semiconductors, Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming, and adjacent media markets, including e-commerce. Non-Pay-TV recurring revenue demonstrated substantial growth, increasing 31% year-over-year in Q3 2025 and an impressive 81% since the company's separation, indicating successful diversification beyond traditional Pay-TV. The company's pipeline of new opportunities is robust, particularly in these areas, and is expected to fuel revenue growth in 2026.
• Strategic Patent Portfolio Growth and Monetization: A core driver for Adeia is the continuous growth and relevance of its intellectual property (IP) portfolio. The company reported over 11,750 worldwide patent assets in Q3 2024, growing to over 13,000 assets by Q2 2025. This expanding and high-quality portfolio is vital for maintaining a strong renewal rate (exceeding 90%) and attracting new customers across its key markets, underpinning future licensing revenue.
• New Customer Acquisitions and High Renewal Rates: Adeia consistently secures new license agreements and maintains a high rate of renewals with existing customers. In Q3 2024, the company signed seven deals across consumer electronics, Pay-TV, semiconductor, and OTT verticals, contributing to 22 deals signed for the year. By Q3 2025, Adeia had signed 20 new license agreements with new customers in key growth areas since its separation. This ongoing ability to onboard new clients and retain existing ones with multi-year agreements, such as the renewal with LG Electronics for media portfolio access, is crucial for sustained revenue.
• Penetration into E-commerce and Adjacent Media Markets: Adeia has identified and begun to successfully penetrate the e-commerce sector. The company signed a new multi-year agreement with Neiman Marcus shortly after Q3 2024, demonstrating early success in this adjacent market vertical. By Q3 2025, Adeia had secured four e-commerce customers, highlighting a growing influence and successful diversification strategy into new revenue streams.

Share Repurchases

• In November 2024, Adeia increased its equity buyback authorization by $200 million, bringing the total authorization to $450 million.
• The company repurchased $20.0 million of its common stock in the fourth quarter of 2024, leaving $180.0 million available under its stock repurchase plan as of December 31, 2024.
• Adeia repurchased $10.0 million of common stock in the first quarter of 2025, with $170.0 million remaining under the repurchase plan as of March 31, 2025.

Share Issuance

• Proceeds from employee stock purchase programs and the exercise of stock options amounted to $186 thousand for the three months ended March 31, 2025.

Outbound Investments

• Adeia's capital allocation strategy includes expanding its intellectual property (IP) asset portfolio through both internal research and development and acquisitions.
• The company has pursued "tuck-in acquisitions" and "acquiring strategic patent assets" as part of its balanced capital allocation approach.
• Adeia's worldwide patent portfolio increased by 32% since its separation, driven by R&D efforts in areas like AI, advanced semiconductors, and entertainment.

Capital Expenditures

• Adeia reported capital expenditures of -$1.76 million in the last 12 months, indicating minimal capital expenditure needs.
• The company focuses on expanding its intellectual property asset portfolio through investments in internal research and development.
• Research and development (R&D) spending increased from 10% of revenue in 2022 to 14% in 2023, and further to 16.8% in the first half of 2024.