Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) shares skyrocketed 20.13% in pre-market trading on Thursday, following the company's impressive fourth-quarter results and upbeat outlook for its automotive and AI businesses.

The semiconductor solution provider for display drivers and image processing reported Q4 earnings per ADS of $0.14, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.10. The company's net revenues rose 6.7% sequentially to $237.2 million, significantly exceeding guidance, driven by stronger order momentum across product lines.

Himax's solid performance in the automotive segment was a significant contributor to its success. The company's automotive driver IC sales increased nearly 20% year-over-year, significantly outpacing global automotive growth. This growth was largely driven by the continued adoption of Himax's TDDI (Touch and Display Driver Integration) technology among major customers worldwide. Notably, the company continues to reinforce its market leadership in automotive TDDI, holding well over 50% market share.

The company's WiseEye AI sensing solution also gained significant traction, with notable progress across various industries, including notebooks, smart door locks, palm vein authentication, and smart home applications. Himax anticipates strong growth trajectory for its WiseEye business in 2025 and beyond, as it collaborates with world-leading customers to develop new innovations.

Furthermore, Himax's proprietary wafer-level optics (WLO) technology for co-packaged optics (CPO) garnered attention in the capital markets. While CPO is still in the engineering validation and trial production stage, the prospect remains unchanged, and widespread adoption for high-speed optical data transmission in AI applications is on track. Through WLO and CPO technologies, Himax is well-positioned to engage in the high-speed AI computing market with high growth expectations.