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what it is
Data I/O sells the machines and software that load code and security credentials onto chips before electronics ship.
how it gets paid
Last year Data I/O made $22M in revenue. automated programming systems was the main engine at $12.1M, or 55% of sales.
what just happened
The quarter said the same ugly thing twice: -$0.27 EPS on a business still too small to absorb demand swings.
At a glance
C++ balance sheet — some cracks in the foundation
30/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
2.4% return on capital — nothing to write home about
-$0.54 fy2025 eps est
$2B fy2026 rev est
xvary composite: 46/100 — below average
What they do
Data I/O sells the machines and software that load code and security credentials onto chips before electronics ship.
Data I/O has 95 employees, yet its tools sit inside electronics production lines where mistakes are expensive. If your factory already runs a PSV system and SentriX security flow, switching means requalifying the line, retraining staff, and risking shipment delays. Small company, painful replacement.
How they make money
$22M
annual revenue
automated programming systems
$12.1M
security deployment software
$3.7M
programming engines
$2.9M
ip protection and management
$1.8M
service and related fees
$1.5M
The products that matter
semiconductor programming systems
PSV Family
core hardware · tied to the $17M systems segment
these systems are the center of the business. hardware generated roughly $17M, or 79% of total revenue, so this line still decides whether results feel stable or ugly.
79% of revenue
security provisioning software
SentriX Platform
software + services · $4.5M
this platform sits inside the smaller software and services segment, which reached $4.5M and grew 5%. if the company is going to improve its economics, this is where the argument starts.
21% of revenue
Key numbers
$2M
long-term debt
Debt is $2M, or 6% of capital. Plain English: borrowing is small. So what: the balance sheet is not the main reason the business is struggling.
14.0%
operating margin
Operating margin means profit after running the business. Plain English: the core operation lost money. So what: scale is still missing.
50.7%
gross margin
Gross margin means what stays after direct product costs. Plain English: the products are not junk. So what: the problem is overhead and demand.
$22M
ttm revenue
Revenue is the size of the business. Plain English: this is tiny. So what: volatility hits harder here than at a larger company.
Financial health
C++
strength
- balance sheet grade C++ — below average — limited financial resources
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 30 / 100
- long-term debt $2M (6% of capital)
C++ — below average. watch for debt servicing and cash burn.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for DAIO right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
The quarter said the same ugly thing twice: -$0.27 EPS on a business still too small to absorb demand swings.
Latest-quarter revenue was $18M, up 225% vs. prior year, but the annual run rate and consensus data still show a weak base. Gross margin was 50.7%, so product economics held up better than operating leverage.
$6M
revenue
$0.27
eps
50.7%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The number that mattered was -14.0% operating margin, because it tells you the real problem is not product pricing. It is scale.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
The top threat here is continued cash burn from a business that is still too small to absorb losses. DAIO is not fighting a theoretical macro risk. It is fighting its own income statement.
med
Persistent operating losses
The company reported a $5.0M net loss on $21.5M of revenue in 2025. That is a 23% loss margin.
At roughly $1.25M of losses per quarter, time becomes part of the bear case.
med
Hardware concentration
Hardware Systems still generated about $17M, or 79% of revenue, and that line fell 8% from last year.
If hardware keeps shrinking, the smaller $4.5M software and services segment cannot carry the P&L by itself.
med
Transformation execution risk
Management's 2026 strategic transformation depends on software, security, and new use cases contributing more than they do today.
Right now that segment is only $4.5M. The story can be right and still take longer than the market has patience for.
med
Tariffs and end-market shifts
Management cited tariff uncertainty and a market shift toward AI data centers as current headwinds.
Those pressures land directly on the core hardware segment, which still accounts for most of the revenue base.
A business losing $5.0M a year on just $21.5M of revenue does not need a recession to struggle. It only needs the turnaround to stay slow.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
q1 2026 earnings report
Expected around April 21, 2026. Consensus calls for a $0.09 EPS loss on $5.65M of revenue. You want to see loss compression, not just another promise of future growth.
segment mix
software and services share
That segment is only $4.5M today. If it does not keep growing faster than hardware, the transformation story loses most of its credibility.
losses
quarterly cash burn
A $5.0M annual loss works out to roughly $1.25M per quarter. For a company with a ~$25M market cap, that is not background noise.
demand
edge ai and hardware stabilization
Management is pointing to a multi-year opportunity. The proof you need is simple: hardware stops shrinking and the new software pipeline starts showing up in reported revenue.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
30 / 100
Low score. In human-speak, analysts do not trust this business to deliver smooth quarters.
risk rank
3
Middle-of-the-pack risk. The stock is not flagged as extreme, but the fundamentals still make it fragile.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for DAIO is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$3
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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