Raspberry Pi’s introduced its first product targeted at AI use cases in early June, and its leadership says that it’s already seeing signs for optimism.
The company’s AI Kit is an accessory designed to be paired with the Raspberry Pi 5, the company’s newest computer model. Although it only came to market about three months ago, Raspberry Pi’s CEO Eben Upton said, “We’ve seen very, very robust demand for this product.”
“With accessory products like this, it’s always a little bit hard for us to tell whether these are going to be niche products or mass market products. I think our conclusion is that this is a mass market product,” Upton explained at a analyst briefing Tuesday.
“We do believe there are compelling industrial and embedded use cases for this technology, and this product will transition across as so many of our earlier products have,” he continued.
Upton described the AI Kit as the “first of many” AI products they intend to produce. “It won’t be the last AI-focused product that you’ll see from Raspberry Pi. It’s not even the last AI-focused produce you’ll see in 2024” he added.
Upton’s remarks followed the company’s first earnings report since its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in June. Raspberry Pi’s share sale was seen as a rare victory for London’s bourse, which has struggled to attract new listings.
Raspberry Pi reported Tuesday that Its gross profit was $34.2 million in the first half of 2024, higher than internal expectations and a 47% jump from the same period a year earlier. The company’s revenue in the first half surged 61% to $144 million.
Shares of the company finished the day with a 6.6% gain, just a day after the stock was added to the FTSE 250. Investment bank AJ Bell had earlier charactered Raspberry Pi’s listing as the “most significant IPO for the London market for a long time,” but expressed a note of caution after Tuesday’s release.
“The golden rule of any IPO is not to miss earnings expectations in the first year as a listed business. Raspberry Pi has so far managed to navigate a few twists and turns to stay on track, but the performance isn’t perfect,” Russ Mould, AJ Bell’s Investment Director said in a note to clients.
“First-half volumes were lower than expected and there is more stock than usual in the supply chain still waiting to be sold. The company implies that the inventory issue will sort itself out, but it’s a major risk for investors to consider,” he added.
Raspberry Pi was founded in 2008, and it began selling its first product in 2012. The company was set up as a subsidiary of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a U.K. charity that seeks to promote computing and digital technologies to young people.