Why Mobix Labs Wants to Snap Up Peraso Despite Its Struggles!

In a surprising move that’s raised eyebrows across the semiconductor industry, Mobix Labs (NASDAQ:MOBX) has launched an unsolicited bid to acquire Peraso Inc. (NASDAQ:PRSO), offering a 20% premium over its 30-day average share price. The all-stock proposal aims to create a stronger entity focused on mmWave and 5G-enabled markets, combining Peraso’s foundational IP with Mobix’s rapidly growing top line. Despite Peraso being a loss-making business with limited revenue growth since 2021, Mobix sees value in its technology stack, customer relationships, and foothold in niche markets like defense communications and fixed wireless access. Let us dive deeper and analyze why Mobix may be making this move.

Strategic Alignment In mmWave & 5G Markets

Despite its financial struggles, Peraso holds a long-established position in the mmWave semiconductor space, having pioneered much of the early development more than a decade ago. The company’s current focus on 60GHz unlicensed spectrum and millimeter-wave chipsets aligns well with Mobix Labs’ own ambitions to build out a diversified 5G and connectivity platform. Peraso’s PERSPECTUS product line serves the fixed wireless access (FWA) market with modules that enable multi-gigabit wireless connectivity in dense urban environments. These products use Peraso's X720 chipset and offer benefits like increased user density, reduced hardware needs, and lower power consumption, which are compelling for wireless internet service providers globally. For Mobix, absorbing this product ecosystem allows it to expand into fixed wireless with existing commercial traction and field-tested products. It also enables deeper vertical integration, as Mobix’s existing platforms can benefit from pairing with Peraso’s mmWave silicon to offer bundled or optimized end-to-end solutions. The potential integration of DUNE, Peraso's tactical communication platform, and Mobix's radio-frequency front-end portfolio could create synergies in terms of product breadth and addressable market size, especially in emerging verticals like defense, satellite, and urban broadband. This strategic overlap makes Peraso more than just a revenue bolt-on; it becomes a pathway for Mobix to accelerate innovation and market entry in mmWave-specific domains.

Emerging Defense Sector Traction with Stealth Communication Tech

One of the most overlooked but significant developments at Peraso has been its growing presence in defense and tactical communications. In Q1 2025, the company executed a strategic contract with a global military and defense contractor to deploy its mmWave technology for mission-critical applications. The unique selling proposition here is Peraso’s beamforming-enabled stealth communication capabilities—difficult to jam and detect—making them ideal for battlefield conditions. Use cases range from soldier-to-soldier communication to drone-to-ground data transmission, all benefiting from the high-speed, low-latency nature of mmWave combined with a low probability of intercept. The company’s leadership emphasized that this market could represent a long-term growth vector, with a minimum addressable market of 3.4 million active military personnel globally. For Mobix, which may lack deep defense penetration, this could be an entry point into a highly specialized and often high-margin sector. By acquiring Peraso, Mobix not only gains technology IP but also potential access to defense procurement channels and strategic relationships. The defense segment also offers some insulation from consumer demand volatility, adding diversification to Mobix's growth model. Initial production shipments are expected to begin this year, with visibility into further contract opportunities across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Given the extended timelines and qualification hurdles in defense, the early wins Peraso has secured could be perceived as a strategic asset, making it an attractive buy despite the absence of current profitability.

Highly Leveraged Sales Funnel & Commercial Engagement Pipeline

A deeper look into Peraso's commercial activity reveals a robust funnel of nearly 120 engagements at various stages of conversion. While the company has only converted 10 of these into production, the pipeline itself reflects significant latent demand across markets like fixed wireless access, data centers, and military applications. Importantly, this number has grown by over 25% in the past 12 months, showing meaningful traction. With customers already using Peraso technology in at least 68 products across 14 distinct commercial clients globally, the foundational market validation is in place. From Mobix's perspective, acquiring Peraso offers immediate access to an ecosystem of active customer dialogues, shortening its own sales cycles and accelerating top-line expansion. These engagements span across regions including Africa, Europe, and North America, aligning with Mobix’s global ambitions. Moreover, Peraso's technology enables key features like point-to-multipoint connectivity and high user density per access point, attributes that many prospective customers are looking for in dense urban environments or remote areas. Even if a fraction of these leads convert in the next 18–24 months, Mobix could find itself with a strong new revenue stream. This broad funnel, when combined with Mobix’s existing growth infrastructure, may yield operating leverage and marketing synergies that are otherwise hard to replicate organically, especially in such a capital-intensive industry.

Operational Improvements & Sharply Reduced Losses

While Peraso's overall revenue has remained relatively flat since 2021, the first quarter of 2025 showcased a significant improvement in operational efficiency. GAAP gross margins jumped to 69.3%, up from 46.4% a year ago, driven by a favorable revenue mix and the elimination of amortization costs tied to now-fully amortized intangible assets. Operating expenses also declined materially, with GAAP OPEX dropping to $3.2 million from $4.9 million year-over-year, reflecting cost-containment initiatives and reduced stock-based compensation. As a result, the GAAP net loss narrowed sharply to $0.5 million from $2 million a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA came in at just -$0.3 million, significantly better than the -$1.4 million posted in Q1 2024. Even more telling is that this margin expansion occurred amid a flat top-line performance, indicating that Peraso is becoming a leaner and more financially disciplined organization. For an acquirer like Mobix, these improvements reduce the integration risk and provide a more stable platform to build upon. Instead of absorbing a deeply unprofitable company with ballooning losses, Mobix gets a strategically aligned partner that’s already trending toward financial sustainability. The deal may also help Peraso address its Nasdaq listing compliance issues by boosting its market cap and financial visibility through Mobix’s higher revenue base and more stable trading performance. These operational trends could reassure Mobix stakeholders that the acquisition, while unconventional, is underpinned by improving business fundamentals.

Final Thoughts

Source: Yahoo Finance

We can see Peraso’s stock performance in the above chart. Its recent Q1 2025 earnings did show some signs of operational momentum, including improved gross margins, growing defense contracts, and a robust sales funnel with 120 active or prospective engagements. The merger could result in a $20 million combined revenue base, but deeper than that, Mobix appears to be betting on long-term synergy and Peraso's strategic potential. For Mobix, this acquisition could enhance its market position, broaden its product offerings, and create synergies that accelerate revenue growth across multiple verticals. Their unsolicited bid underscores how strategic value can sometimes outweigh immediate financial performance.