Rambus Inc. (Nasdaq:RMBS - News), one of the world's premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed chip interfaces, today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2005. Earnings per share for the quarter were 4 cents, compared to 7 cents in the first quarter last year and 6 cents in the previous quarter. Net income for the first quarter was $4.4 million (11% of revenue), compared to $8.3 million in the first quarter last year and $6.5 million in the previous quarter. Revenue for the first quarter was $39.6 million, up 22% over the first quarter last year and up 3% from the previous quarter.

"Delivering record quarterly revenue is a great way to start the year," said Harold Hughes, chief executive officer at Rambus. "In addition, we made significant progress on a number of fronts this quarter, including signing new patent license agreements with Infineon and NEC Electronics. We also witnessed the strong validation of our technology by both our XDR(TM) and FlexIO(TM) high-speed interfaces being incorporated into the revolutionary Cell processor. And we continued to demonstrate leadership in innovation with our micro-threading technology for DRAM memory, which promises to make significant contributions to graphics performance in future computing and consumer electronics applications."

First quarter results reflected $6.6 million in contract revenues, up 30% over the first quarter last year and up 9% from the previous quarter. This increase primarily reflects revenues from contracts signed in 2003 for XDR memory and FlexIO interface technologies. First quarter results include $33.0 million in royalties, up 20% over the first quarter last year and up 1% from the previous quarter. The increase in royalties over the first quarter last year primarily reflects an increase in SDRAM and DDR royalties.

Total costs and expenses were $34.7 million compared with $23.9 million in the first quarter last year and $29.0 million last quarter. $7.0 million of the increase over the first quarter of last year, and $3.7 million of the increase over the previous quarter, was due to litigation expense. The remaining increases were primarily related to increased staffing and compensation costs to support current and future business opportunities.

Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities increased $224 million to $460 million since December 31, 2004. This increase was primarily a result of proceeds from the issuance and sale of $300 million in zero coupon senior convertible notes due February 1, 2010, $75 million of which was used to repurchase 4.1 million shares of common stock during the quarter, as previously reported.

The earnings announcement call will be broadcast live on our website (www.rambus.com) at 2:00 p.m. PDT today. Please log-on early if you do not already have the necessary software to listen to the call.

The conference call replay number is 888-203-1112 and the ID number is 5446227. For international callers, the number is 719-457-0820. The replay will be available on our website beginning at 5:00 p.m. PDT today.

About Rambus

Rambus is one of the world's premier technology licensing companies specializing in the invention and design of high-speed chip interfaces. Since its founding in 1990, the company's innovations, breakthrough technologies and integration expertise have helped industry-leading chip and system companies solve their most challenging and complex I/O problems and bring their products to market. Rambus's interface solutions can be found in numerous computing, consumer, and communications products and applications. Rambus is headquartered in Los Altos, California, with regional offices in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Bangalore, India; Taipei, Taiwan; and Tokyo, Japan. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.

RMBSER

RAMBUS INC.
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
(unaudited)

Three Months Ended
--------------------------------------
March 31, December 31, March 31,
2005 2004 2004
------------ ------------ ------------
Revenues:
Contract revenues $6,600 $6,038 $5,079
Royalties 33,011 32,571 27,462
------------ ------------ ------------
Total revenues 39,611 38,609 32,541
------------ ------------ ------------
Costs and expenses:
Cost of contract revenues 5,603 5,512 5,234
Research and development 8,591 8,430 7,427
Marketing, general &
administrative 9,358 7,608 7,030
Litigation expense 11,140 7,470 4,178
------------ ------------ ------------
Total costs and expenses 34,692 29,020 23,869
------------ ------------ ------------
Operating income 4,919 9,589 8,672
Interest and other income, net 2,129 916 4,104
------------ ------------ ------------
Income before income taxes 7,048 10,505 12,776
Provision for income taxes 2,608 3,962 4,471
------------ ------------ ------------
Net income $4,440 $6,543 $8,305
============ ============ ============
Net income per share - basic $0.04 $0.06 $0.08
============ ============ ============
Net income per share - diluted $0.04 $0.06 $0.07
============ ============ ============
Shares used in per share
calculations:
Basic 100,280 102,380 100,966
Diluted 105,913 109,017 111,198

RAMBUS INC.
CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
(in thousands)
(unaudited)

March 31, December 31, March 31,
2005 2004 2004
------------ ------------ ------------
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $208,021 $48,310 $63,084
Marketable securities 96,802 89,483 47,430
Accounts receivable 3,596 1,435 790
Prepaid and deferred taxes 13,710 13,861 12,731
Prepaids and other current
assets 4,009 4,094 4,850
------------ ------------ ------------
Total current assets 326,138 157,183 128,885
------------ ------------ ------------
Property and equipment, net 18,130 17,578 10,610
Marketable securities, long-
term 155,360 98,567 128,843
Restricted investments 5,076 5,067 5,094
Deferred taxes, long-term 74,507 75,295 61,473
Purchased intangible assets,
net 20,844 21,765 12,852
Other assets 8,418 1,269 1,729
------------ ------------ ------------
Total assets $608,473 $376,724 $349,486
============ ============ ============

Total cash, cash equivalents
and marketable securities $460,183 $236,360 $239,357

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and other
current liabilities $21,671 $17,444 $11,685
Deferred revenue 13,447 19,271 24,510
------------ ------------ ------------
Total current liabilities 35,118 36,715 36,195
Notes payable 300,000 - -
Deferred revenue, less current
portion 5,314 4,552 16,113
------------ ------------ ------------
Total liabilities 340,432 41,267 52,308
------------ ------------ ------------
Stockholders' equity:
Common Stock 99 103 102
Additional paid-in capital 325,344 341,080 326,708
Deferred stock-based
compensation (1,548) - -
Accumulated other
comprehensive gain (loss) (1,617) (878) 470
Accumulated deficit (54,237) (4,848) (30,102)
------------ ------------ ------------
Total stockholders' equity 268,041 335,457 297,178
------------ ------------ ------------
Total liabilities and
stockholders' equity $608,473 $376,724 $349,486
============ ============ ============

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Rambus Inc.
Bob Eulau, 650-947-5000 (Sr. VP, Finance & CFO)
Nicole Noutsios, 650-947-5050 (Investor Relations)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Rambus Inc.