Posted By: Technology Staff Editor In: Information Technology written by Dylan McGrath, courtesy of EE Times
SAN FRANCISCO—Chip makers LSI Corp. and Silicon Laboratories Inc. Wednesday (Oct. 28) reported sharp increases in third-quarter profits and sales that beat Wall Street's expectations.
LSI reported third-quarter sales of $578 million, up 11 percent from the second quarter but down 19 percent from the third quarter of 2008. LSI posted a third-quarter profit of $52 million or 8 cents per share, based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), compared to GAAP net losses of $61 million and $11 million, respectively, for the previous and year-ago quarters.
On a non-GAAP basis, excluding charges, LSI reported a net income of $119 million or 18 cents per share, up from $7 million or 1 cent per share in the second quarter and $94 million or 14 cents per share in the third quarter of 2008.
"With the economy demonstrating signs that a modest recovery is underway, our third quarter revenues exceeded our guidance range, supported by healthy sequential growth across our businesses overall," said Abhi Talwalkar, LSI president and CEO, in a statement.
LSI said it expects to report fourth-quarter sales of between $605 million to $645 million and a bottom-line result somewhere between a loss of 4 cents per share and a profit of 5 cents per share on a GAAP basis.
Silicon Labs (Austin, Texas) posted third-quarter revenue of $125.9 million, up more than 20 percent compared to the second quarter and up 11 percent from the company's peak revenue level in the third quarter of 2008. The company's GAAP net income jumped to $22.4 million, or 50 cents per share, from $1.2 million, or 2 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter, it said.
Five of the company's eight product lines achieved record revenue in the third quarter due to new product cycles and strength at large customers, Silicon Labs said. The company's RF business grew in aggregate about 40 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago, it said. The broad-based business was up 15 percent compared to the same period last year, led by a strong rebound in the microcontroller business, the company said.
For the fourth quarter, Silicon Labs expects revenue to be between $124 million and $129 million, which would represent a 25 to 30 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2008.
Craig Berger, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, said in a research report that Silicon Labs' management was maintaining a conservative stance and that the company may surpass fourth-quarter revenue expectations if demand is reasonably solid.
Also Wednesday, Silicon Labs launched a mixed-signal silicon and software initiative for developing human interfaces for touch-, proximity- and ambient light-sensitive devices.
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