Tuesday April 23, 6:00 pm Eastern Time
Reuters Business
Zoran's first-quarter loss narrows as sales surge
(Adds details, background on DVD sales, stock price)
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 23 (Reuters) - Zoran Corp. (NasdaqNM:ZRAN - news), a maker of chips used in DVD players, posted a much narrower first-quarter loss as sales rose 59 percent, fueled by strong sales of DVD players.
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The company also raised its outlook for full-year revenue growth and set a 3-for-2 stock split.
Zoran is one of the few chip companies whose revenue continued to surge throughout 2001, the worst year on record for the chip industry, thanks to surging sales of DVD players. Last year was a breakthrough year for DVD as the number of DVD players in the United States soared. One in every four U.S. households now owns a DVD console, according to the Video Software Dealers Association.
[Harry: Saturation , where most of the easy money was made, was at 50 to 60 percent for VCR. The segment may have a ways to go before increment growth and competition make the segment unprofitable and a fringe contributor to EPS]
Santa Clara, California-based Zoran said its loss narrowed to $235,000, or 1 cent a share, from a loss of $10.6 million, or 61 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose to $31.1 million from $19.6 million.
Excluding acquisition-related costs such as amortization of goodwill and other purchased intangibles, Zoran said it would have earned $2.2 million, or 12 cents a share, up from profits of $208,000, or 1 cent, in the year-ago quarter, which also included costs and charges.
On that basis, analysts were expecting Zoran to post a profit of 10 cents a share, within a range of 9 cents to 11 cents, on revenue of $29.5 million, according to tracking firm Thomson Financial/First Call.
The company said it sees second quarter revenue rising 3 percent to 5 percent from first-quarter levels. It said it sees overall 2002 revenue rising 34 percent to 38 percent, compared with earlier guidance for an increase of 30 percent to 35 percent.
Zoran said it continued to lead in the market for chips that power DVD players, noting that its shipments of chips rose in the first quarter, which is typically slightly slower than the holiday-sales-fattened fourth quarter.
[Harry: Normal we would probably see some cyclical weakness so could pick up during the summer doldrum, but this year the market is searching for any kind of growth story.]
The company also noted continued success in digital cameras, noting that Samsung Electronics and Casio, among others, had decided during the quarter to use Zoran's Coach processor.
Shares of Zoran fell $2.04 or 5.3 percent to $36.40 on Nasdaq. The stock has risen 12 percent this year, compared with a 6.3 percent rise in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. |
