RF Micro Raises Outlook on Strong Demand
Monday September 8, 7:47 am ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wireless-chip maker RF Micro Devices Inc. (NasdaqNM:RFMD - News) on Monday boosted its quarterly forecast, providing another signal that the telecommunications industry may be nearing a recovery.
Chief Financial Officer Dean Priddy raised the company's fiscal second-quarter outlook, citing rising customer demand, an improved mix of high-profit products and cost-reduction efforts that are starting to bear fruit.
"We definitely think the handset industry is picking up steam and we certainly hope that's sustainable," Priddy told Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of a trip to California to visit investors. "We're seeing the effect of both market share gains along with an improvement in the handset market."
He said orders in the quarter will hit an all-time high, and demand has increased across all wireless standards and regions as well.
Priddy is optimistic the strength will carry into the December quarter, which is currently ahead of normal in terms of orders. He declined to provide an outlook for that quarter.
RF Micro, A Greensboro, North Carolina-based maker of components that allow wireless devices to transmit and receive signals, posted a first-quarter net loss in July due to weak demand for its more profitable products.
The slowdown may be easing, however. Priddy said RF Micro now expects to post a slight net profit in the second quarter instead of the loss of 4 cents to 5 cents a share it had forecast in July. On a per-share basis, that could mean break-even results.
The company previously said it would take a charge of a penny a share for a convertible bond buyback in the quarter, which ends in September.
Priddy also sees sales rising at least 10 percent to the middle $140-million range from $131.5 million in the first quarter. RF Micro previously had forecast flat revenue in the low $130-million range.
Analysts were expecting RF Micro to post a second-quarter loss of 3 cents a share, before one-time items, on sales of $135.5 million, according to Reuters Research, a unit of Reuters Group Plc.
Shares of RF Micro closed at $9.01 on Friday on Nasdaq. |
