Lam Research profit climbs 45%
April 12, 2006 17:02:00 (ET)
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Lam Research Corp. on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit that rose 45% from a year ago as the semiconductor equipment maker said sales of new technology products boosted its revenue numbers.
Lam (LRCX, Trade) earned $86.3 million, or 60 cents a share, on revenue of $437.4 million. During the same period a year ago, Lam earned $59.5 million, or 42 cents a share, on $349 million in revenue.
Excluding one-time items, including a tax expense of $7.4 million for a planned repatriation of foreign earnings, Lam said it would have earned 65 cents a share in what the company calls "ongoing earnings."
By that measure, Lam would have topped the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, who forecast a profit of 62 cents a share on $424 million in revenue.
Gross margins edged up to 50.2% from 50% a year ago.
Lam, which makes tools to produce the wafers microchips are stamped on, has seen its results lifted by demand for NAND flash memory, one of the fastest-growing parts of the semiconductor market. Electronics makers have been ramping investments in NAND flash wafer equipment as factories are being built, retrofitted or expanded to boost output of the technology used in consumer electronic gadgets.
Lam Chief Executive Stephen Newberry has previously estimated that manufacturers will invest 80% to 100% more in 2006 for NAND flash wafer equipment than they did in 2005.>> |
