even more good news from the chip sector:
>>Cypress Semi reports better-than-expected Q1
SAN FRANCISCO, April 20 (Reuters) - Computer chip maker Cypress
Semiconductor Corp. (CY - news) reported a better-than-expected first
quarter, saying it has solved manufacturing problems that hurt its
fourth-quarter results.
Cypress, a San Jose, Calif., maker of memory, logic and other computer chips, reported first quarter net income of $8.7 million, or 9 cents a share, diluted, compared with a net loss of $95.8 million, or 93 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
Wall Street analysts had expected Cypress to earn only 7 cents a share in the first quarter, according to a consensus estimate compiled by First Call, which tracks analysts' estimates.
Revenues jumped 14.7 percent in the quarter to $151.6 million, from $132.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
''Cypress had a great quarter,'' T.J. Rodgers, Cypress' chief executive, said in a statement. ''We put behind us the manufacturing problem that caused a two-cent loss in the fourth quarter of 1998.''
Included in the latest quarter are results from IC Works, a chip maker Cypress acquired as of April 1. The quarter also included nonrecurring costs of $3.5 million for the purchase of IC Works, which is being accounted for as a pooling of interests.
Offsetting the acquisition cost was a $3.5 million restructuring reserve adjustment for the company's already completed restructuring moves.
Cypress said it expects IC Works to generate about $150 million in revenue this year. IC Works makes clock driver integrated circuits, which provide the frequency reference for PCs, printers, disk drives, set-top boxes, and other devices.
The company also said its static random access memory (SRAM) business was a significant contributor to its earnings. SRAMs are memory chips that require power to hold content.
''Our memory group shipped $58.3 million in revenue in the quarter, its best performance since the second quarter of 1996,'' Rodgers said.
Cypress said prices for its SRAM chips increased for the first time in the last seven quarters and prices of its older commodity parts declined very modestly in the quarter.
Shares of Cypress, which trade on the NYSE, were unchanged at $10 in light trading.<< |
