Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Guidance and Visibility -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: 2MAR$ who wrote (46)	5/9/2001 2:54:53 AM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 208838

National Semi Warns of Lower Sales PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Microchip maker National Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:NSM - news) on Tuesday warned of a drop in fiscal fourth-quarter sales and said it would lay off 10 percent of its staff amid new signs that business has not yet bottomed out. The company, which issued two prior warnings earlier this year, told analysts that a rebound it had started to notice in March had turned out to be a false start. ``Earlier in the quarter, we had some optimism, and saw the business beginning to climb the stairs,'' Chief Executive Officer Brian Halla said during a conference call. ``Then just in the last couple of weeks the stairsteps took the wrong direction. We started the quarter with much more optimism than we finished it with.'' National Semiconductor said it now expects operating results for the fourth quarter, excluding unusual items, to come in between a loss of four cents a share and break even. Analysts had been forecasting a profit in the range of three to six cents a share, which already showed a steep decline from the 68 cent-per-share profit recorded in the year-ago fourth quarter. The latest forecast excludes charges of $25 million to $30 million for the jobs and other cost cuts, and $10 million to $12 million to write down certain tech investments. The company also said it expects revenues for its fiscal fourth quarter, ending May 27, to range between $390 million to $400 million, or about 16 percent to 18 percent below its fiscal third-quarter results. Analysts had previously been forecasting revenues of $427 million, according to Thomson Financial. The company said continued high inventory levels, lower overall orders as well as lower turns orders, reflecting orders that are placed and requested for delivery during the same quarter, were all weighing on its results. It also cited manufacturing consolidations in the cell phone handset market, which it serves, and weakness in the analog phone market. And, for the first time in recent memory, it said the utilization rate at its plants had fallen to a somewhat alarming level of less than 50 percent. ``Below 50 percent is about as low as we've seen in a while,'' Chief Operating Officer Don Macleod told analysts ``We had 59 percent in the prior quarter and we thought that was pretty low.'' The company said the job cuts and other cost savings measures it is taking should save about $70 million to $80 million a year.