To: tuck who wrote (4146 ) 9/25/2002 1:36:04 AM From: Neil H Respond to of 4849 Reuters Business Report RF Micro Raises Revenue, Earnings Outlook Tuesday September 24, 6:12 pm ET GREENSBORO, N.C. (Reuters) - RF Micro Devices Inc. (NasdaqNM:RFMD - News), a communications chipmaker, on Tuesday raised its quarterly expectations for earnings and revenue, citing a diversified customer and product base, and said visibility continues to improve for the next quarter. ADVERTISEMENT The company said it now expects earnings of about 3 cents a share for its second quarter ending Sept. 30, compared with previous expectations of a penny to 2 cents. It expects revenue of about $118 million compared with its previous guidance of $109 million to $114 million. Analysts on average expect the company to post earnings of 2 cents a share for the fiscal quarter, according to Thomson First Call. The company posted earnings of a penny a share on revenue of $98.3 million a year ago. RF Micro also said it expects revenue in the December quarter to increase sequentially from the September quarter. "We smelled this coming," said Edward Snyder, wireless equipment analyst with J.P. Morgan. "With intrinsic strength in handsets combined with their market share gains they looked like they were going to do better than expected." Snyder said it helped that Nokia (NOK1V.HE) (NYSE:NOK - News), its biggest customer, has said repeatedly that it sees strength in the cell phone replacement market. No. 2 Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - News), another customer, is also believed to be doing well, he said. Shares of RF Micro jumped earlier this month after Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker unveiled several new wireless telephone models. The stock closed up 64 cents, or 11.8 percent at $6.08, on Nasdaq on Tuesday.