UPDATE 2-Lam posts weak qtrly net, sees better June qtr
Wed Apr 13, 2005 06:44 PM ET
(Adds outlook from investor conference call, stock action)
SAN FRANCISCO, April 13 (Reuters) - Lam Research Corp. (LRCX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , a major supplier of wafer fabrication tools, on Wednesday posted a sharp jump in quarterly net profit but was on the low end of Wall Street's forecast range.
Shares of Lam fell by 6 percent in anticipation of weaker results, but then recovered by 3 percent in after-hours trade after the company said revenue and earnings during the current quarter ending in June were likely to top consensus forecasts.
The Fremont, California-based Lam, said net income for the fiscal third-quarter ended in March was $59.5 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with a profit of $19.2 million, or 13 cents per diluted share in the year-earlier quarter.
Wall Street analysts were looking for earnings, excluding one-time items, of 43 cents per share, with forecasts ranging from 40 cents to 49 cents, according to a survey by Reuters Estimates.
"March was on target and the first half should come in about where we expected when we put our plan together at the end of last year," chairman Jim Bagley told investors during a conference call that followed the report.
Bagley forecast revenue of $340 million to $360 million in for the fourth quarter ending in June, in the middle of Wall Street forecasts, but higher than the current consensus outlook of $332.2 million, according to a survey by Reuters Estimates.
Earnings per share for the June quarter are expected to range between 41 cents and 45-cents as profit margins remain around 50 percent of sales, Bagley said.
The semiconductor equipment maker said its net earnings benefited from a California state tax refund of $8 million, recorded as a corporate expense, and were cut by $14.2 million in increased liabilities for unoccupied facilities that the company had tried to lease, but has now decided to sell.
Revenue rose to $349.3 million from $231.1 million, or roughly in line with Wall Street's consensus forecast.
Analyst revenue forecasts had ranged between $342 million and $360 million, with the consensus at $350.3 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
Ahead of the results, shares of Lam fell $1.69, or 6 percent, to $26.09 on Nasdaq. Following the report, which came after the close of regular session trading, shares fell another, 1 percent or 32 cents, to $25.77.
Martin Anstice, Lam's chief financial officer, told investors on a conference call that new orders declined during the March quarter relative to the December quarter across all its different customer categories.
Memory chip makers accounted for nearly two-thirds of all orders, he said. In January, Lam had warned that key customers in Korea, including Samsung Electronics (005930.K: Quote, Profile, Research) , were expected to trim orders in the first half of 2005.
"Geographically, the sequential decline we expected and realized in Korea was tempered by new orders growth in Japan, Europe, and Taiwan," Anstice said.
Shares of Lam fell $1.69, or 6.1 percent during regular session trading ahead of the results. After the report, following the close of trading on Nasdaq, the stock rose 3.5 percent to $27 in after-hours action. |
