Atheros Climbs on Strong Results, Bullish Outlook

Atheros Communications said late Monday its third-quarter profit jumped 50% amid strong demand for its networking chip products. The company reported earnings of $9.7M ($0.16/share) on revenue of $106.3M, up from $6.3M ($0.11/share) on revenue of $79.6M a year ago. Excluding items, earnings were $16.9M ($0.28/share) compared with $10.4M ($0.19/share) last year, and above the $0.26/share average analyst estimate. Looking ahead, the company said fourth-quarter results were being hurt by declining market share at one particular PC customer, but it was, nevertheless, bullish about its prospects for the period; it expects earnings of $0.30/share for the quarter on revenue of $113.7M, on expectations for sales growth in all its major business units, including the PC group. Analysts had been forecasting earnings of $0.28/share and revenue of $113.7M on average. The company also introduced the latest version of its ROCm Wi-Fi chip, which uses 70% less power than existing products. "We think this a tremendously competitive product, both for power-consumption, cost and form-factor reasons," said CEO Craig Barratt. Shares rose 7% to $32 AH building on a 5.2% gain in the regular trading session.

Sources: Press release, The Street.com
Commentary: Atheros' Growth May Be Its Downfall • Does Expected Sales Growth Justify the Inventory Buildup At the Semis?
Stocks to watch: ATHR. Competitors: BRCM, CNXT, INTC. ETFs: SMH, IGW
Earnings call transcript: Atheros Communications Q3 2007

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