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Synopsys Swings to a Loss

Bill Snyder

Belying talk of a resurgence in electronic design automation companies, Synopsys(SNPS) swung to a first-quarter loss, while revenue dropped by 15% year over year.

And the company said the low end of its second-quarter expectations expectations would fall below the current Street consensus.

The news pushed the stock down 50 cents, or 2.7%, in recent after-hours trading; the stock closed the regular trading day with a gain of 13 cents, which is less than 1%, to $18.80.

For the January quarter, the Mountain View, Calif., company lost $14.6 million, or 10 cents a share, vs. a profit of $32.2 million, or 19 cents a share. Excluding items, net income was $14.4 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with non-GAAP net income of $32.2 million, or 33 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter of 2004.

Revenue was $241.3 million, compared to revenue of $285.3 million a year ago, but was within the company's forecast.

Wall Street was expecting a profit excluding items of 10 cents a share with sales of $238.2 million.

"The year-over-year decrease in GAAP and Non-GAAP net income was due primarily to lower revenue due to the license mix shift, increased compensation costs as a result of additional headcount added in fiscal 2004 primarily due to acquisitions," Synopsys said in a press release.

Looking forward to the second quarter, Synopsys said it expects to earn a pro forma profit ranging from 6 cents to 10 cents per share, on sales ranging from $238 million to $248 million. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had forecast a profit of 9 cents per share and revenue of $242.1 million, on the same basis.

Including items, the company expects to lose from 8 cents a share to 12 cents a share in the second quarter.