Altera Beats Profit Estimates

Second-quarter profit edged higher at Altera(ALTR Quote), as the company beat Wall Street's earnings expectations.

The San Jose, Calif., chipmaker said Monday that net income for the quarter ended June 29 rose to $80.5 million, or 22 cents a share, from $77.3 million, or 21 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had produced an average earnings estimate of 19 cents a share.

Revenue fell 4% to $319.7 million, but beat the Street's expectations of $313.2 million.

For the third quarter, Altera said it expects sales to be flat to up 3% on a sequential basis, suggesting a range of $319.7 million to $329.3 million. Analysts are expecting revenue of $321.8 million.

The company expects third-quarter gross margins of 64% to 65%, in line with the second quarter's margin of 64.6%.

Altera said it's negotiating for a long-term credit facility of up to $750 million. If finalized, the company plans to draw $500 million from the facility to repurchase its common stock. Altera would then intend to repurchase up to $1.5 billion of its common stock from the beginning of 2007 through the first half of 2008, up $500 million from the previous $1 billion repurchase plan.

Shares of Altera rose 37 cents, or 1.5%, in recent after-hours trading to $25.29.