TriQuint Semiconductor: Pump Up the Volume

HILLSBORO, Ore. (TheStreet) -- TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT Quote) shares tumbled Thursday on above-average volume after the company disappointed analysts with its fourth-quarter outlook.

TriQuint late Wednesday said it earned $10.5 million, or 7 cents a share, in the third quarter, falling from a profit of $11.8 million, or 8 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. The chipmaker said adjusted earnings totaled 10 cents a share. Sales fell 7% from a year ago to $173 million. That compares to the Thomson Reuters average estimate for earnings of 10 cents a share on revenue of $177.8 million.

However, TriQuint disappointed with its fourth-quarter outlook, sending the stock lower Thursday. The company said it expects adjusted earnings in the fourth quarter to fall between 10 cents and 12 cents a share and for revenue to come in between $175 million and $185 million.

As of late Wednesday, earnings estimates stood at 13 cents a share on sales of $188 million, according to Thomson Reuters, although both have come down slightly following the earnings release.

Shares of TriQuint Semiconductor were falling by $2.08, or 25.7%, to $6.02. Earlier in the session, the stock touched an intraday low of $6.29. More than 23.4 million shares changed hands by 12:30 p.m. EDT Thursday, compared to the stock's 50-day average daily volume of 2.9 million, according to the Nasdaq.

TriQuint Semiconductor has a 149.5 million-share float with a short interest float of 4% as of Sept. 25, according to Yahoo! Finance. Only 0.6% of the company's shares are held by insiders with a whopping 78.4% owned by institutions.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York.

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