Weak Forecast Whacks Xilinx
SAN FRANCISCO --
Xilinx
(XLNX) - Get Report
cranked up its profitability in its fiscal fourth quarter, but the company's financial outlook underwhelmed investors.
Shares of Xilinx sank nearly 5% to $24.50 in extended trading Wednesday.
The San Jose, Calif., maker of programmable chip maker earned $96 million in net income, or 34 cents a share, vs. net income of $87.6 million, or 27 cents a share at this time last year.
The results included a charge of 2 cents a share related to impairment losses on equity investments and capital loss on a stock sale.
The average analyst expectation, which generally excludes one-time charges, called for EPS of 36 cents, according to Thomson Financial.
For the three months ended March 29, Xilinx grew its sales 7% year-over-year to $475.8 million, just shy of the $478.6 million expected by analysts.
Xilinx said it boosted its gross margin to 63.4% in the fiscal fourth quarter, the highest level in four years. And the company pointed to healthy demand for its new products, such as its Virtex 5 line of chips, which saw sales increase 10% year-over-year.
But Xlinix's forecast for the current quarter was weak. The company said sales would range between a 1% sequential decline to a 3% sequential increase, which translates to a range of $471 million to $490 million. Analysts were looking for $488.2 million.
Gross margin in the current quarter will range between 63% and 64%, Xilinx said.
Xilinx's results come a week after rival
Altera
(ALTR) - Get Report
posted strong earnings and sales growth in its first quarter, and issued a financial forecast that exceeded Wall Street estimates.