Price Reductions Cited for Semtech Profit Drop

Semtech Corp., a Newbury Park semiconductor maker, said its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 17% from a year earlier on little change in sales.

In the quarter that ended Oct. 29Semtech’s net income fell to $251,000 from $304,000 a year earlier, and its sales slipped to $4.90 million from $4.94 million. Semtech blamed the lower earnings on weakening demand and subsequent price-cutting of its products.

For the first nine months of its fiscal year, Semtech’s profit fell to $830,000 from $1.46 million, and nine-month sales were virtually unchanged at $14.6 million.