Advanced Logic Research Keeps Figuring It Right : Computers: Irvine PC maker reports a big jump in third-quarter sales and earnings even while industry giants suffer.

Continuing to gain ground on its larger competitors, personal computer maker Advanced Logic Research Inc. reported Wednesday that its third-quarter earnings jumped 29% to $3.4 million on sharply higher sales.

Sales for the quarter ended June 30 rose 40% to $52.5 million, from $37.5 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were 31 cents, up from 27 cents.

“What we have is a group of second-tier players that are seeing tremendous growth while the giants like Compaq, Apple and IBM are falling victim to the recession,” said Rick Martin, an analyst at Prudential Bache Research in New York. “The results are exactly what we expected.”

Martin said ALR is keeping pace with other leading makers of IBM-compatible machines such as AST Research Inc. in Irvine and Dell Computer Corp. in Austin, Tex.

Each of those companies continues to grow because they have competitive products and are expanding distribution, whereas the larger computer firms depend on their existing distribution networks, Martin said.

Irvine-based ALR announced this month that its computers will be sold in the 470-store ComputerLand retail chain. The company also continues to expand overseas sales, which accounted for 37% of third-quarter revenue.

Gene Lu, ALR’s chief executive, said the company is also moving into the computer “super-store” market--large warehouse-type stores that offer discount prices. ALR products will be sold in a new ComputerLand Express super-store opening in Atlanta later this month.

Lu said sales were helped by strong acceptance of ALR’s highest-performance computers based on Intel Corp.’s fastest microprocessors--the chips that serve as a computer’s brain. The top end of the personal computer market has been somewhat insulated from the price wars that have hurt profits in the low end of the marker.

During the first half of the year, ALR sold only 3,200 notebook computers, the fastest-growing category of computers, which are small enough to fit inside a briefcase. That compares to 27,000 units sold by AST in the same time.

Martin described ALR’s entry in the notebook field as a “holding pattern” product. Lu agreed, adding that the company has not yet made an all-out attack on the notebook market. But he said the company will launch a new line of notebook computers later this year.

For the nine months ended June 30, ALR reported net income of $10.5 million on revenue of $162.6 million, compared to net income of $8.8 million on revenue of $121.8 million a year earlier.

The 1991 fiscal year figures include a higher number of shares due to a public offering of 1,075,000 shares during the third quarter.

ALR’s Performance In the third quarter ended June 30, Advanced Logic Research Inc. reported earnings of $3.4 million as revenue rose 40% to $52.5 million. The company attributed the gain to sales of high-end computer products. Figures are in thousands, except per-share data.

3rd Qtr 3rd Qtr 9 Months 9 Months 1991 1990 1991 1990 Revenue $52,458 $37,458 $162,621 $121,813 Net income (loss) $3,358 $2,596 $10,458 $8,830 Per share (loss) 31 cents 27 cents $1.03 $1.13

Source: Advanced Logic Research Inc.