* Cypress Semiconductor and its outspoken chief...

* Cypress Semiconductor and its outspoken chief executive, T. J. Rodgers, suffered a rare setback Monday when the company announced worse-than-expected earnings and Wall Street responded by knocking the stock down 20%.

Cypress, a small but fast-growing computer chip maker that has long been a darling of high-tech investors, said net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31 totaled $5.9 million, or 15 cents a share, down from $8.2 million, or 22 cents a share, for the comparable period a year ago. Revenue rose to $40.3 million from $37.1 million a year ago.

The news sent the company’s stock down $3.625 to $14.125 in heavy trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

For the full year, Cypress earned $34.2 million, up from $33.2 million a year ago, on revenue that rose 27% to $286.8 million from $225.2 million.

Rodgers is a vocal critic of the semiconductor establishment and has vehemently opposed initiatives such as the government-backed Sematech chip research consortium, which he says protect old-line companies at the expense of entrepreneurial firms such as Cypress. He has always been able to point to the consistently strong performance of his firm as proof that small companies can prosper even in the capital-intensive chip business.

Earnings, D7