Intersil Is on Track Toward Record Earnings

Intersil Holding Corp., a maker of silicon technology for wireless access markets, said Wednesday it expects to meet analysts’ fourth-quarter earnings estimates of 26 cents a share, a record.

The Irvine company expects revenue to be 38% above a year earlier but about 5% below estimates. Intersil attributed the results to cost cutting and its shift toward wireless access.

As a result of continued softness in analog orders in the current quarter and expected seasonal weakness during the first quarter of 2001, Intersil said it expects revenue for the first quarter ending March 2001 to be flat compared with the fourth quarter. The company expects to resume sequential quarterly growth in the second quarter next year.

The earnings projections were announced after the close of regular trading hours in U.S. markets. The stock climbed $4.13, or 16.6%, to $29 a share, on the Nasdaq market.