Broadcom Beats Estimates With a Record Quarter
Communications chip maker Broadcom Corp. reported record sales along with quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street estimates Tuesday amid a spate of good results posted by Southland technology companies.
The positive news sent stock prices up as companies, including Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. and QLogic Corp., generally met or exceeded expectations, something analysts weren’t sure about last fall amid forecasts of possible slowdowns.
Broadcom shares gained $4.63 to close at $133.44 on Nasdaq before it reported its earnings. The Irvine firm’s results and its expectation that it will meet estimates in coming quarters sent the stock as high as $142.50 in after-hours trading.
“The market is interpreting the news that companies have put out positively,” said analyst Arun Veerappan of investment bank Robertson Stephens. “They are anticipating that the second half of the year will be strong.”
Broadcom reported fourth-quarter profit of $86.7 million, or 32 cents a share--a penny higher than the average estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial.
Quarterly sales more than doubled to a record $376.1 million from $162 million in the year-earlier quarter.
Broadcom has been the nation’s fastest-growing chip maker, and its annual results gave CEO Henry T. Nicholas III reason to cheer.
“During the year, Broadcom reached the $1-billion revenue level, . . . a testament to both the company’s ability to execute well in multiple broadband markets and the tremendous growth of those markets,” Nicholas said.
Broadcom’s annual income, excluding its acquisition charges and other costs, rose to $271.4 million, or $1.04 a share, beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.01 a share. Including the one-time charges, it lost $693.4 million, or $3.15 a share, far from annual net income of $72.5 million, or 31 cents a share, the previous year. Annual revenue doubled to a record $1.1 billion from $521.2 million.
Camarillo-based Vitesse, which makes chips for fiber-optic equipment, also reported increased quarterly earnings this week. The company said its fiscal first-quarter income was $47.6 million, or 25 cents per share, not including acquisitions and stock compensation charges. Revenue rose 85% to $165.1 million from $89.3 million.
Storage network infrastructure company QLogic of in Aliso Viejo exceeded Wall Street expectations by 2 cents by posting earnings of $26.6 million, or 28 cents a share, for its fiscal third quarter, ended Dec. 31. It earned $14.4 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago.
At Broadcom, Chief Financial Officer Bill Ruehle said the company expects to continue its sales growth, increasing 22% to 23% this quarter over the previous quarter. Broadcom expects to post earnings of about 33 cents per share this quarter, not including acquisitions and other costs, Ruehle said.
With the one-time charges and costs figured in, mainly from six acquisitions completed in the last quarter, Broadcom lost $768.6 million, or $3.28 a share, for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of $33 million, or 13 cents, a year ago.
For Vitesse, net income, after one-time charges and costs, for its first quarter ended Dec. 31 rose 41% to $28.1 million, or 15 cents a share, from $19.9 million, or 11 cents, the previous year. QLogic’s net income for its third quarter was $25.2 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with $14.4 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago.
Vitesse shares rose $8.63, or 13%, to $75.88, and QLogic shares rose $10.63, or 12%, to close at $97.69, both on Nasdaq.
At a Glance
Other earnings, excluding one-time gains or charges, unless noted, include:
* Irvine-based chip maker Intersil Holding Corp. reported fourth-quarter net income of $27.9 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with a loss of $500,000 a year ago. That beat analysts’ expectations by 2 cents. Revenue grew by 37% to $216.8 million. Intersil said it expects about 25% growth in the first quarter and 20% growth for 2001.
* Powerwave Technologies Inc., an Irvine-based supplier of power amplifiers for wireless communications networks, reported fourth-quarter net income of $12.4 million, or 19 cents a share, versus $8.4 million, or 13 cents, a year earlier. Sales increased 33% to $121.2 million.
* FileNet Corp. of Costa Mesa, a provider of Web content management software, posted a 63% increase in fourth-quarter net income to $14.8 million, or 40 cents a share, compared with $9.1 million, or 26 cents, a year ago. Revenue reached a record $111.6 million, a gain of 19%.
* Microsemi Corp., a Santa Ana semiconductor company, reported net income of $4.1 million, or 28 cents a share, for its fiscal first quarter. That compares with net income of $966,000, or 9 cents, a year ago. Sales increased 15% to $63 million.
