By Noel Randewich
SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 (Reuters) - Programmable chipmaker Altera Corp forecast higher-than-expected second-quarter sales, saying it has been relatively unaffected by supply chain disruptions caused by the Japanese earthquake last month.
Worries about disruptions to the global supply chain have hung over the chip industry since Japan's earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
Altera depends on Japan for almost one-fifth of its revenue, but executives told analysts on a conference call that the disaster was not expected to affect the company's second quarter.
Altera and rival Xilinx are both gaining from a move toward programmable microchips as integrated circuits tailor-made for different tasks become too expensive for many manufacturers. They are expected to outgrow the overall chip industry for the next few years.
Altera has won market share with chips made at the 40 nanometer node and both companies are set to compete with cutting-edge 28 nm technology they are rolling out this year, letting them squeeze more transistors onto their chips.
'The numbers are solid. They to be doing very well in 40 nm (nanometers) and 28 nm. ... Gross margins have held up, and the guidance is very robust,' said ThinkEquity analyst Sujeeva De Silva.
The programmable chipmaker said sales in the current quarter would be unchanged to up 5 percent from the first quarter, higher than analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The amount of investment needed to develop ever smaller and more complex chips is rapidly growing and making it less cost-effective to custom-design processors for products like car computers and data routers.
Chips that can be manufactured in large batches and then be programmed to do different tasks for different customers are gaining popularity.
Altera posted first-quarter sales of $535.8 million, up 33 percent, with strong growth in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East offsetting weakness in Asia.
Altera said net income in the first quarter rose to $224.1 million, or 68 cents per share, from $153.2 million, or 50 cents a share a year ago and above expectations of 65 cents a share.
Analysts on average expected first-quarter sales of $536.5 million and second-quarter sales of $532.4 million.
Altera's gross margin in the first quarter was 73 percent and the company said its margin in the second quarter would be 71 percent or 72 percent.
Shares of Altera rose 0.9 percent in extended trading after closing up 1.9 percent at $46.59.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Carol Bishopric, Tim Dobbyn and Steve Orlofsky) Keywords: ALTERA/ (noel.randewich@thomsonreuters.com; 415-677-2542; Reuters Messaging: noel.randewich.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 (Reuters) - Programmable chipmaker Altera Corp forecast higher-than-expected second-quarter sales, saying it has been relatively unaffected by supply chain disruptions caused by the Japanese earthquake last month.
Worries about disruptions to the global supply chain have hung over the chip industry since Japan's earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
Altera depends on Japan for almost one-fifth of its revenue, but executives told analysts on a conference call that the disaster was not expected to affect the company's second quarter.
Altera and rival Xilinx are both gaining from a move toward programmable microchips as integrated circuits tailor-made for different tasks become too expensive for many manufacturers. They are expected to outgrow the overall chip industry for the next few years.
Altera has won market share with chips made at the 40 nanometer node and both companies are set to compete with cutting-edge 28 nm technology they are rolling out this year, letting them squeeze more transistors onto their chips.
'The numbers are solid. They to be doing very well in 40 nm (nanometers) and 28 nm. ... Gross margins have held up, and the guidance is very robust,' said ThinkEquity analyst Sujeeva De Silva.
The programmable chipmaker said sales in the current quarter would be unchanged to up 5 percent from the first quarter, higher than analysts expected, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The amount of investment needed to develop ever smaller and more complex chips is rapidly growing and making it less cost-effective to custom-design processors for products like car computers and data routers.
Chips that can be manufactured in large batches and then be programmed to do different tasks for different customers are gaining popularity.
Altera posted first-quarter sales of $535.8 million, up 33 percent, with strong growth in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East offsetting weakness in Asia.
Altera said net income in the first quarter rose to $224.1 million, or 68 cents per share, from $153.2 million, or 50 cents a share a year ago and above expectations of 65 cents a share.
Analysts on average expected first-quarter sales of $536.5 million and second-quarter sales of $532.4 million.
Altera's gross margin in the first quarter was 73 percent and the company said its margin in the second quarter would be 71 percent or 72 percent.
Shares of Altera rose 0.9 percent in extended trading after closing up 1.9 percent at $46.59.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Carol Bishopric, Tim Dobbyn and Steve Orlofsky) Keywords: ALTERA/ (noel.randewich@thomsonreuters.com; 415-677-2542; Reuters Messaging: noel.randewich.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.