SAN JOSE (dpa-AFX) - Programmable chipmaker Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) said Thursday after the markets closed that its second quarter profit rose 21% from last year, helped by higher revenue and better cost control.
The company's quarterly earnings per share also came in above analysts' expectations as did its quarterly revenue. At the same time, the company gave a slightly downbeat revenue forecast for the current quarter.
'September quarter sales were in line with our guidance, but our profitability surpassed our expectations,' said Moshe Gavrielov, Xilinx President and Chief Executive Officer. 'For the December quarter, we are forecasting a strong recovery in 28nm sales driven by a broad base of applications. We continue to target approximately $600 million in 28nm sales for fiscal year 2015, up nearly 60% from the prior fiscal year.'
Xilinx shares are currently gaining 3.92% in after hours trading after closing the day's regular trading session at $38.49, up 91 cents or 2.42%. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $36.24 to $55.59.
For the second quarter ended September 27, 2014, the San Jose, California-based company reported net income of $171.5 million or $0.62 per share, compared to $141.5 million or $0.49 per share for the year-ago quarter.
On average, 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.55 per share for the second quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Gross margin for the quarter improved to 71.9% from 69.5% a year earlier, while operating margin increased to 33.1% from 27.3% last year.
Net revenues for the second quarter rose 1% to $604.26 million from $598.94 million in the same quarter last year. Twenty-three analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $601.69 million for the second quarter.
Thirty seven percent of the company's second quarter revenue came from the Asia-Pacific region, which saw revenue drop of 2%. North America revenue rose 3% from last year and constituted 32% of total revenue. Japan revenue grew 13%, while Europe revenue fell 2%.
Xilinx declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.29 per share, payable on November 26 to all stockholders of record on November 5.
Looking forward, the company forecasts third quarter sales to be flat to up 4% sequentially, implying third quarter sales of $604.26 million to $628.43 million. Analysts currently expect the company to post revenue of $623.13 million for the third quarter.
Gross margin for the third quarter is expected to be about 69%.
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