Analog Devices Beats Forecasts; Shares Jump
Chip designer Analog Devices posted sharply lower profit and sales for its fiscal second quarter Tuesday amid the economic turmoil that has dampened global chip demand.

Still, the company said the results were better than planned, while the quarter's costs were lower than expected.

For the three months ended May 2, Analog Devices earned $51.8 million, or 18 cents per share, down 61 percent from $133.1 million, or 45 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

The latest quarter's results were weighed by a restructuring charge of 3 cents per share. Stripping out one-time items, the company earned 21 cents per share.

Revenue fell 27 percent to $474.7 million from $649.3 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 9 cents per share on sales of $427.2 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time items.

The results "were better than planned as we benefited from increased sales to communications infrastructure and consumer customers and a general abatement of inventory reductions by our customers," said Jerald G. Fishman, president and chief executive, in a statement.

He added that the quarter's expenses were "significantly lower" than the company had originally planned.

The company's order levels, he added, were stable during the second quarter and have stayed so through the first two weeks of May.

For the third quarter, Analog expects revenue to be about flat on a sequential basis, and it is forecasting earnings from continuing operations between 17 cents and 19 cents per share.

Analysts are predicting a profit of 11 cents per share on sales of $441.8 million.

Shares jumped almost 8 percent in after-hours trading. The stock had closed up 68 cents, or 3.4 percent, at $20.58.