Rw1392
Wednesday, 22 Dec 2004, 04:21
CITAZIONE(Rw1392 @ Thursday, 4 Nov 2004, 22:27)
Data: Thu, 04 Nov 2004 22:25:35 +0100
Oggetto: atyt
la concorrente, ieri e oggi.
UPDATE 4-ATI sales squeezed by supply;
outlook higher (Adds closing stock prices, increase to stock target. In U.S. dollars unless noted)
By Susan Taylor
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Graphics chip designer ATI Technologies Inc. posted lower than expected first-quarter revenue Tuesday, but raised its second-quarter sales forecast, saying a supply squeeze had eased.
Shares in the company fell after the results were issued and closed at C$23.40, down C$1.42, on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and at $19.04, down $1.17, on Nasdaq.
"The potential was there to do better, but it was still a very strong quarter and we don't want to lose sight of that because it does define a momentum position that we have as we go into Q2 and Q3," chief executive Dave Orton told Reuters.
"Stocks should be driven on forward-looking earnings potential as a company ... and that's driven by your momentum."
ATI said first-quarter earnings rose 34 percent on demand for personal computer and digital consumer product chips.
Net income rose to $63.7 million, or 25 cents a share, in the quarter ended Nov. 30, from $47.4 million, or 19 cents a share, a year ago.
Excluding compensation costs for stock options, it posted earnings of 28 cents a share.
That beat the average forecast of 26 cents, said UBS Warburg analyst Michael Urlocker in a note to clients titled "Good Quarter and Good Outlook". Revenue rose 31 percent to a record $613.9 million, shy of analysts' expectations for sales of $630 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
Several factors affected sales, said Orton. Current demand was unforeseen when ATI production plans took place 16 weeks ago, the lead time typically required in the sector, he said.
Restricted capacity for a new production process and inaccurate forecasts for an industry transition to PCI-Express, a new high-speed computer connection standard, also played roles, Orton said.
"We could have done better were we not supply constrained on a number of AGP (accelerated graphics port) as well as selected PCI-Express products," chief financial officer Terry Nickerson said in a conference call. "We estimate that, with unconstrained supply, our revenue could have been up to 10 percent higher."
The closely watched gross margin figure, the percentage of sales left after subtracting manufacturing costs, was 34.2 percent. That was up from 33.8 percent in the fourth quarter on increased sales in its higher-margin consumer business.
"It's good news this quarter, but not as good as expected, but much better guidance than people had anticipated," said Fraser Mackenzie analyst Jonathan Hykawy. "In the first half of the year, they'll pretty much be bang on analysts' consensus."
Markham, Ontario-based ATI said it expects second-quarter revenue to be up to $20 million higher, or $20 million lower, than in the first quarter, or $594 million to $634 million. Gross margin is expected to match that of the first quarter.
On average, analysts expected sales of $590 million in the seasonally weak second-quarter.
"We expect revenue in Q2 to be about the same as Q1, which is stronger than our previous guidance," Nickerson said.
"PC graphics will lead the way, offsetting seasonal weakness in our consumer products." Desjardins Securities hiked its stock target to $33 from $27, citing a stronger outlook tempered by higher expenses. ATI sees costs growing more than 10 percent from the first quarter on higher prototyping costs and a stronger Canadian dollar.
($1=$1.23 Canadian)