Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:
FSL
) has taken off on Wednesday on a better-than-expected earnings
report.
The Austin, Texas semiconductor firm reports a loss of $0.15
per share during the fourth quarter as compared to a loss of
$0.02 during the same period in 2011. While not ideal, this
amount tops the analyst consensus of a $0.18 loss.
As compared to 2011, the company reports a higher EPS for the
year, with a loss of $0.08 per share as opposed to $0.96 in
2011.
Sales Down
Net sales were down year-over-year. After raking in $1.01
billion to close out 2011, the company generated $957 million
this time around.
Yearly sales were down, too. After generating $4.57 billion in
net sales in 2011, Freescale reports pulling in $3.95 billion in
2012.
Most segments were down for the quarter and all were down for
the year. The following are the quarterly results as compared to
the same period in 2011 as well as the 2012 vs. 2011 annual
results:
Microcontroller: up 14.5 percent (Q4), down 11 percent
(2012)
Digital networking: down 7 percent (Q4), down 8 percent
(2012)
Automotive microcontroller: down 7 percent (Q4), down 8
percent (2012)
Analog and sensor: down 8 percent (Q4), down 8 percent
(2012)
RF: down 4 percent (Q4), down 27.4 percent (2012)
Other: down 34.5 percent (Q4), down 35 percent (2012)
Positive Guidance for Q1 2013
Freescale expects sales to finish in the $945 to $985 million
range for the first quarter of 2013. This tops the current
analyst consensus of $933 million.
Freescale Introduces New Security Accelerators
On Wednesday, Freescale introduced a new line of security
accelerators designed to "help the world's top data center
equipment manufacturers efficiently scale to handle dramatic
increases in secure network traffic."
The firm notes a Cisco report that mobile data traffic is
expected to increase 18-fold over the next 5 years as network
security requirements increase fivefold due to National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements.
Also, according to Freescale, "Scalable security coprocessors
are expected to play a pivotal role for a range of applications,
including data center/cloud computing, as well as security
appliances and hardware security modules used in banking,
government and defense equipment."
If the company's assertions are accurate, the new product line
could be a significant boost to its bottom line.
Market Reaction
After hovering in the $11 to $12+ range through January,
Freescale is above $14.50 as of this writing. The stock is up
around 17 percent in trading on Wednesday.
(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment
advice. All rights reserved.
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