Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE:TSEM) CEO Russell Ellwanger predicts the semiconductor company's revenue will cross the $500 million threshold in 2010, higher than forecast.

Speaking at a conference in New York organized by analysts Rodman and Renshaw in New York, Ellwanger said, "We gave a guidance of being able to be at $500 million revenue. We are on track to achieve that guidance. Q2 was $125 plus million. Q3, we guided $135 million mid-range. So our CAGR is about 40%; and actually, if you were to track just our forecast, most likely we'll surpass the $500 million by some amount."

Ellwanger also spoke about the remarkable growth in the number of customers the company has accumulated. He said, "In 2005, we had only three customers that were number one or two in high-growth markets; and all three of these were digital customers. One of them was SanDisk. In 2010, 23 customers that are a one or two in high-growth market, and all but one of them are analog."

Tower's share price was down 0.76% on the TASE today to NIS 5.25. On Nasdaq, the share closed yesterday at $1.39, giving a market cap of $320.76 million.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 14, 2010

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