Specialty foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM) posted record revenue and profit for the third quarter, driven by the acquisition of the Japanese foundry at Nishiwaki. However, the company predicts no change for the fourth quarter.
Revenue rose 31% to $176.1 million for the third quarter from $134.7 million for the corresponding quarter. GAAP-based net profit rose 50% to $1.8 million ($0.01 per share) for the third quarter from $1.2 million for the corresponding quarter, and non-GAAP net profit was $45.7 million ($0.14 per share) compared with a non-GAAP net loss of $43.9 million for the corresponding quarter. The non-GAAP net profit includes a $9 million capital gain from the sale of the company's stake Chinese foundry Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. for $32 million.
Tower met the analysts' earnings per share consensus, but missed the revenue consensus of $178.8 million.
In its fourth quarter guidance, Tower predicts $170-180 million revenue, a 30% midpoint increase over the corresponding quarter, reflecting 20% full-year growth.
Tower had $178 million in cash and short-term deposits at the end of September, up $90 million from a year earlier.
Tower CEO Russell Elwanger said, “The third quarter revenue level puts us at a run rate of around $700 million plus per year, increasing our lead as the number 1 specialty foundry and bringing us a big step closer to our goal of becoming a billion dollar company by 2014."
Tower's share price rose 2% on Nasdaq yesterday to $0.78, giving a market cap of $244 million, and rose 1.6% in morning trading on the TASE today to NIS 2.92.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 15, 2011
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