Specialty foundry Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE: TSEM) expects growth to continue in 2013, despite a weak first quarter, after reporting record revenue in 2012.
Fourth quarter revenue fell to $147.6 million from $154.6 million for the preceding quarter, and Tower expects a further drop to $110-120 million for the first quarter of 2013. The company missed the analysts' revenue consensus of $150.1 million. GAAP-based net loss widened to $23 million ($1.05 per share) for the fourth quarter from $17 million for the corresponding quarter of 2011, and non-GAAP net profit fell to $22 million ($0.99 per share) from $34 million, compared with the analysts' consensus of a loss per share of $0.30.
Full-year revenue rose 5% to $638.8 million from $611 million in 2011. GAAP-based net loss widened to $70 million ($3.25 per share) in 2012 from $19 million in 2011, and non-GAAP net profit rose to $131.5 million from$124 million.
Cash flow from operations was $75 million in 2012, boosting the company’s cash and short-term deposits balance to $133 million at the end of the year from $101 million a year earlier.
Tower CEO Russell Elwanger said, "In the immediate, we see revenue reduction as per the planned contractual decrease in the Micron volume agreement in Nishiwaki. We see this as short term, corrected by the qualification and ramp of the above-mentioned Nishiwaki based activities, as well as other strategic initiatives in new markets such as the SOI Switch. Our worldwide presence and specialty technology offerings have enabled us to create a competitive advantage for our customers and we expect further market share growth in our chosen value add segments during 2013."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 14, 2013
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