National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: NSM) is scheduled to release its fiscal third-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, March 10, 2011. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report earnings of $0.24 per share on revenue of $353.96 million. In the year ago period, the company reported earnings of $0.22 per share on revenue of $361.90 million.
National Semiconductor Corporation, a semiconductor company, designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits and sub-systems. The company markets its products to OEMs and original design manufacturers through a direct sales force. Some major OEMs include Apple, General Dynamics, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, RIM, Samsung, LG Electronics, Siemens AG. It has a diversified product portfolio, which includes power management circuits, audio and operational amplifiers, communication interface products and data conversion solutions. During the fiscal year ended May 30, 2010 (fiscal 2010), approximately 94% of National’s revenue was generated from Analog segment products.
In the preceding fiscal second quarter, the Santa Clara, California-based company's net income was$83.5 million or $0.34 per share, compared with a profit of $47.0 million or $0.20 per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue increased 13% to $390.4 million from $344.6 million in the same quarter last year. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $0.32 per share on revenue of $399.46 million.
At its last earnings call in December, the company said that it expects third quarter net sales of $344 million to $359 million, which represents a decrease of 8% to 12% as compared to the second quarter. National noted that the third quarter guidance is slightly below its five-year average sequential decline of 9%, driven mainly by adjustments in the supply chain.
In recent years, National Semiconductor has reorganized its business to focus on high-profit analog chips that control power management in electronic devices, shedding various business lines.
Demand for PCs, mobile phones, and new devices including the iPad boosted chips in 2010. Tablets and smartphones bode well for National Semiconductor's business. Recently, the semiconductor Industry Association said that worldwide semiconductor sales for 2010 reached a record $298.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31.8 percent from the $226.3 billion recorded in 2009. December quarter's sales of $75.5 billion represent a 4.0 percent decline from the immediate prior quarter, and a 12.2 percent increase over the same period in 2009.
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