Freescale Semiconductor (FSL)

[SeriousMoney]

Freescale 3Q Profit Nearly Triples - Freescale Semi Almost Triples 3Q Profit on Strength in Wireless, Mobile Products
<AP, 10/20/05>

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Freescale Semiconductor Inc. on Thursday said its profit nearly tripled in the third quarter on improved sales in its wireless and mobile segment.
Shares of Freescale slipped 59 cents to close at $21.81 on the New York Stock Exchange, but gained 99 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $22.80 in after-hours activity.

Quarterly income was $164 million, or 38 cents per share, up from $57 million, or 15 cents, the year before. Setting aside a $26 million pretax gain from selling a unit and a $10 million write-down of receivables, earnings amounted to 35 cents per share.

The chip maker's adjusted income easily surpassed the average estimate of 28 cents per share from analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Net sales totaled $1.45 billion, a slight 1 percent gain from $1.43 billion a year earlier and just ahead of analysts' consensus target of $1.44 billion.

By segment, sales of Freescale's transportation and standard products fell 2 percent to $637 million, and networking and computing systems declined less than a percent to $360 million. However, sales of wireless and mobile products advanced 8 percent to $438 million.

"Our team turned in a good performance during the quarter," Michel Mayer, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. "We have a lot of work left to do, but our third-quarter results clearly indicate that we are on the right track to transform Freescale."

Looking forward, the company forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $1.43 billion to $1.53 billion, and said gross margins are expected to increase slightly from the prior period.

Analysts project quarterly income of 32 cents per share and revenue of $1.48 billion.

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