Replies to post #539 on Earning Plays

[3xBuBu]

National Semi Delivers Strong Forecast
For investors gauging the health of National Semiconductor(NSM - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), forget the top line and focus on earnings.

That was the message delivered by the chipmaker's top brass in a post-earnings conference call Thursday, in which National Semi projected a 15% to 20% increase in earnings per share in its new fiscal year.

The Santa Clara, Calif., company said the improvement will come from continued cost-savings and by increasing its focus on selling higher-margin analog chips.

"We've constructed a business model where we think we can target that kind of growth with modest amount of revenue," said Finance Chief Lewis Chew.

National Semi did not provide a revenue forecast for the year, but alluded to Wall Street estimates which call for the company's sales this year to be flat.

Shares of National Semi were up 9%, or $2.04, to $24.70 in extended trading Thursday.

In its recently ended fiscal fourth quarter, National Semi actually outpaced analyst revenue expectations, with sales of $462 million, vs. the $449.5 million expected by analysts. Compared to this time last year though, revenue was up a scant 1%.

The company posted net income of $83.2 million, or 34 cents a share, compared with $90.1 million, or 28 cents a share at this time last year.

The results included $9 million of restructuring charges on account of recently announced layoffs, as well as a $6 million tax benefit.

It was not immediately clear which items were included in the average analyst estimate, which calls for National Semi to earn 26 cents a share.
http://www.thestreet.com/s/national-semi-delivers-strong-forecast/newsanalysis/techsemis/10420093.html?puc=googlefi&cm_ven=GOOGLEFI&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

[3xBuBu]

Take-Two Swings to Profit
On Grand Theft Auto Sales
By ANDREW EDWARDS
June 5, 2008 4:29 p.m.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. swung to a profit as the videogame maker's revenue soared with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Take-Two posted net income of $98.2 million, or $1.29 a share, for the fiscal second quarter ended April 30. That compares with a year-earlier loss of $51.2 million, or 71 cents a share. Revenue more than doubled to $539.8 million.

The company cited the success of Grand Theft Auto IV, a hotly anticipated videogame released at the end of April that generated $500 million in sales in the first week, an industry record. The company said Thursday that consumers had purchased about 8.5 million games as of May 31.

The company also substantially boosted its third-quarter and fiscal year guidance. It now expects fiscal 2008 per-share earnings of $1.65 to $1.85 on revenue of $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion, up from its previous forecast for fiscal 2008 per-share earnings of $1.35 to $1.55 on revenue of $1.25 billion to $1.4 billion. Wall Street expected $1.52-a-share earnings on revenue of $1.41 billion.

For the fiscal third quarter, the company expects per-share earnings of 45 cents to 55 cents on revenue of $325 million to $375 million.

"Take-Two's performance has exceeded expectations through the first half of fiscal 2008, clearly demonstrating the creative, operational and financial strength of our business," said Chairman Strauss Zelnick in prepared remarks.