By Tess Stynes
Broadcom Corp. said fourth-quarter earnings surged thanks to
continued growth in the chip maker's broadband and connectivity
business, as well as lower costs.
Shares rose 2.3% to $42.24 in recent after-hours trading.
Chip maker Broadcom is well known in the handheld-device market,
as it makes chips for about half the world's tablets and
smartphones, but the company has also sought to expand its share of
the network-processor market.
Broadcom last year decided to exit it cellular baseband
unit--which designs chips used in connecting smartphones, tablets
and other mobile electronics to wireless networks--Broadcom was
aiming to save about $700 million a year.
Overall, Broadcom reported a profit of $390 million, or 64 cents
a share, up from $168 million, or 29 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding stock-based compensation, restructuring-related expenses
and other items, earnings were 90 cents. Analysts expected 87
cents.
Revenue increased 3.8% to $2.14 billion, near the high end of
the company's expectations for $2.08 billion to $2.15 billion.
For the current quarter, Broadcom forecast revenue of $1.925
billion to $2.075 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters
expected $2.01 billion.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Broadcom Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US1113201073
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires