DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LSI Corp.'s (LSI) second-quarter profit soared as the storage
chip maker booked a $260 million gain on the sale of its external
storage business and posted higher revenue.
The company also projected current-quarter earnings from
continuing operations of 11 cents to 17 cents a share on revenue of
$535 million to $565 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters
were projecting 12 cents and $511 million, respectively.
Shares surged 9% to $7.02 after hours as revenue also topped
expectations. The stock is up 7.5% so far this year through
Wednesday's close.
LSI has transformed itself in recent years from a diversified
chip maker with handset and manufacturing operations, among other
offerings, to a provider of chips for networking and storage.
Earlier this year, it agreed to sell its external storage
systems business to NetApp Inc. (NTAP) for $480 million, as its
board authorized a new stock-repurchase program of up to $750
million.
LSI reported a profit of $293.8 million, or 48 cents a share, up
from $7.43 million, or 1 cent a share, a year earlier. Excluding
stock-based compensation and other items, per-share earnings from
continuing operations were 10 cents, up from 9 cents. Revenue
climbed 5.7% to $500.6 million.
The company's April guidance called for a per-share profit of 7
cents to 13 cents on revenue of $465 million to $495 million.
Gross margin was flat at 47.5% as costs edged up.
-By Lauren Pollock, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2356;
lauren.pollock@dowjones.com