Altera 2nd-Quarter Earnings Drop 38% as Revenue Falls

   By Michael Calia 
 

Altera Corp.'s (ALTR) second-quarter earnings dropped 38% as the chip maker's sales dropped in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific regions.

Altera, which makes chips that can be programmed for specific jobs, had seen its profit slide for more than a year. Its results have been hurt by U.S. defense-budget cuts, as well as weak demand from some wireless customers.

Altera reported a profit of $101.5 million, or 31 cents a share, down from $162.7 million, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting a profit of 31 cents a share.

Revenue declined 9.3% to $421.8 million, in line with Altera's downbeat guidance of $410.5 million to $426.9 million.

Gross margin narrowed to 68% from 69.6%.

Sales in Asia-Pacific, which accounted for 39% of net sales in the quarter, fell 22% year over year, while sales in the Americas fell 12%. Sales in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, accounting for 28% of net sales in the quarter, improved by 11%.

Sales in the wireless segment, which accounted for 42% of net sales in the quarter, dropped 16% year over year.

Shares, up 3.14% this year through the close, rose 1.78% to $36.10 after hours.

Write to Michael Calia at [e-mail]

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