OmniVision Technologies Third-Quarter Profit Surges; Fourth-Quarter View Misses Estimates; Shares Down

   By Tess Stynes 
 

OmniVision Technologies Inc.'s (OVTI) fiscal third-quarter earnings surged as the chip maker's revenue more than doubled.

However, shares fell 9.2% to $14 in after-hours trading as the company's fiscal fourth-quarter outlook was sharply below expectations. Through the close, the stock is up 9.4% this year.

For the current quarter, the company forecast per-share earnings of 14 cents to 29 cents on revenue of $300 million to $330 million, well below recent estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters for 32 cents and $371 million, respectively.

OmniVision generates the biggest chunk of its business in the smartphone sector, and its results have been closely linked to that market. Its products include camera sensors for phones, including Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone.

The company has seen high manufacturing costs put pressure on its margins, an area OmniVision has been seeking to improve. In the latest quarter, gross margin fell to 16.9% from 24.2%. However, that represented a small improvement from 16.6% during the fiscal second quarter.

For the quarter ended Jan. 31, OmniVision Technologies reported a profit of $21.3 million, or 40 cents a share, up from $111,000, or break-even on a per-share basis, a year earlier. Excluding items such as stock-based compensation, adjusted earnings were up at 56 cents from 13 cents. Revenue more than doubled to $423.5 million

The company in November expected earnings of 33 cents to 46 cents on revenue of $390 million to $425 million.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

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