Semtech Posts Downbeat Q1 Results, Issues Weak Forecast

reported weaker-than-expected results for the first quarter and issued a downbeat forecast for the current quarter. The Camarillo, California-based company posted a quarterly net loss of $0.1 million, or $0.00 per share, versus a year-ago net income of $7.9 million, or $0.12 per share. Excluding items, non-GAAP net income for the first quarter slipped to $0.27 per share from $0.32 per share. Its net sales dropped 2 percent year-over-year to $130.1 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.28 per share on revenue of $132.40 million. The average estimate among 5 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.28 per share and revenue of $132.73 million. Gross profit margin for the first quarter widened to 60.3 percent, versus 58.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. As of April 26, 2015, Semtech had $211.5 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, down from $230.3 million at the end of fiscal year 2015. Mohan Maheswaran, Semtech's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We saw strong demand from our enterprise computing and communication end-markets driven by the datacenter and PON market segments. However, demand from our largest smartphone customer was much lower than anticipated, leading to results that were at the lower end of our guidance range." For the second quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of $0.21 to $0.26 per share, on sales of $120 million to $130 million. Analysts had projected earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $141.7 million. Semtech shares finished up 5.44 percent at $24.62 during regular trading hours.