Tech Stock News And Analysis

Tech Stock News and Analysis

Friday, June 09, 2006

Shares of Take-Two Interactive (TTWO:Nasdaq) were among technology's losers Friday, slumping 16% after the video-game-software publisher posted a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss.

For the period ended April 30, the company reported a loss of $50.4 million, or 71 cents a share, on revenue of $265.1 million. The results included one-time items totaling $26.3 million, or 24 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected a smaller loss of 11 cents a share on revenue of $258.8 million. Last year, Take-Two posted a second-quarter loss of $8.2 million, or 12 cents a share, on revenue of $222.1 million. "While near-term financial results continue to be impacted by the console transition, we are confident that we have positioned Take-Two for the long-term by streamlining our organization while maintaining an extremely talented global development team," the company said. Shares were trading down $2.61 to $14.16.

National Semiconductor (NSM:NYSE) rose 6% after the chipmaker posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. For the period ended May 28, the company earned $118.8 million, or 34 cents a share, including a tax charge of $24.5 million, or 7 cents a share. Analysts expected a profit of 38 cents a share, before the charge. National Semiconductor reported revenue of $572.6 million, topping Wall Street's target of $566.9 million. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $130.2 million, or 36 cents a share, on revenue of $467 million. The year-earlier results included one-time gains and losses that as a whole benefited the company by $41.6 million, or 11 cents a share. Gross margins in the most recent period climbed to 61.4%, up from 60.7% in the third quarter and 54.7% a year ago.

Looking ahead, National Semiconductor forecast a sequential revenue decline of 2% to 3%. The company expects gross margins that will be similar to just-completed fourth-quarter results. Shares were trading up $1.37 to $25.28.

Shares of Xilinx (XLNX:Nasdaq) fell 1% after the chipmaker backed its revenue guidance but cut its gross margin forecast slightly. The company continues to see sequential first-quarter sequential revenue growth of 1% to 5%, which would result in revenue of $477.1 million to $496 million. The company now sees its gross margin, meanwhile, at 62%, including stock-based compensation costs of about $4 million. Previously, the company said that gross margin would be about 62.5%. Xilinx blamed the lower outlook on "mix shifts within the new products category." Analysts project earnings of 32 cents a share and revenue of $487.8 million for the quarter ending in June. Shares were trading down 22 cents to $25.39.

Texas Instruments (TXN:NYSE) traded actively after the chipmaker boosted its second-quarter earnings and revenue guidance. The company now sees earnings of 46 cents to 48 cents a share, with revenue of $3.63 billion to $3.78 billion. Previously, the company forecast earnings of 38 cents to 43 cents a share and revenue of $3.46 billion to $3.75 billion. Analysts, meanwhile, project earnings of 40 cents a share on revenue of $3.61 billion. Texas Instruments said its revised revenue estimate includes a $70 million payment from Conexant Systems (CNXT:Nasdaq) related to a patent litigation settlement. Texas Instruments also received a sales tax benefit during the quarter. In all, the two items are expected to add 5 cents to 6 cents a share to earnings. Shares, which rose by nearly 3% in early trading, recently were down 81 cents to $29.91.

Shares of Peerless Systems (PRLS:Nasdaq) jumped 10% after the imaging-products company posted higher first-quarter earnings. The company earned $2 million, or 11 cents a share, on revenue of $8.8 million. The results included stock-based compensation costs of $79,000. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $414,000, or 2 cents a share, on revenue of $7.2 million. Gross margin jumped to 70.3% during the most recent period from 54.3% a year ago.

For the second quarter, Peerless projected a profit of $1 million to $1.5 million. The company anticipates revenue topping $10.5 million. Shares were trading up 66 cents to $7.16.

Other technology movers included Intel (INTC:Nasdaq) , up 8 cents to $17.19; Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq) , down 5 cents to $22.06; Level 3 Communications (LVLT:Nasdaq) , up 1 cent to $4.54; Sun Microsystems (SUNW:Nasdaq) , up 6 cents to $4.29; JDSU (JDSU:Nasdaq) , unchanged at $2.75; Cisco Systems (CSCO:Nasdaq) , up 21 cents to $20.10; Apple Computer (AAPL:Nasdaq) , down 82 cents to $59.94; Lucent Technologies (LU:NYSE) , up 1 cent to $2.43; and Oracle (ORCL:Nasdaq) , down 3 cents to $13.50.

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