Today's Technical View on Altera and Lattice: Semiconductors Announce Disappointing Quarterly Results
LONDON, January 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
The semiconductor industry is going through a rough phase and the results are evident from the performance of companies like Intel. However, smaller and more specialized ones are not immune from this downturn either. Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) continues to perform badly in the semiconductor market as well as in the stock market. Similarly, its competitor Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: LSCC) confirmed the trend by posting lower revenue. StockCall completed its free technical review on Altera and Lattice after the market closed yesterday. These reports have freshly been posted and can be accessed once you register at
http://www.stockcall.com/report
Both companies have provided lower estimates for the coming quarter as well. The semiconductor industry, in general, is likely to shrink by 3 percent this year, mainly due to a decline in demand for PCs.
Altera may Benefit from 4G Growth
Altera Corporation seems to continue with its plunge as the company reported dismal financial numbers for its fourth quarter. It missed consensus estimates for both the revenue and EPS. Its margins also shrank by 0.4 percent. The malady is industry-wide and Altera seems to be following the disappointing trend. However, the results are not surprising as the stock's been downgraded by several analysts including Barclays. Altera management claimed that its new offerings are recording double-digit growth, but general global economic situation is straining the company's bottom-line. Sign up today and access the free technical report on Altera Corp. at
http://www.StockCall.com/ALTR012913.pdf
Despite the positive spin provided by the company's management, investors should pay attention to the fact that Altera expects its first quarter revenue to be 4 to 8 percent lower sequentially. The forecast lags behind the street expectations, so it is safe to assume that the stock will continue to underperform as well. Altera continues to innovate and recently shipped its SoC devices. The company said that it has received higher-than-expected orders for the products. However, Altera is still looking at lower overall sales.
2013 may bring some respite to Altera as it augments its 4G products sales in Asia. The company's chips are used by LTE networks and the growing trend of 4G bids well for the fortunes of Altera. The stock has offered negative return in 2012 and the New Year has seen a similar trend so far.
Lattice Offers Conservative Q1 Forecast
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation [Free technical Analysis on LSCC](1) reported strong financial numbers for its fourth quarter. However, despite topping consensus estimates, it still fell short of the company's previous numbers. On a year-over-year basis, the company's revenue fell 6 percent. Similarly, the outlook is not good as well as Lattice expects its first quarter revenue to decline by 2 to 4 percent sequentially. Lattice Semiconductor also had to trim its fourth quarter earnings and it seems likely that the company will continue to underperform in the coming future.
Lattice Semiconductor is an underdog in the field generally dominated by Xilinx and Altera. However, it has a stable balance sheet with good cash reserves and no debt, which is likely to help it to withstand current downward trend. Lattice also has the disadvantage of being a small player as Xilinx and Altera jointly command more than 80 percent of PLD (Programmable Logic Devices) space in semiconductor segment. The positioning makes it difficult for Lattice to scale up.
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- Lattice Semiconductor Corp. Technical Analysis [ http://www.StockCall.com/LatticeSemiconductorCorp012913.pdf ]
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