Irvine-based laser maker Newport Corp. on Wednesday reported mixed results for the fourth quarter and gave a revenue outlook for the current quarter and full year above Wall Street estimates.
Newport said revenue in the recently ended quarter hit nearly $161 million, up 21% from a year earlier and in line with analyst estimates.
The sales figures included about $36 million in revenue from its July acquisitions of Austria-based High Q Technologies GmbH—a family-owned maker of “ultrafast lasers” and lasers for surgical procedures—and Israel-based optics, instrumentation and measurement company Ophir Optronics Ltd.
Adjusted profits came in at about $9.6 million, down nearly 37% from a year ago and missing Wall Street expectations.
Analysts on average had forecast adjusted profits of about $12.8 million.
Earnings were hampered by acquisition costs, executive said.
Newport reported record sales of $541.1 million for all of 2011, up 13.6% from 2010.
Adjusted profits were $51.2 million, up nearly 22%.
Newport makes lasers and related controls for telecommunications, chipmakers, researchers, medical companies and manufacturers.
The company enters 2012 with a record number of new orders for the first quarter−including a $36.7 million contract for ultrafast lasers used in surgical procedures−and a backlog of $168.7 million in orders through December, as recent acquisitions begin to drive top line growth, Chief Executive Robert Phillippy said.
That prompted a rosy outlook for the year with Newport projecting sales in the range of $670 million to $685 million, topping Wall Street targets.
Analysts on average forecast revenue of $661 million this year.
Newport did not provide an outlook for the year on adjusted profits.
It said revenue in the first quarter is projected to be flat from the December quarter.
Wall Street is expecting sales in the current quarter of $156.6 million.
