Flat is good these days.
Shares of Irvine-based chipmaker Microsemi Corp. rose after the company gave an outlook for the current quarter that was flat with the recently ended quarter but in line with Wall Street’s expectations.
Investors sent shares up 5% in afterhours trading on a market value of about $1.5 billion.
For the current quarter, Microsemi said it’s looking for profits of $28.5 million to $29 million on sales of $131 million to $138 million.
Wall Street is expecting profits of $137 million in sales of $29 million.
The outlook comes on the heels of Microsemi’s results for the three months ended September, which were in line with what analysts were predicting.
The company reported sales of $135 million, up 13% from a year earlier and just ahead of analysts’ expected $134 million in revenue.
Excluding charges for stock compensation, restructuring, write-downs on assets and other costs, the company posted profits of $29 million, up 33% from a year earlier and in line with expectations.
Chief Executive Jim Peterson has described the company as being somewhat resistant to the effects of the slower economy due to its diverse set of customers in the satellite, defense and medical device industries.
Of course that means Microsemi grows at a slower rate than other chipmakers during boom times.
Microsemi has come out as a consolidator in a down market.
The company paid $25 million a few months ago to buy its longtime rival Semicoa Semiconductors Inc. and last month it paid $20 million for La Mirada-based Babcock Inc., a maker of power controllers and sensors for the military.
Microsemi and Semicoa make what industry insiders call “high reliability” chips, which go into devices that need to perform under extreme conditions in which failures can be costly.
Microsemi is one of the few chipmakers in Orange County that actually make chips locally.
Others design chips here but have them made abroad.
