Saturday, February 18, 2012

Novellus 4Q net income more than doubles

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) â€" Novellus Systems Inc., which makes equipment for producing computer chips, said Monday its fourth-quarter net income more than doubled, bolstered by increased demand for personal computers and other technology trends.

For the October-December period, net income rose to $81.5 million, or 89 cents per share, from $35.2 million, or 36 cents per share in the same period last year.

Excluding charges related to the consolidation of manufacturing facilities in Germany and other items, net income was $1.03 per share.

Results beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast net income of 93 cents per share.

Revenue jumped 57 percent to $384.4 million from $244.2 million in the year-ago quarter, more than the $377.9 million analysts predicted.

Shares in Novellus rose 98 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $37.05 in extended trading following the release of the earnings report.

The company said several factors were pushing increased appetite for its products.

"PC and laptop demand remains strong as the adoption of Windows 7 continues unabated. Additionally, we see continued progress in the gentrification of the Internet and worldwide communications infrastructure and the China consumer continues to spend," said Richard Hill, Novellus' CEO, in a statement. "We expect these positive factors will continue to drive semiconductor demand and consequently the need for capacity expansion through 2011."

For the full year, Novellus said net income was $262.3 million, or $2.79 per share. That's compared with a net loss of $85.2 million, or 88 cents per share in 2009.

Annual revenue more than doubled to $1.3 billion from $639.2 million the prior year.

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