Zoran Q3 Profit Declines; Sees Q4 Earnings Below Consensus; Shares Down

10/26/2009 8:24 PM ET

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(RTTNews) - Chipmaker Zoran Corp. (ZRAN: News ), Monday reported a profit for the third quarter, helped by growth in flat panel TVs and digital cameras, and lower expenses. Looking ahead, the company provided outlook for the fourth quarter, which came in below the Street consensus. Following the news, the company's shares lost nearly 10% in the after-hours trading.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company posted GAAP net income of $4.9 million or $0.09 per share for the third quarter, compared to a net loss of $154.2 million or $3.01 per share in the prior year quarter.

Excluding items, non-GAAP net income fell to $8.7 million or $0.17 per share from $13.9 million or $0.27 per share in the year-ago quarter. On average, 14 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.04 per share for the third quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Third quarter revenues decreased to $115.5 million from $126.1 million in the same quarter last year. Fourteen analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $109.19 million for the third quarter.

Levy Gerzberg, Zoran's president and CEO, said, "Demand for HDTVs remained strong and we continued to gain share in the U.S. market. Growth in digital cameras was strong across all segments and our partnerships with major ODMs in this market continued to benefit Zoran."

Total costs and expenses for the third quarter declined to $111.3 million or $291.1 million in the previous year quarter.

For the nine-month period of 2009, the company reported a net loss of $30.0 million or $0.58 per share, compared to a loss of $195.5 million or $3.80 per share in the previous year period.

On a non-GAAP basis, net loss was $13.3 million or $0.26 per share, compared to net income of $18.9 million or $0.36 per share in the same period of 2008.

Total revenues for the period declined to $286.7 million from $363.9 million in the prior year period.

For the fourth quarter, the company currently expects a fourth quarter GAAP loss in the range of $0.06 to $0.14 per share, non-GAAP net loss of $0.00 to $0.07 per share, and revenues to range between $91 million and $95 million. Street expects earnings of $0.01 per share on revenue of $100.75 million for the fourth quarter.

ZRAN closed Monday's regular trading session at $10.17, up 13 cents or 1.25% on a volume of 1.28 million shares. However, in the after-hours, the shares lost 99 cents or 9.70%.