Littelfuse, Inc. (LFUS) on Wednesday lifted its third quarter forecasts for earnings and revenues, owing to better-than-expected automotive and electronics sales, as a result of an improvement in global economy.
On a GAAP basis, the company now expects to report third-quarter earnings of $0.32-$0.37 per share, including a one-time tax benefit of about $2.0 million or $0.09 per share and an asset impairment charge of about $1.1 million pre-tax or 0.04 per share, related to real estate in Europe.
Excluding items, earnings for the third quarter of 2009 are expected in the range of $0.27-$0.32 per share, compared to previous guidance of $0.14 to $0.21 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters look for earnings in the range of $0.17-$0.20 with a consensus of $0.18 per share. Analysts' estimate typically excludes one-time items.
The company now sees third-quarter sales in the range of $113 million-$116 million, which is an 11%-14% sequential increase over the second quarter of 2009. Previous guidance indicated a 3%-7% sequential increase. Analysts expect revenues for the quarter in the range of $106.10 million-$106.90 million.
Commenting on the earnings revision, Gordon Hunter, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said, "Automotive and electronics sales are exceeding our expectations for the third quarter as the global economy has improved a little faster than we anticipated. Automotive incentive programs and low inventories at electronics distributors are also contributing to the stronger demand."
Littelfuse is scheduled to announce financial results for the third quarter on October 29.
LFUS closed Tuesday's regular trade at $24.49, up from the previous close of $24.27, on 51,800 shares.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com