By Staff Report Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Semtech earns $27.1M, amps up repurchase program

Semtech Corp. said Aug. 25 that it earned $27.1 million in second-quarter profits and that it would expand its stock repurchase plan by $36 million.

The board of the Camarillo-based semiconductor firm had previously authorized $14 million as part of the plan to buy back stock.

Semtech saw second-quarter sales jump 15 percent to $130.3 million. Earnings were $21.7 million, or 40 cents per share, up from $19.7 million, or 31 cents per share. “We believe the ongoing global demand for increased bandwidth, smaller electronic devices and ‘greener’ technology will drive growth in the high-performance analog sector for many years and that Semtech is well-positioned to capitalize on these long-term trends,” CEO and President Mohan Maheswaran said in an earnings statement.

In the third quarter, Semtech expects sales to be between $120 million and $128 million, but said its profit margin will likely decline between 60 and 100 basis points. Semtech shares climbed 1.5 percent to close at $20.70 on Aug. 25.

QAD sales up 21 percent

Santa Barbara-based manufacturing software firm QAD earned $3.1 million in the second quarter, up from $315,000 a year ago, as sales grew 21 percent to $62 million.

Sales across all of its business segments — license revenue, professional service and maintenance — increased.

“We generated strong revenue growth this quarter, driven by year-over-year improvements in each of our business lines and across all of our geographies,” said Karl Lopker, chief executive officer of QAD. “Our top line performance, combined with ongoing expense controls, resulted in better than anticipated profitability.”

The firm said it expects third-quarter revenue of $61 million, or 13 cents per diluted Class A share and 11 cents per diluted Class B share.

QAD’s shares slid 4.2 percent to close at $10.15 on Aug. 25.