LSI 3Q profit soars despite fall in sales

LSI 3rd-qtr profit soars on better margins and cost cuts, despite drop in sales

• On 7:00 pm EDT, Wednesday October 28, 2009

MILPITAS, Calif. (AP) -- Chip maker LSI Corp. said its third-quarter earnings leaped despite a drop in sales, due to better margins and continued cost cuts.

The technology firm earned $52.5 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with $11.4 million, or 2 cents per share, a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, the company said it would have earned 18 cents per share.

Revenue fell 19 percent to $578.4 million from $714.3 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 4 cents per share on $555.7 million in sales.

For the fourth-quarter, LSI predicts a loss of 4 cents per share to net income of 5 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, it predicts earnings of 7 to 13 cents per share. Analysts, who tend to leave out one-time items from their estimates, currently predict net income of 6 cents per share.

The stock gained 24 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $5.23 in aftermarket trading after the earnings were released. In the regular session, the stock closed down 13 cents, or 2.5 percent, at $4.99.