Pericom Semiconductor Earnings Preview

Pericom Semiconductor (Nasdaq: PSEM  ) didn't hit the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors hope that it will rebound this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, Aug. 9. Pericom Semiconductor designs, develops and markets high-performance integrated circuits and frequency control products used in many of today's advanced electronic systems.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts are very bullish on this stock, unanimously backing it as a buy. Analysts like Pericom Semiconductor better than competitor PLX Technology overall. One out of two analysts rate PLX Technology a buy, compared to three of three for Pericom Semiconductor. Analysts haven't adjusted their rating of Pericom Semiconductor for the past three months.
• Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $42.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 2.2% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.08 per share. Estimates range from $0.07 to $0.09.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly behind the stock, with 97.4% granting it an "outperform" rating. The community at large concurs with the All Stars, with 97.7% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools are keen on Pericom Semiconductor, though the message boards have been quiet lately, with only 36 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Pericom Semiconductor, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Pericom Semiconductor's profit has risen year over year more than sixfold, on average. Revenue has now increased for three straight quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by four percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 7.9% while cost of sales rose 14.6% to $27.2 million from a year earlier.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Pericom Semiconductor movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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