Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Semtech Corporation (SMTC 3.86%) jumped more than 10% early Thursday, then settled to close up around 5% after the semiconductor supplier released better-than-expected first-quarter results.
So what: Quarterly revenue fell 18% year over year to $132.9 million, which translated to adjusted net income of $21.8 million, or $0.32 per diluted share. Analysts, on average, were looking for adjusted earnings of $0.30 per share on sales of $130.3 million.
For the current quarter, Semtech sees net sales of $138 million to $146 million, which should result in adjusted earnings per share of $0.36 to $0.42. The mid-point of both ranges sits above analysts' expectations for earnings of $0.38 per share on revenue of $138.4 million.
Now what: After noting Q1 strength in high-end consumer and enterprise computing markets, Semtech CEO Mohan Maheswaran added, "Bookings were strong during the quarter and we enter Q2 with a higher sequential backlog. We are pleased with our pipeline of new innovative platforms, our new product introductions and our continued design win momentum which we believe will drive future growth for us."
Semtech also repurchased roughly 385,000 shares last quarter for $10 million -- and it's hard to blame them considering even after today's pop, shares currently trade just above 12 times next year's estimated earnings. Assuming Semtech can maintain its strength and remain consistently profitable from here, I think the stock could continue rewarding investors going forward.
