Freescale Semiconductor Loss Widens; Stock Jumps On Q1 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. (FSL) Tuesday reported a wider fourth-quarter loss, stung by debt-related losses, even as revenues climbed on growth across all businesses.

Going forward, the company provided a strong revenue outlook for the first quarter, sending its shares up 8.5 percent in after-hours trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Austin, Texas-based company's quarterly net loss widened to $118 million or $0.46 per share from $35 million or $0.14 per share last year.

Results for the recent quarter included loss on extinguishment or modification of long-term debt totaling $135 million.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $50 million or $0.19 per share, compared with adjusted loss of $37 million or $0.15 per share a year ago.

On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.18 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales for the quarter climbed to $1.08 billion from $957 million in the prior year, topping analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion.

Growth was strong at Microcontroller, Digital Networking, RF, and Analog and Sensor businesses.

For the the first quarter, the company expects sales of $1.07 billion to $1.11 billion, while analysts estimate $1.03 billion.

The company expects first-quarter gross margins to improve 50 to 75 basis points compared to the sequential fourth quarter's 43.9 percent.

The company's stock closed Tuesday at $15.30 on a volume of 2.5 million shares. In after hours, the stock gained $1.30 or 8.50% at $16.60.