PHOENIX -- The chief financial officer of Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. today said his company was still expecting fourth-quarter revenues to be flat-to-down 5% sequentially from $325.4 million in the third quarter, but a recovery appears to be underway.
In reconfirming Fairchild Semiconductor's previous guidance, CFO Joe Martin said, "Our turns bookings were strong in October and have slowed in November as the seasonal demand winds down. Quarter-to-date book-to-bill ratio continues to be slightly above 1:1."
Speaking before Credit Suisse First Boston's annual Technology Conference in Phoenix, Martin said the South Portland, Maine-based chip maker has seen its 26-week backlog grow throughout the current quarter.
"While we expect our book-to-bill ratio may drop below 1:1 during December and January as a result of normal seasonal reductions in demand, we are encouraged that we are already building backlog for first quarter 2002," Martin said. "We have seen a slight uptick in pricing in October, mostly due to a stronger mix of power, interface and 'TinyLogic' product sales.
"We're on track to meet our guidance of improving gross margins by 200 basis points this quarter," he added.
Last month, Fairchild posted a net loss of $19.1 million on sales of $325.4 million in Q3, including charges for restructuring, compared to a net loss of $8.0 million on revenues of $372.4 million in the second quarter (see Oct. 23 story). A year ago in the third quarter, Fairchild had revenues of $476.0 million and a net income of $69.7 million.
Martin said Fairchild believes it will "turn the corner" on earnings performance in the fourth quarter and expects "improved results sequentially in this quarter and throughout 2002." The company is scheduled to report its Q4 results on Jan. 22.
