Netsilicon beats 2Q expectations by a penny

Netsilicon (Nasdaq: NSIL) edged past the consensus analyst forecast in the second quarter.

After market close Tuesday, the maker of chips and cards for networked devices reported fiscal second quarter net income of $745,800, or 5 cents per share. First Call's survey of five analysts predicted a profit of 4 cents per share for the quarter ended July 29.

Shares of Netsilicon rose to 30 in afterhours activity on the Island electronic communications network, following the earnings report. Netsilicon stock closed Tuesday's regular trading at 29 1/4, down 3/4 for the session.

Second quarter revenue rose 31 percent year-over-year, to $9.9 million from $7.5 million. Non-imaging products generated 19 percent of Netsilicon's second quarter revenue, up from 15 percent in the first quarter.

Netsilicon has been moving beyond its traditional core of printing products, to make chips for industrial automation hardware and other networked equipment.

The company's imaging business should continue growing in mid- to high-single digits on a percentage basis, said Cornelius Peterson VIII, president, CEO and chairman of Netsilicon. But the company's growth businesses are still in early stages, with "major growth" starting in late fiscal 2002, he added.

Gross margin in the second quarter increased to 58.1 percent, from 48.6 percent in the comparable period a year earlier. Netsilicon's new chips sell for higher margins than the network interface cards that comprise much of the company's traditional business.

The company ended the quarter with 225 customers, a 29 percent improvement from the first quarter.>