Fairchild warns of lower 4Q, 1Q revenues

Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS) sees fourth and first quarter revenue missing analyst estimates.

After market close Friday, the chipmaker said it expects report fourth quarter sales of $468 million to $470 million, or 4.5 to 4.9 percent below First Call's consensus analyst forecast of $492.1 million in revenue for Fairchild's December quarter.

The company also sees first quarter sales falling 5 to 8 percent sequentially. Analysts were looking for more than 3 percent growth, according to First Call.

Shares of Fairchild traded at 14.75 in afterhours activity on the Island electronic communications network, following the preannouncement. Fairchild fell 0.3125 to 15 in Friday's regular trading ahead of the news.

Foundry revenue fell from the third quarter, while trade revenue increased 36 percent year-over-year, the company said.

"We believe we outpaced many of our competitors," said Kirk Pond, chairman, president and CEO. "We took advantage of our multi-market business model with its diverse customer base, shifting our product mix to capitalize on immediate opportunities in December. While we didn't achieve our goal ... we did offset many of the backlog adjustments and cancellations that continued through the latter half of the fourth quarter."

Pond characterized the current period as a temporary blip as customers clear inventories. Fairchild's revenue growth should increase in the second half of this year, Pond said.

Margin-boosting new products provided about one-third of Fairchild's sales, CFO Joe Martin said.>