Volterra shares soar after 4th-quarter earnings jump; S&P upgrades chip maker
By APTuesday, January 26, 2010
Volterra shares soar after 4Q earnings
NEW YORK — Shares of Volterra Semiconductor Corp. soared Tuesday after the chip maker reported a nearly sevenfold jump in fourth-quarter earnings.
The stock was up $2.98, or 17 percent, to $20.79 in midday trading after hitting a new 52-week high of $21.24 earlier in the day.
Standard & Poor’s Equity Research upgraded the stock Tuesday to “Hold” from “Sell” and raised its price target to $21 from $16. In a client note, S&P analyst Clyde Montevirgen said the company — which focuses on the computing, storage, networking and consumer sectors — has a growing market share and will benefit as business spending on information technology continues to pick up from the doldrums of the recession.
Volterra, which is based in Fremont, Calif., earned $7 million during the fourth quarter, up from $1.1 million in the same period a year earlier. Quarterly revenue rose 56 percent to $34.2 million. Both figures topped Wall Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters.
