February 1, 2001 - National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) today announced that sales for the company's third quarter of fiscal 2001, ending February 25, 2001, may be below those of the recently completed second quarter. The company now expects third quarter revenues in the range of $475 to $480 million. Due to lower factory loadings, this may result in gross margins between 47 and 48 percent in the third quarter. Earnings per share should correspondingly be in the range of 20 to 22 cents.
Shipments in the current quarter are impacted by slower turns orders caused by demand uncertainties and inventory corrections in the distribution channel and personal computer and wireless handset markets. Turns orders are customer orders requested for delivery in the same quarter.
National Semiconductor will host a conference call related to this announcement at 5:00 p.m. EST today, Thursday, February 1, 2001. Call-in numbers are: West Coast (415) 537-1946, and East Coast (212) 231-6040. Participants will be Chief Executive Officer Brian Halla and Chief Financial Officer Don Macleod. The conference call will also be simultaneously webcast at: www.national.com/invest Replays of the call will be available starting at 6:30 p.m. EST at (800) 633-8284, with reservation number 17869737, or at www.national.com/invest
This outlook contains forward looking statements dependent on a number of risks and uncertainties, including such factors as, but not restricted to, new orders received and shipped during the remainder of the third quarter, the degree of factory utilization, the successful sale of existing inventories, and the ramp up of recently introduced products. Other risk factors are included in the company's 10Q from the second quarter ended November 26, 2000 and the 10-K for the year ended May 28, 2000 (see Outlook section of Management's Discussion and Analysis of Result of Operations and Financial Conditions) and the Annual Report dated May 28, 2000.
About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor is the premier analog company driving the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of-the-art digital technology, the company is focused on the fast growing markets for wireless handsets; information appliances; information infrastructure; and display, imaging and human interface technologies. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2.1 billion for its last fiscal year and has about 10,500 employees worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.
