Microchip Tech stock ticks higher on earnings beat

Microchip Technology Inc. shares ticked higher in the extended session Thursday after the chip maker topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Microchip Technology shares rose 1.1% after hours, following a 2.1% rise in the regular session to close at $85.50. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $99.9 million, or 39 cents a share, compared with $174.7 million, or 70 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were $1.46 a share, compared $1.48 a share in the year-ago period. Revenue came in flat at $1.33 billion compared with $1.33 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.35 a share on revenue of $1.32 billion. Microchip expects adjusted fiscal first-quarter earnings of $1.25 to $1.45 a share on revenue of $1.19 billion to $1.3 billion, while analysts had forecast on earnings of $1.25 a share on revenue of $1.25 billion. "Although our backlog for the June quarter started out much higher than the opening backlog for the March quarter, we have seen a combination of deteriorating bookings, customer pushout of orders and cancellations since the middle of April," said Steve Sanghi, Microchip chief executive, in a statement. "We believe our backlog position for the June quarter will continue to deteriorate compared to the March quarter due to the combined effect of supply chain disruptions, customer factory closures and demand destruction. Taking these factors into consideration, we expect our net sales in the June quarter to be down between 2% and 10% sequentially. The broad guidance range is to help account for the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic."

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.