Cirrus Logic shares plunge on 4Q loss, 1Q revenue outlook

AUSTIN, Texas—Shares of Cirrus Logic Inc. plunged 20 percent Friday after the chip maker reported it swung to a fourth-quarter loss and guided for first-quarter revenue below analyst estimates.

Shares fell $1.49 to $5.94 in midday trading. They have traded in the last year between $4 and $8.87.

The company said late Thursday it lost $13.7 million, or 16 cents per share, compared with a profit of $7.3 million, or 8 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Excluding one-time costs and benefits, the company earned $5.2 million, or 6 cents per share.

One-time costs included restructuring expenses of $12.1 million on its closure of China-based subsidiary Caretta Integrated Circuits.

Sales rose to $44.8 million from $43.6 million.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 5 cents per share on sales of $45.7 million. Analyst estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Cirrus expects revenue to range between $42 million and $45 million for the quarter ending June 28, while analysts expect sales of $47.6 million.

With a rollout of new iPod portable media players from Apple Inc. expected in the third quarter, some analysts speculate Cirrus could strike a major supply deal with Apple.

However, Jefferies & Co. analyst Adam Benjamin said in an analyst note that expectations are already high for Cirrus, and the company has few growth drivers outside of a possible deal with Apple, he said.

He also criticized the company's "aggressive" share buyback program while its fundamentals are weak.

Meanwhile, Roth Capital Partners analyst Jay Srivatsa maintained his "Buy" rating on Cirrus.

"While it is too early to confirm if Cirrus is designed into the next generation of Apple's iPods, we note that there could be material upside to Cirrus' 2009 second half and 2010 revenues if it was to be designed into either or both the iPod Nano and Touch," he said.