News

Exar Reports Fiscal 2009 Fourth Quarter Results

May 17, 2009 by Jeff Shepard

Exar Corp. reported financial results for its fiscal 2009 fourth quarter ended March 29, 2009. Net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 were $23.9 million compared to net sales of $26.3 million for the prior quarter and $28.3 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. The GAAP gross margin for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 was 42.2% compared to 40.7% for the prior quarter and 37.9% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. On a non-GAAP basis, the gross margin for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 was 44.5% compared to 45.3% for the prior quarter and 45.3% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.

The GAAP net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 was $4.6 million, or a net loss per share of $0.11, compared to a net loss of $63.8 million, or a net loss per share of $1.49, in the prior quarter, and a net loss of $172.4 million, or a net loss per share of $3.77, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. These prior period results include non-cash charges of $60.9 million for the impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, and for the acceleration of depreciation on abandoned equipment in the third quarter of fiscal 2009 and $165.2 million for the impairment of goodwill and intangible assets in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.

On a non-GAAP basis, the net loss was $2.1 million, or a net loss per share of $0.05, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, compared to a net loss of $0.7 million, or a net loss per share of $0.02, in the previous quarter, and a net loss of $1.7 million, or a net loss per share of $0.04, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. The company ended the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 with cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities of $256.3 million.

"Our visibility has improved and orders started to strengthen after Chinese New Year, but overall we had another challenging quarter," said Pete Rodriguez, the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "While this was the eighth consecutive quarter in reducing operating expenses, we will continue to be cautious in how we manage the business. I am excited about our acquisition of Hifn, which will broaden our key product offerings in the growing Datacom and Storage markets. Combined with our continued focus on developing winning products, I remain confident that we will emerge stronger from this economic downturn."