Why Lattice Semiconductor Shares Soared

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Lattice Semiconductor jumped 20% Friday after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.

So what: Quarterly revenue rose 23% year over year, to $87.2 million, which translated to net income of $0.07 per share. For reference, analysts were looking for earnings of just $0.06 per share on sales of $84.76 million.

In addition, Lattice stated its fourth-quarter revenue is expected to decline 5% to 9% sequentially, or "in-line with recent annual demand trends." That puts Q4 revenue in the range of $79.35 million to $82.84 million, the midpoint of which is roughly inline with estimates for $81.62 million.

Now what: This marks the second consecutive quarter Lattice has achieved record revenue, while at the same time maintaining healthy gross margin of 52.4%, and increasing net income. All in all, investors rightly seem impressed with the company's efforts to scale up unit volume, as the communications market in Asia rebounds without sacrificing significant margin.

Assuming Lattice can maintain its momentum, and keep operations firmly in the black even after today's pop, I think investors could still be looking at a bargain with shares currently trading at a reasonable 19 times next year's estimated earnings.

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