Fairchild Semiconductor reported its fourth quarter and full year results Thursday (Jan. 22) ending the year with strong growth in the automotive, battery charging, lighting, communications infrastructure and data centers.
In the fourth quarter of 2014, Fairchild’s revenues were $336.6 million, down 12 percent from the percent sequentially, but up 1 percent from the same quarter one year ago. For the year, Fairchild’s revenues came in at $1.43 billion, up 2 percent from the $1.05 billion it reported in 2013. Fairchild reported a net loss of $35.2 million, compared to net income of $5.0 the year before. In the fourth quarter Fairchild managed a net loss of $42.7 million, compared to a net loss of $1.0 million in the third quarter and a net income of $0.9 million in the same quarter a year ago.
Mark Thompson, chairman, president and CEO of Fairchild, said in a statement that orders increased in December and have accelerated in January but during the fourth quarter of 2014 distributors decreased Fairchild inventory by $8 million “resulting in a lean 9 weeks of inventory” that impacted the fourth quarter bottom line. However, this “positions us well for the first half of 2015,” he said. Thompson added that Fairchild expects seasonally higher sales for products in the automotive, industrial and appliance end markets “offset by normal weakness for consumer-related products in the first quarter.”
Thompson said the key driving force for the year was in the automotive, battery charging, lighting, communications infrastructure and data center end markets. He added this growth was offset by lower demand from one of Fairchild’s larger customers.
Looking ahead to 2015, Fairchild expects to significantly improve its manufacturing profitability as it will complete its consolidation in its manufacturing process during the year.
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