As mentioned in the previous Zacks #1 Rank Top Performers article, the semiconductors industry has a lot of representation on the Zacks #1 Rank List. So let’s stick with this space for another day and put a spotlight on Hittite Microwave Corporation (HITT).
With the market loitering around breakeven for much of the day, it’s understandable that there aren’t many breakouts on the list for Wednesday. Therefore, an advance of 2.5% will be enough to make HITT one of the Top Performers.
The company launched 32 new products during the first quarter, which helped to continue its streak for beating quarterly expectations. The response from analysts was dramatic, as earnings estimates for this year and next each surged in the double digits over the past 2 months.
Hittite Microwave Corporation is an innovative designer and developer of high-performance integrated circuits, modules, subsystems and instrumentation for technically-demanding radio frequency, microwave and millimeterwave applications.
The company is part of the electronic components – semiconductors industry. When we last visited this space on Monday, there were 10 total semi companies on the Zacks #1 Rank List. Today there are 12. In addition to HITT, the other 11 names are Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AMCC), Atheros Communications Inc. (ATHR), Atmel Corporation (ATML), Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO), Diodes Inc. (DIOD), Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (ISSI), Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC), O2Micro International Ltd. (OIIM), Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. (SPRD), Standard Microsystems Corporation (SMSC) and Volterra Semiconductor Corporation (VLTR).
Earnings Estimates for Hittite Microwave
Though there’s been little movement in the past 30 days, this chart shows the upward trajectory in HITT’s earnings estimates. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this year is at $2.28 per share, which is up 19.4% in 60 days from $1.91. There are 5 total estimates for this year, as there are for next year as well.
Speaking of next year, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is $2.40 per share, marking an advance of nearly 16% in 2 months. The guidance for next year suggests year-over-year profit growth of 5.3%.
3 Straight Surprises
For the past 9 quarters, Hittite Microwave has been able to either match or surpass the Zacks Consensus Estimate (surpassing 6 times and matching 3 times). The past 3 quarters have seen the most dramatic surprises, as they have all been in the double digits. Here’s a graph that illustrates this data:
In its first quarter report from late April, Hittite Microwave announced earnings per share of 54 cents that trounced the year-ago result of 34 cents by nearly 60%. It also beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15%.
Revenue soared 42% to $54.2 million from $38.2 million. U.S. customers accounted for 44.3% of the total while customers from outside the U.S. accounted for 55.7%.
Hittite Microwave will report its second-quarter results next month. It expects earnings per share between 57 cents and 60 cents on revenue of $58 million to $60 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the second quarter has gained more than 25% in 2 months to the current reading of 59 cents per share.
