Atmel has reported revenues of $317.7m for the third quarter of 2009, a decrease of 21% compared to to $400m for the same period last year. Revenues increased by 12% on a sequential basis. Microcontroller revenues grew 18% sequentially.
Operating loss for the quarter was $14.7m, compared to $11.3m for the same period last year. Operating expenses decreased to $332.4m from $411.3m for the third quarter of 2009.
Gross profit, as a percent of revenue, was 31.1% for the third quarter of 2009, compared to gross profit of 32.3% for the second quarter of 2009 and 39.5% for the same period a year ago. Gross profit has been impacted by a reduction in factory utilisation at the two wafer fabrication facilities.
The company has posted a net loss of $17.5m or $0.04 for the third quarter of 2009, an increase compared to $4.7m or $0.01 for the same period last year.
Steve Laub, president and CEO of Atmel, said: We are pleased to have exceeded our revenue guidance this quarter with growth coming from all business segments and geographies. Sales of our microcontrollers grew 18% sequentially and we are excited by the production release of our maXTouch products, a leading family of capacitive touchscreen controllers, which are now being designed for use at top-tier OEMs.
The company expects revenue to increase by 3% to 7% on a sequential basis for the fourth quarter of 2009.