National Semiconductor Corp has posted first-quarter numbers that soundly beat Wall Street expectations. The Santa Clara, California microelectronics giant reported net income of $70.1m, or $0.45 per share, on revenue that rose slightly more than 6% to $600.8m. The First Call consensus was expecting only $0.37 per share. Analog group sales led the surge in new orders, showing 50% growth over last year, while personal systems and communications orders both grew about 30%. Geographically, Japan and Southeast Asia saw solid growth and North America hit expected targets, while Europe showed an expected seasonal drop in orders. The results look especially good when compared to a net loss of $207.6m in last year’s first quarter, which included charges of $285.6m from the spin-out of Fairchild Semiconductor Corp and the acquisition of Cirrus Logic Inc’s PicoPower business. For continuing operations, last year’s Q1 saw net income of $2.8m on revenue $433.5m.
