ATI Posts Positive Q1 Results, Improved Forecast

ATI Technologies Inc., both a PC graphics card processor and a provider of chips for mobile phones and game consoles, has released a financial statement for the first quarter of its 2006 fiscal year. The company’s revenues climbed 26% over the Q4 2005 revenues, jumping to $591 million during the holiday season ending November 30, 2005. However, the profit for the quarter was $7.6 million, down 88% on the previous year, but Wall Street was contented with revenues that beat its estimates, meaning that the results were viewed positively. One perceived boost to the company’s fortunes was the November 22 launch of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console, which features a graphics processing unit designed specially by ATI - however, the company did not comment on whether console shortages had effected its bottom line. Elsewhere, particularly contributing to the success of the quarter were the Radeon X1000 90-nanometer line, debuting in October 2005, which included the Mobility Radeon X1600 for laptop computers. "We are pleased with our overall progress in the quarter and remain intensely focused on technology leadership and operational execution," said ATI CEO David Orton. "Our PC business is benefiting from strong demand for the new X1000 series GPUs as well as significant growth in integrated chipsets. Our Consumer segment continued to record solid growth, with handheld shipments up nearly 60% sequentially and surpassing 21 million units in the quarter." The current outlook for future quarters in the 2006 year is accordingly bright; ATI predicts revenues in Q2 to improve a further 8-12% over Q1. Gross margin is expected to decrease by 1%, while operating expenses are predicted to increase by a mere 5%.