GENEVA -- European chip giant STMicroelectronics Inc. here today reported record sales of $2.04 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 60.3% from $1.3 billion in the like period a year ago.
Net income also reached a record $415.3 million, or $0.45 per share, a 206.9% jump over the $135.3 million, or $0.15 per share, figure reported in the like period a year ago.
"ST set a new revenue milestone in the third quarter," said Pasquale Pistorio, president and chief executive of ST. "We exceeded the $2 billion quarterly mark for the first time in our company's history."
ST also reported strong demand for its products in several sectors. "Sales to each of our end markets--namely automotive, consumer, computer, telecom, and industrial--increased in the third quarter, with telecom and industrial including smart cards, posting sequential gains of 15.3% and 20.3%, respectively," he said.
The company remains bullish about the remainder of this year and beyond. "As we move into the fourth quarter, ST's order rates and backlog remain strong, indicating that the fourth quarter will be another period of record financial performance," he said "Sequential revenue growth is expected to be in the high single digits."
"Looking ahead to 2001, while industry analysts are forecasting a market growth between 25% and 30%, we believe ST is positioned to grow faster than the overall semiconductor market," he added.
