Lattice Semiconductor Reports First Quarter 2010 Results; Exceeds Upwardly Revised Guidance

HILLSBORO, OR, Apr 22, 2010  --Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ: LSCC)

First Quarter 2010 Highlights:

• Revenue of $70.4 million, an increase of 28% compared to 4Q09 and up 63% compared to 1Q09.
• Gross margin of 58.5%, compared to 55.3% in 4Q09 and 52.3% in 1Q09.
• Net income of $0.10 per share, compared to net income of $0.05 per share in 4Q09 and a net loss of $0.05 per share in 1Q09.
• Company expects further sequential and year-over-year improvements in revenue and profitability.

Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ: LSCC) today announced financial results for the first quarter ended April 3, 2010.

For the first quarter, revenue was $70.4 million, an increase of 28% from the $55.1 million reported in the prior quarter, and an increase of 63% from the $43.3 million reported in the same quarter a year ago. FPGA revenue for the first quarter was $23.4 million, an increase of 41% from the $16.6 million reported in the prior quarter, and an increase of 51% from the $15.5 million reported in the same quarter a year ago. PLD revenue for the first quarter was $47.0 million, an increase of 22% from the $38.5 million reported in the prior quarter, and an increase of 69% from the $27.8 million reported in the same quarter a year ago.

Net income for the first quarter was $11.1 million ($0.10 per share), compared to $5.6 million ($0.05 per share) in the prior quarter and a net loss of $5.8 million ($0.05 per share) reported in the same quarter a year ago.

Other income (expense), net, for the first quarter was income of $0.3 million compared to income of $2.7 million reported in the prior quarter and an expense of $0.5 million reported in the same quarter a year ago. Other income (expense) included a realized gain of less than $0.1 million in the first quarter of 2010 related to the sale of a portion of the Company's auction rate security portfolio. The fourth quarter of 2009 included a realized gain of $2.8 million related to the sale of a portion of the Company's auction rate security portfolio offset by an impairment charge of $0.3 million related to an other-than-temporary decline in fair value of auction rate securities. Other income (expense) for the first quarter of 2009 included an impairment charge of $0.7 million primarily related to an other-than-temporary decline in fair value of auction rate securities.

Bruno Guilmart, Lattice's President and CEO, commented, "Our financial results again exceeded upwardly revised guidance as we grew revenue for the fourth quarter in a row and recorded our second consecutive quarter of profitability. We have continued to see robust growth across all geographies, end markets and product families. Our order bookings remained strong throughout the quarter and we continued to strictly manage inventory levels. Our first quarter marked record revenue for both our new FPGA business and our MachXO product family. Our MachXO family is now on track to become the Company's largest revenue generator this year. Even our mature business was up, which is unusual for that part of our business."

"While we are pleased to see the progress and results of our efforts, our focus remains the same. If anything, we will continue to be aggressive in pursuit of growth opportunities, improved operational efficiencies and profitability. We remain highly confident in Lattice's competitive position and our ability to capture increased share in the markets we serve. We continue to build momentum with design wins with our LatticeECP3, LatticeXP2, MachXO and Power Manager solutions in the communications, computing and consumer markets, while concurrently executing on our roadmap with the next generations of products. In addition, we expect to see increasing returns from our distribution channel given the changes we have made over the past few quarters. One of the most recent moves was the global expansion of our relationship with Nu Horizons Electronics, which is expected to help us generate new demand and enhance service to existing customers."

Michael G. Potter, Lattice's Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, added, "The first quarter was another strong quarter for Lattice, with strong and broad revenue growth and improved profitability. We are pleased that our gross margin has continued to improve as increased volumes, a good mix and the benefits from our cost reduction actions undertaken over the last year all contributed to the improved performance. We generated an additional $20.9 million of cash from operations, ending the quarter with a cash, cash equivalents and short-term marketable securities balance of $183.5 million. Our advance credits with Fujitsu are now down to approximately $5.3 million, which we expect to use over the next quarter. Inventory at April 3, 2010 was $24.7 million, compared to $25.9 million in the prior quarter and $30.3 million in the year ago period. We are benefitting from the leverage in our business we built to last year and expect to continue to control operating expenses, while investing in key growth initiatives. Although we expect only a modest increase in our operating expenses in the second quarter, we anticipate R&D spending will remain at elevated levels given new product development efforts."

First Quarter Highlights:

• Announced that over 200 million ispMACH(R) 4000 complex programmable logic devices (CPLD) have shipped.
• Formally opened Lattice SG Pte. Ltd., its new Asia Operations Center.
• Announced that eVision Systems GmbH will represent Lattice and its full range of products in the Central European video and surveillance market.
• LatticeECP3 FPGA family has been chosen from among hundreds of nominations as a finalist in the 20th Annual EDN Innovation Awards competition.

Business Outlook -- Second Quarter 2010:

• Revenue is expected to increase 6% to 10% on a sequential basis.
• Gross margin percentage is expected to be approximately 57% to 59% of revenue.
• Total operating expenses are expected to be approximately $31 million.
• We expect continued profitability in the second quarter, including a gain, net of tax, of approximately $0.5 million from the sale of excess real estate in China.

Financial tables

To read financial tables, click here

Investor Conference Call / Webcast Details:

Lattice Semiconductor will review detailed first quarter 2010 results on Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. The conference call-in number is 1-706-758-4489. A live webcast of the conference call will also be available on Lattice's website at www.latticesemi.com. Our financial guidance will be limited to the comments on our public quarterly earnings call and the public business outlook statements contained in this press release.

A replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live call through 11:59 p.m. EDT on April 29, 2010, by telephone at 1-706-645-9291. To access the replay, use conference identification number 66334776. A webcast replay will also be available on Lattice's investor relations website at www.latticesemi.com 

About Lattice Semiconductor

Lattice is the source for innovative FPGA, PLD, programmable Power Management and Clock Management solutions. For more information, visit www.latticesemi.com