ATML - Sector: Technology - Industry: Semiconductors

[setravis]

Atmel shares soar after strong 3Q results
Atmel shares soar after stronger-than-expected 3rd-quarter results

Day's Range: 9.67 - 10.66
52wk Range: 3.73 - 10.66
Volume: 32,993,166
Avg Vol (3m): 9,423,920
Market Cap: 4.74B


Technicals
Record Price High
Most Actives
Gap Up
Percentage Gainer

Last Price Quote is:
19.42%above 13-day MA
32.83%above 50-day MA
RS Rating: 97 

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updated chart look...

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Atmel Announces New Generation of maXTouch Solutions
-- Atmel maXTouch E Series offers enhanced analog sensing to dramatically improve performance, reduce system power and lower system cost
-- First single-chip 32-bit solutions for smartphones, e-book readers and tablets up to 12 inches



Atmel New Generation of maXTouch Solutions Click Here to Download Image
Press Release Source: Atmel Corporation On Monday February 7, 2011, 10:15 am EST
SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq:ATML - News), a leader in microcontroller and touch solutions, today announced the maXTouch™ E Series of single-chip capacitive touchscreen controllers for touchscreens from 2 to 12 inches. The mXT224E, mXT384E, mXT540E and mXT768E devices offer enhanced analog sensing with a third generation capacitive touch engine and Atmel's advanced AVR® architecture optimized for capacitive sensing. Offering 224 to 768 nodes, the new series enables system designers to select the industry's most advanced single-chip solution for their touchscreen size and application.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110207/SF43116 )

Since system noise poses the greatest challenge to touchscreen performance, all devices in the maXTouch E Series offer enhanced analog sensing with improvements to maXTouch's industry-leading noise immunity. The enhancements enable system designers to use lower-cost, shieldless touch sensors, or to take advantage of thinner touchscreen configurations with higher levels of integration. These include "touch-on-lens" and "on-cell" configurations, where the touch sensor is patterned on the protective cover lens or on the display panel, respectively. The enhancements also allow the use of noisy, lower-cost displays and chargers for additional system cost savings.

The benefits of the maXTouch E Series extend beyond system designers and on to consumers. With enhanced noise immunity, these devices are the industry's first to allow consumers to simultaneously use a 2mm passive conductive stylus while continuing to support multi-touch. As with the original maXTouch family, the new series offers consumers support of unlimited touches, fast response times, high accuracy, low power, and superior sensitivity to enable the detection of a fingernail or a user with gloves.

Devices in the maXTouch E Series include the mXT224E – the new generation of the best-selling mXT224 device – offering the enhanced E Series touch engine and Atmel's 8-bit AVR architecture optimized for smartphones and other handheld devices.

The mXT768E is the industry's first 32-bit single-chip touch controller for tablets and other large screen applications up to 12-inches. Based on Atmel's ultra-low-power 32-bit AVR architecture, the mXT768E meets the increased demand on signal processing needed for rejecting unintended touches and maintaining responsiveness on large screens. The mXT540E and mXT384E devices, also based on the advanced 32-bit AVR architecture, offer system designers the right price-to-performance selection for their touchscreen designs, and are appropriate for smaller tablets, e-book readers and high- performance smartphones.

"Single-chip touchscreen controller ICs will simplify the device design, reduce cost and reduce power consumption. These are important factors for mobile phones, and even more critical for slate/tablet PCs," said Dr. Jennifer Colegrove, vice president, emerging display technologies at DisplaySearch. "The worldwide market value of touchscreen modules will reach about $14 billion in 2016, from $4.3 billion in 2009."

"Atmel's maXTouch is the leading solution in the smartphone market today," said Peter Jones, vice president of microcontroller and touch business unit, Atmel Corporation. "The success will continue in 2011 with maXTouch powering several tablet touchscreens recently unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show."

"With the launch of the maXTouch E Series, Atmel shows its continued leadership in the touchscreen market by delivering solutions that set a new standard for touchscreen performance," said Jones.

Atmel offers the industry's most comprehensive portfolio of capacitive touchscreen solutions on the market today. The new maXTouch E Series gives manufacturers more single-chip options to design thinner, sleeker, more cost-effective touchscreen devices, while offering consumers the best touch performance possible. Complete solutions are available with the Atmel maXTouch E Series from a variety of ITO partners, LCD suppliers and touch module vendors. Atmel maXTouch solutions are compatible with a number of operating systems including Android™, Linux and Microsoft® Windows®.

Additional information on the Atmel maXTouch mXT E Series is available at: www.atmel.com/maxtouch-e-series. To see Atmel's latest maXTouch videos, visit the Atmel YouTube Channel at www.atmel.com/youtube. Follow Atmel on Twitter at www.atmel.com/twitter and Facebook at www.atmel.com/facebook.

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Availability

Devices in the maXTouch E Series are sampling now with production quantities available in Q2 2011.

Tweet this: Atmel Announces New Generation of maXTouch Solutions: http://tinyurl.com/maxtouch-eseries.

About Atmel

Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq:ATML - News) is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on industrial, consumer, communications, computing and automotive markets.

©2011 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel®, Atmel logo and combinations thereof, AVR® and others  are registered trademarks, and maXTouch™ and others are trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.


Press Contact:
 
Agnes Toan, PR Manager
 
Tel: (+1) 408-487-2963, Email: [email protected]   
 

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Atmel Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Financial Results
Fourth Quarter Revenues of $458 Million, Up 3% Sequentially
Record Microcontroller Revenues of $288 Million, Up 13% Sequentially
Gross Margin Increases 270 Basis Points Sequentially to 49.5%
Full Year 2010 Revenues of $1,644 Million, Up 35%
Record 2010 Microcontroller Revenues of $892 Million, Up 95%


Companies:
Atmel Corporation
Topics:
Earnings
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ATML 16.10 +1.44


Press Release Source: Atmel Corporation On Tuesday February 8, 2011, 4:05 pm EST
SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq:ATML - News), a leader in microcontroller and touch solutions, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2010.

Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010 were $457.8 million, a 3% increase compared to $444.3 million for the third quarter of 2010, and a 33% increase compared to $343.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. Fourth quarter results for 2010 exclude the Smart Card business which was divested at the end of the third quarter of 2010.  Adjusting for the Smart Card divestiture, fourth quarter revenues increased 10% sequentially and 44% from the fourth quarter of the prior year. For the full year 2010, revenues increased 35% to $1.64 billion, compared to $1.22 billion for 2009.

Net income, on a GAAP basis, totaled $223.1 million or $0.47 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2010.  Included in fourth quarter 2010 results was a tax benefit of $133.1 million, which included $118.1 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, primarily from releasing reserves for certain deferred tax assets. The fourth quarter 2010 net income compares to net income of $219.8 million or $0.47 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2010, which included a $150.4 million, or $0.32 per diluted share tax benefit related to the resolution of an IRS tax audit, and a net loss of $83.3 million or $0.18 per diluted share for the year-ago quarter, including one-time charges. For the full year of 2010, net income was $423.1 million or $0.90 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $109.5 million or a loss of $0.24 per diluted share for 2009.

Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of 2010 totaled $119.5 million or $0.25 per diluted share compared to non-GAAP net income of $88.6 million or $0.18 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2010, and non-GAAP net income of $11.3 million or $0.02 per diluted share for the year-ago quarter. Non-GAAP results for the fourth quarter of 2010 exclude the tax benefit of $118.1 million. For the full year 2010, non-GAAP net income increased 960% to $284.3 million or $0.59 per diluted share, compared to $26.8 million or $0.06 per diluted share for 2009.  Refer to the non-GAAP reconciliation table included in this release for more details.

Gross margin improved to 49.5% in the fourth quarter of 2010, the highest level achieved since the third quarter of 1996.  This compares to gross margin of 46.8% in the third quarter of 2010 and 37.0% in the fourth quarter of 2009. The sequential gross profit improvement was the result of increased volumes and improved mix of higher margin products, as well as the third quarter divestiture of the Smart Card business.  For the full year 2010, gross margin increased to 44.3% compared to 33.9% for 2009.

"Our fourth quarter results exceeded our expectations as we continued to experience strong customer demand and improved product mix across all business segments," said Steve Laub, Atmel's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Microcontroller revenues reached new records as both our 8-bit and 32-bit products continued to benefit from broad-based strength in the market. Atmel's market leading touchscreen solutions, led by our maXTouch™ products, continued their strong growth, easily surpassing our goal of $140 million in revenues during calendar 2010.  We remain confident in our business with continuing design win momentum in our microcontroller products and recently announced new generation of touch solutions."

Fourth quarter income from operations improved to $93.8 million, or 20.5% of revenues, compared with $77.7 million, or 17.5% of revenues for the third quarter of 2010, and a loss from operations of $71.8 million for the fourth quarter 2009. Third quarter 2010 income from operations included a $5.7 million loss from the sale of the Smart Card business, while fourth quarter 2009 included a $79.8 million asset impairment charge.  For the full year of 2010, income from operations was $107.5 million, compared to a loss of $124.6 million for 2009.

Income tax benefit totaled $133.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. This compares to an income tax benefit of $136.6 million for the third quarter of 2010 and a provision of $10.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. For the full year 2010, income tax benefit was $306.7 million which compares to an income tax benefit of $26.5 million for the full year of 2009.  During 2010, the company favorably settled tax audits and released reserves for certain deferred tax assets which contributed $247.9 million of the total tax benefit recorded for the year.

Cash provided from operations totaled approximately $84.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $95.3 million for the third quarter of 2010 and $55.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.  Combined cash balances (cash and cash equivalents plus short-term investments) totaled $521.0 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010, a decrease of $76.4 million from the end of the prior quarter.  During the fourth quarter of 2010, the company repaid $80 million of its revolving credit facility and repurchased $48 million of common stock.  Net cash balance (cash balances less current and long-term debt) was the highest in the company's history at $517.0 million at December 31, 2010. 

Fourth Quarter Operational and Company Highlights


Record microcontroller revenues of $288 million, up 13% sequentially and 107% year-over-year
Exceeded goal of $140 million of maXTouch™ revenues during 2010
Gross margin of 49.5%, highest since the third quarter of 1996
Repaid $80 million of debt
Record net cash balance of $517 million

Recent Product Highlights

Announced new generation maXTouch E-Series touch controllers
Devices offer enhanced analog sensing with up to 768 nodes
Industry's first 32-bit single-chip touchscreen controller for smartphones, eReaders, and tablets up to 12-inches
Atmel maXTouch™ mXT1386 and mXT616 ramping for touch devices including tablets, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), netbooks, PC notebooks and a range of industrial applications up to 15 inches
maXTouch shipping in Nokia's C7, Motorola's DROID PRO and Defy, HTC's Desire Z and Trophy 7, Sharp's SH8128U, and Toshiba's Regza T-01C
Atmel AT32UC3L 32-bit AVR® microcontroller wins two product awards from top Asian trade publications EDN and AET Magazine
Launched new SAM3N series of flash microcontrollers based on 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 RISC processor
Atmel ATmega128RFA1 microcontroller achieved ZigBee© certified status for key remote controller


Stock Repurchase

During the fourth quarter of 2010, Atmel repurchased 4.7 million shares of its common stock in the open market at an average price of $10.31 per share.

Non-GAAP Metrics

Non-GAAP net income excludes charges related to restructuring activities, acquisitions, grant repayments, pension charge related to fab sale, distributor bad debt recovery, unsolicited M&A expense, loss (gain) on sale of assets, asset impairment charges and stock-based compensation, as well as the income tax effect of these excluded items and other unusual and non-recurring income tax items. A reconciliation of GAAP results to non-GAAP results is included following the financial statements below.

Conference Call

Atmel will hold a teleconference at 2:00 p.m. PT today to discuss the fourth quarter 2010 financial results. The conference call will be webcast live and can also be monitored by dialing 1-800-374-0405 or 1-706-758-4519. The conference ID number is 38571228 and participants are encouraged to initiate their calls 10 minutes in advance of the 2 p.m. PT start time to ensure a timely connection. The webcast and earnings release will be accessible at http://www.atmel.com/ir/ and will be archived for 12 months.

A replay of the February 8, 2011 conference call will be available the same day at approximately 5:00 p.m. PT and will be archived for 48 hours. The replay access numbers are 1-800-642-1687 within the U.S. and 1-706-645-9291 for all other locations. The access code is 38571228.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on industrial, consumer, communications, computing and automotive markets.

© 2011 Atmel Corporation. Atmel®, Atmel logo and combinations thereof, and others are registered trademarks or trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

Information in this release regarding Atmel's forecasts, business outlook, expectations and beliefs are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may include comments about our future operating and financial performance, including our outlook for 2011 and expectations regarding market share and product revenue growth, and Atmel's strategies. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to Atmel as of the date of this release, which may change. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include general economic conditions; the inability to realize the anticipated benefits of transactions related to our manufacturing assets, restructuring plans and other initiatives in a timely manner or at all; the impact of competitive products and pricing; timely design acceptance by our customers; timely introduction of new products and technologies; ability to ramp new products into volume production; industry wide shifts in supply and demand for semiconductor products; industry and/or company overcapacity or undercapacity; effective and cost efficient utilization of manufacturing capacity; financial stability in foreign markets and the impact of foreign exchange rates; unanticipated costs and expenses or the inability to identify expenses which can be eliminated; the market price of our common stock; compliance with U.S. and international laws and regulations by us and our distributors; unfavorable results of legal proceedings; and other risks detailed from time to time in Atmel's SEC reports and filings, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, filed on March 1, 2010, and our subsequent Form 10-Q reports. Atmel assumes no obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


Investor Contact:
 
Peter Schuman
 
Director, Investor Relations
 
(408) 518-8426
 
Notes to Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement its consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, Atmel uses non-GAAP financial measures, including non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP net income per diluted share, which are adjusted from the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures to exclude certain items, as shown above and described below. Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures reflect an additional and useful way of viewing aspects of Atmel's operations that, when viewed in conjunction with Atmel's GAAP results, provide a more comprehensive understanding of the various factors and trends affecting Atmel's business and operations.

Atmel uses each of these non-GAAP financial measures for internal purposes and believes that these non-GAAP measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding operational and financial performance. Management uses these non-GAAP measures for strategic and business decision making, internal budgeting, forecasting and resource allocation processes. Atmel may, in the future, determine to present non-GAAP financial measures other than those presented in this release, which it believes may be useful to investors. Any such determinations will be made with the intention of providing the most useful information to investors and will reflect information used by the company's management in assessing its business, which may change from time to time.

Atmel believes that providing these non-GAAP financial measures, in addition to the GAAP financial results, is useful to investors because the non-GAAP financial measures allow investors to see Atmel's results "through the eyes" of management as these non-GAAP financial measures reflect Atmel's internal measurement processes. Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures enable investors to better assess changes in each key element of Atmel's operating results across different reporting periods on a consistent basis. Thus, management believes that each of these non-GAAP financial measures provides investors with another method for assessing Atmel's operating results in a manner that is focused on the performance of its ongoing operations. In addition, these non-GAAP financial measures may facilitate comparisons to Atmel's historical operating results and to competitors' operating results.

There are limitations in using non-GAAP financial measures because they are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. In addition, non-GAAP financial measures may be limited in value because they exclude certain items that may have a material impact upon Atmel's reported financial results. Management compensates for these limitations by providing investors with reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. The presentation of non-GAAP financial information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for or superior to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial measures supplement, and should be viewed in conjunction with, GAAP financial measures. Investors should review the reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures as provided in above.

As presented in the "Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income (Loss) to Non-GAAP Net Income" tables above, each of the non-GAAP financial measures excludes one or more of the following items:


Stock-based compensation expense.


Stock-based compensation expense relates primarily to equity awards such as stock options and restricted stock units.  This includes stock-based compensation expense related to performance-based restricted stock units for which Atmel recognizes stock-based compensation expense to the extent management believes it probable that Atmel will achieve the performance criteria which occurs before these awards actually vest. If the performance goals are unlikely to be met, no compensation expense is recognized and any previously recognized compensation expense is reversed.  Stock-based compensation is a non-cash expense that varies in amount from period to period and is dependent on market forces that are often beyond Atmel's control. As a result, management excludes this item from Atmel's internal operating forecasts and models. Management believes that non-GAAP measures adjusted for stock-based compensation provide investors with a basis to measure Atmel's core performance against the performance of other companies without the variability created by stock-based compensation as a result of the variety of equity awards used by other companies and the varying methodologies and assumptions used. 


Acquisition-related charges.


Acquisition-related charges include: (1) amortization of intangibles, which include acquired intangibles such as customer relationships, backlog, core developed technology, trade names and non-compete agreements and (2) contingent compensation expense, which include compensation resulting from the employment retention of certain key employees established in accordance with the terms of the acquisitions. In most cases, these acquisition-related charges are not factored into management's evaluation of potential acquisitions or Atmel's performance after completion of acquisitions, because they are not related to Atmel's core operating performance. In addition, the frequency and amount of such charges can vary significantly based on the size and timing of acquisitions and the maturities of the businesses being acquired. Excluding acquisition-related charges from non-GAAP measures provides investors with a basis to compare Atmel against the performance of other companies without the variability caused by purchase accounting.


Charges for grant repayments.


Grant repayments primarily relate to contractual obligations to repay incentive amounts received from various government entities recorded in prior periods (including interest) as a result of restructuring activity.  Atmel excludes these amounts from non-GAAP financial measures primarily because grant repayments occur infrequently, and excluding ongoing related interest charges enhances the ability of investors to compare Atmel's period-over-period operating results from continuing operations. 


Restructuring charges.


Restructuring charges primarily relate to expenses necessary to make infrastructure-related changes to Atmel's operating costs.  Restructuring charges are excluded from non-GAAP financial measures because they are not considered core operating activities. Although Atmel has engaged in various restructuring activities in recent years, each has been a discrete event based on a unique set of business objectives. Atmel believes that it is appropriate to exclude restructuring charges from Atmel's non-GAAP financial measures, as it enhances the ability of investors to compare Atmel's period-over-period operating results from continuing operations.


Asset impairment charges.


When certain criteria are met, Atmel records an impairment charge for the difference between the fair value and the carrying value of the assets.  Atmel believes that is it is appropriate to exclude these non-cash charges from Atmel's non-GAAP financial measures, as it enhances the ability of investors to compare Atmel's period-over-period operating results from continuing operations.


Loss (gain) on sale of assets.


Atmel recognizes losses (gains) resulting from the sale of certain non-strategic assets that no longer align with Atmel's long-term operating plan. Atmel excludes these items from its non-GAAP financial measures primarily because these losses (gains) are individually discrete events and generally not reflective of the ongoing operating performance of Atmel's business and can distort the period-over-period comparison.


Pension charge related to fab sale.


Pension charge related to fab sale relates to pension charges associated with the release of related accumulated other comprehensive loss as a result of Atmel's sale of its manufacturing operations in Rousset, France and the transfer of employees to the fab buyer. Atmel believes that it is appropriate to exclude this adjustment from Atmel's non-GAAP financial measures, as it enhances the ability of investors to compare Atmel's period-over-period operating results from continuing operations.


Distributor bad debt recovery.


Distributor bad debt recovery relates to a reserve and subsequent partial collection for receivables from an Asian distributor whose business was extraordinarily impacted following their addition to the US government's Entity List which prohibits the company from shipping products to the distributor.   Management believes that it is appropriate to exclude this recovery from Atmel's non-GAAP financial measures, as it enhances the ability of investors to compare Atmel's period-over-period operating results from continuing operations.

Unsolicited M&A expense.

The company incurred certain expenses for corporate advisors related to the 2009 take-over bid from Microchip Technology, Inc. and ON Semiconductor Corporation.  Management believes that it is appropriate to exclude these expenses from Atmel's non-GAAP financial measures, as it enhances the ability of investors to compare Atmel's period-over-period operating results from continuing operations.


Income tax effect of non-GAAP items.

Atmel adjusts for the income tax effect resulting from the non-GAAP adjustments as described above.

Non-GAAP tax adjustments

Atmel adjusts for unusual or one-time tax items such as significant tax audit settlements and valuation reserve adjustments on deferred tax assets. Management believes that it is appropriate to exclude these items from Atmel's non-GAAP financial measures, as it enhances the ability of investors to compare Atmel's period-over-period operating results from continuing operations.

[setravis]

BLASTOFF...
Technical BreakOut and earnings explosion. Likely consolidation...buy more.


Atmel Easily Beats Consensus...

Atmel Corporation (NasdaqGS: ATML) reported a net income of $223.1 million or 47 cents per share compared to a net income of $219.8 million or 47 cents in the third quarter of 2010 and a net loss of $83.3 million or 18 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Excluding one-time items but including stock-based compensation expense, net income came in at 22 cents per share, easily beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 16 cents.

Day's Range: 15.75 - 16.80
52wk Range: 4.29 - 16.80
Volume: 30,501,927
Avg Vol (3m): 10,351,800
Market Cap: 7.38B
P/E (ttm): 62.65
EPS (ttm): 0.26
Div & Yield: N/A (N/A)

Technicals
Record Price High
Most Actives
Gap Up
Percentage Gainer

Last Price Quote is:
RS Rating: 96


Very nice! 
The Atmel® maXTouch™ mXT768E has generated much buzz in the tech industry as personal tablets look to be the next big thing. Tablet sales are estimated to reach 24 million by the end of this year, which will increasingly put pressure on the personal laptop market that is already struggling. Netbooks took off a few years ago, but personal tablets are luring potential netbook customers away and towards the future. With many tablets prices only $100 more than a typical netbook, netbook manufactures may have an increasingly difficult time in an already cutthroat and low margin market.

[setravis]

an updated look at the 3 year chart...

[setravis]

ATML  Chip Path Design Systems Unveils Semiconductor IP Centric...  by Business Wire  May 25 2011 9:29AM

CUPERTINO, Calif., May 25, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Chip Path Design Systems today announced details of its Semiconductor IP Chip Design approach. The new approach centers on one common Semantic-IC Specification with the ability to map to multiple implementation styles and understanding of complete project costs. For the first time, visibility of implementation timelines and costs become visible across ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), and production-ready ASSP (Application Specific Standard Product) devices. This System Level Design paradigm stands to revolutionize how designs are implemented and IC economics are visualized.

Semiconductor IP Design distills into just three main design components: I/O Channels, Subsystems, and NoC (Network-On-Chip). Semiconductor IP (IP) components are then chosen based on requirements and implementation. Specifications can run through a RFQ Compiler (Request-for-Quote) mapping architecture onto ASIC technology choices as well as FPGA devices from various vendors like Xilinx, Altera, Lattice, etc. Finally, the specification can be evaluated against existing ASSP products such as TIs OMAP, Atmel's microcontrollers, etc. Chip Path's approach enables tradeoff analysis like never before.

Design projects have volume, time-to-market and cost requirements creating the need for a profitability analysis in any implementation. Chip Path's approach is the first step in rolling up Electronic Design Automation (EDA) and Semiconductor IP into one project-centric design paradigm, removing barriers between final implementation choices.

One single mappable architectural Semantic-IC Specification defines the design. As 28nm FPGAs enter the market, ASIC and FPGA capabilities are merging but large differences in time-to-market and cost remain. Because of this, designers need to consider choices carefully, understanding all hidden costs. Prior to Chip Path's approach, it has been difficult to determine the tradeoffs between part cost, time-to-market, design conversion, free versus pay IP, and millions of dollars in up-front NRE costs against each other. The evaluation of thousands of FPGA devices and thirteen SoCs (Systems-on-Chip), made possible by Chip Path, is set to forever revolutionize how designs are planned, integrated, and implemented.

Chip Path has aggregated extensive databases of models for Semiconductor IP with over 14,000 entries, IC-Technologies from 14nm to 0.35um (13 nodes), and over 9,000 FPGA devices. These databases are at the heart of a very rapid and accurate compilation methodology. Chip Path's benefit also extends to shortening implementation time with seamless transition to the design phase. Choosing Semiconductor IP is but one aspect; more important is the integration and realization of a product.

"Semiconductor IP is used in all chip designs today," said CEO George Janac. "We are creating a Cut-and-Paste design methodology based on it. Chip-to-chip I/O Channels, Subsystems, and NoC (Network-on-Chip or Fabrics) are the best implementation abstractions. Design Planning (Floorplanning) is entering the Semiconductor IP level with a dramatic shortening of implementation time and superior results."

Chip level integration is simplified by moving up to an I/O Channel level of abstraction. Off-chip interfaces are modeled as connectors (PCIe, DDR3, CAN, Interlaken, and about 80 others). Channels are simply collections of IP that go from I/O Connectors to one or more, on-chip bus connectors. Chip Path's design knowledge is a key component in helping to make IP-based floorplanning a reality.

Chip Path's on-chip connector based assembly approach enables rapid integration of ASIC and FPGA. Each IP has one or more connectors using protocols like AMBA, AXI4, OCP-IP, Wishbone, Avalon, and only about 8 others. The full Semiconductor IP Methodology defines an IPCN (IP Connection Network) integrating the entire chip. The IPCN has multiple levels, including clock, reset, test, interrupt, point-to-point networks, with the NoC (Network-on-Chip) or Bus-Fabric remaining the central connectivity paradigm. Connectors allow Memory Mapped (MM) or Streamed (ST) interfaces along with point-to-point hookup. Chip Path's catalog today contains over 1,200 IP with NoC connectors. With these, chip assembly is simply a process of defining how various connectors talk to each other. Writing machine readable specifications allows automatic connectivity generation. A CPU centric approach helps bring information from each Semiconductor IP to the processors, via the NoC, for creation of address maps driving software development.

Chip Path is making a methodology datasheet available on its website. Registered users can find the datasheet at: http://www.chippath.com/approach/IPCentricDesign . Additionally, tools will be on display at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) from June 5-10 in San Diego, CA.

Shortening time-to-market and cost reduction are major benefits of the Chip Path approach. Semiconductor IP Chip Design gives users visibility like never before. The company has been working with major vendors and key partners to qualify its approach.

About Chip Path

Chip Path Design Systems is a privately funded company dedicated to the merging of Electronic Design Automation and Semiconductor IP. Targeting the front-end process from specification through IP Assembly to Physical Planning, Chip Path delivers Architectural Design tools based on Semiconductor IP for new ASIC designs as well as for compilation onto existing FPGA and ASSP devices.

The company is headquartered at 10773 North Wolfe Road, Cupertino, Calif. 95014. Telephone: 408-257-3643. Facsimile: 408-257-3644. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.ChipPath.com .

ChipPath, RealArchitect, ChipRFQ, ChipPlatform, ChipPlanner, RFQCompiler, IPCompiler, PhysicalRTL, PhysicalIP FpgaIPDirectory, ChipIPDirectory, and Semantic-IC are trademarks of Chip Path Design Systems.

SOURCE: Chip Path Design Systems


Chip Path
Laurie Isaacson, 408-257-3643
Director Public Relations
[email protected]

[setravis]

Atmel Corp (ATML): Zacks Rank Buy

On Wednesday May 25, 2011, 1:00 am EDT
Atmel, Corp (NasdaqGS: ATML - News) posted a record high revenue level last quarter and estimates are on the rise. With shares holding a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) the stock is poised for a great 2011.

Additionally, management is expected to update guidance in June. If they move the outlook higher shares could really take off.

Company Description

Atmel makes microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic and other highly technical products. The company's offerings are used in industrial, consumer, communications, computing and automotive applications.

Revenue Hit Record High

Atmel said its first quarter revenue grew 32% since last year to a record-high $461 million, over $8 million more than analysts expected. Quarterly results came out on May 4 and included results from the a divestiture. If that is adjusted the revenues rose 43%.

Net income was $74.6 million, up dramatically from $16.6 million a year ago. That works out to $0.16 per share and was a penny better than expected. Not a huge surprise but enough to give Atmel its third consecutive beat.

The company continues to buy back shares, repurchasing 5.7 million last quarter and authorizing another $300 million worth.

Cloudy Outlook

Atmel said that it revenue to land between $466 and $480 million this quarter, a 1-4% increase. That lead to shares opening lower on the new as analysts were expecting $473 million and in this market, guiding in-line with expectations is just not enough.

But, that could change next month. Atmel alluded to updating guidance in June at a Barclays conference. Of course that could go either way, but for now estimates are up.

Full-year estimates are averaging $0.77 for this year, up 6 cents on the earnings results. Next year's Zacks Consensus Estimate rose 8 cents, to $0.95 per share. Last year Atmel earned $0.48, so expected growth rates are now 60% and 24%, respectively.

Valuations

Shares of ATML are exchanging hands at about 18 times that 2011 estimate, not too bad. But factor in the almost 19% expected long-term growth rate and you get a PEG of 1.0 and a solid value.

The Chart

ATML is no stranger to volatility, but after taking a look at the long-term earnings trend it looks like that risk may be worth taking. Solid year-over-year growth and consistent rising throughout the year are both great signs.

Day's Range: 14.37 - 15.07
52wk Range: 4.50 - 16.80
Volume: 6,605,827
Avg Vol (3m): 8,963,290
Market Cap: 6.82B
P/E (ttm): 14.66
EPS (ttm): 1.02
Div & Yield: N/A (N/A)

Technicals
Most Actives

Last Price Quote is:
3.34%above 13-day EMA
5.57%above 50-day EMA
RS Rating: 67