U.S. chip manufacturer Volterra Semiconductor Corp.'s (NASDAQ:VLTR) latest quarterly earnings report missed the mark set by several analysts, spurred by higher-than-expected research and development costs, sending its small cap stock down in early trading.
The firm reported a profit of $6 million, or 22 cents per share, compared with $5.3 million, or 20 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Total revenue climbed 5 percent to $43.6 million, however it fell short of analysts' expectations. On average, Wall Street called for earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $44.3 million, according to Reuters.
Despite the missed marks, Volterra CEO Jeff Staszak stated that the company was benefiting from "market share gains on new servers and notebooks," sales of which he expects will climb in the remainder of 2012.
The lower-than-expected earnings can be traced back to a major increase in research and development costs, which hit $11 million in the quarter, compared with $9 million in the same period of 2011.
The news sent shares of Volterra down 13.64 percent to $21.78 as of 12:07 p.m. on July 24, 2012.
