LSI Gains After Raising Earnings Forecast: San Francisco Mover

LSI Corp. (LSI), the maker of chips used in computer disk drives, jumped to the highest level in 4 1/2 years after raising its first-quarter sales prediction range, citing a stronger-than-expected recovery in the industry.

First-quarter sales of $585 million to $615 million will deliver a profit of 6 cents to 10 cents a share, the Milpitas, California-based company said in a statement. LSI had predicted sales of $550 million to $590 million.

The raised forecast reflects a rebound in the market for hard disk drives, the main storage in personal computers, and increasing shipments of semiconductors that control new drives composed of memory chips, the company said.

LSI rose 4.9 percent to $8.96 at 11:12 a.m. in New York after reaching $9.03, the highest intraday price since June 2007. The stock had gained 44 percent this year before today.

Analysts predicted sales of $571.4 million and profit of 0.4 cent a share, the average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net