Entropic raises outlook; shares jump

(Reuters) - Chipmaker Entropic Communications Inc raised its outlook for the current quarter as it resolved some supply-chain issues at its recently acquired set-top box business, sending its shares up as much as 32 percent.

The company, which earlier in the quarter expected the set-top box business to be a drag on its sales, said on Wednesday that sales will now be better than it anticipated.

"Through impressive execution by our operations team and supply chain partners, we were able to resolve some key supply chain constraints related to our set-top box system-on-chip business ahead of schedule," Chief Executive Patrick Henry said.

Entropic, which bought the set-top box business from Trident Microsystems Inc in April, forecast second-quarter revenue of $81 million to $82 million, up from its earlier outlook of $75 million to $77 million.

San Diego, California-based Entropic, which designs specialized chipsets for video and broadband multimedia applications, also raised its adjusted earnings outlook to about 8 cents per share from 3 cents per share.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 3 cents per share, excluding items, on revenue of $76.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of the company rose to a more than two-month high of $5.38. The stock was the top percentage gainer on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Neha Alawadhi in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Maju Samuel)