National Semi Sees Better Times Ahead

National Semi posted mixed results late Thursday, but it was the company’s outlook that got investors excited.

“Bookings from our customers and distributors improved through the latter part of our third quarter,” CEO Brian Halla said in a statement. “This suggests that the inventory correction may well be behind us, and we anticipate revenues to rise modestly in the fourth quarter.”

Halla’s comments boosted National Semi’s shares by 3% in after-hours trading — and sent Nasdaq 100 futures a half percent higher and the chip sector 1.2% higher.

National Semi reported a 14% sequential decline in sales to $431 million, below $433.5 million estimates. But earnings of 22 cents a share and gross margins of 59.8% were better than expected, and bookings rose 3% sequentially. National Semi forecast 3-6% sales growth for the current quarter, essentially in line with Wall Street’s consensus forecast of $451.4 million.

Stocks rose once again during Thursday’s trading session, although the indexes finished off their best levels on jitters ahead of Friday’s monthly jobs report.

AT&T was the Dow’s biggest gainer, up 2.2% on an A.G. Edwards valuation upgrade, and Verizon added 2% on a legal victory over Vonage .

KLA-Tencor jumped 4% on a Morgan Stanley upgrade, and Mamma.com soared 19% on its results.

Tech Data and Mellanox fell on their results.

The Nasdaq rose 13 to 2387, the S&P 500 gained 10 to 1402, and the Dow rose 68 to 12,260. Volume declined to 2.99 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.01 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancing issues led by a 24-8 on the NYSE, and 18-12 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 76% on the NYSE, and 67% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 106-23 on the NYSE, and 71-81 on the Nasdaq.