SAN FRANCISCO – Personal computer maker Gateway Inc. (GTW) Thursday swung to a quarterly profit from a year-ago loss, helped by a gain from the retirement of its preferred stock as revenue rose 18 percent.
Irvine, Calif.-based Gateway posted fourth-quarter net income of $93.9 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $114.1 million, or 35 cents per share, which included restructuring charges.
Revenue rose to $1.03 billion from $875.1 million, fueled by Gateway's March 2004 acquisition of eMachines (search), a smaller but profitable rival.
Excluding the gain relems, Gateway said it had a loss of 2 cents per share.
On that basis, analysts had forecast the company to earn 2 cents per share, within a range of 1 cent to 4 cents, on revenue of $1.03 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
For the current, first, quarter, Gateway forecast earnings per share of break-even to a loss of 3 cents per share and revenue of $810 million to $850 million.
Analysts currently forecast Gateway to post a profit of 1 cent per share, on average, within a range of nil to 2 cents per share, on revenue of $888.7 million.
Shares of Gateway rose 5 cents to close at $5.00 on the New York Stock Exchange (search). Shares were halted for after-hours trade.
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