Altera ups 3Q revenue outlook on improved markets

SAN FRANCISCO — Altera Corp. raised its third-quarter revenue forecast on Tuesday, saying it now expects sales to be flat or up 3 percent when compared with the second quarter.

The company, which makes programmable chips, had previously predicted revenue would drop between 1 percent and 5 percent.

The new forecast implies sales of $279.2 million to $287.3 million for the three-month period. That’s above analysts’ average estimate of $271.5 million, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Altera said sales in all of its market segments except for telecom and wireless will rise sequentially in the third quarter, and the telecom and wireless declines won’t be as bad as expected due to improved demand from original equipment manufacturers that supply Asian wireless networks.

Shares rose 74 cents, or 3.8 percent, to close earlier at $20.34.