Xilinx Inc

Xilinx Inc., the No. 1 maker of programmable semiconductors, said fiscal fourth-quarter sales will be less than expected because customers canceled orders. Sales in the quarter ending this month could fall as much as 15% from the previous period's $450.1 million, said spokeswoman Lori Owen. Analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expected Xilinx to have revenue of $481.3 million.

Companies ranked by analysts' estimated earnings increase this year. '94 Estmtd 1994 1993 % Earnings Estimated Actual Rank Company Increase Earn/Share Earn/Share 1 Great Western Financial 507 1.70 .28 2 Pacific Telesis Group 428 2.80 .53 3 Cypress Semiconductor 362 .97 .21 4 Atlantic Richfield Co. 216 5.25 1.66 5 Apple Computer Inc. 126 1.65 .73 6 Chiron Corp. 115 1.18 .55 7 Mattel Inc. 113 1.64 .77 8 3Com Corp. 105 2.50 1.22 9 Oracle Systems Corp. 88 .90 .48 10 ALZA Corp. 85 1.00 .

Advanced Micro Devices said Friday that its earnings for the final three months of 1992 dropped 34.8% from a year earlier, when a sale of assets created a one-time surge in net income. The computer hardware manufacturer's operating income for the most recent quarter was $73.19 million, up from $63.2 million in the 1991 quarter. AMD said net income was $69.56 million, or 73 cents a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 27. That compared to $106.74 million, or $1.

Intersil Holding Corp.'s stock tumbled Thursday after the Irvine semiconductor maker said sales would fall below analysts' forecasts in the fourth quarter and be little changed for the following three months. The shares sank to a 52-week low of $15.94 before rallying to close at $22.81, down $6.19, or 21.4%. The stock was priced at $25 a share when the company went public in February, then climbed as high as $85.25 on March 21.

Calabasas Hills-based restaurant chain Cheesecake Factory Inc. said Tuesday that it was reviewing previous stock-option grants to employees -- joining a growing list of companies that are looking into past options practices. The company said it initiated the review "in response to recent media and Wall Street reports regarding the option granting practices at numerous publicly traded companies."

Here are the Times 100 companies listed alphabetically, with rank. 3Com Corp.: 33 Aames Financial Corp.: 80 Adaptec Inc.: 10 Adobe Systems Inc.: 94 Altera Corp.: 25 Alza Corp.: 82 Amgen Inc.: 35 Applied Magnetics Corp.: 48 Applied Materials: 28 Ascend Communications: 39 Aspect Telecommunications: 75 Atlantic Richfield Co.: 31 Atmel Corp.: 49 Avery Dennison Corp.: 52 BankAmerica Corp.: 50 Beckman Instruments Inc.: 89 Bergen Brunswig Corp.: 81 BRE Properties Inc.

Santa arrived early for Apple Inc. shareholders: The stock surged $6.94, or 3.4%, on Thursday to close at a record high of $209.04. That topped the previous closing high of $207 on Nov. 17. The buzz continues to build about the company's widely anticipated -- albeit unconfirmed -- tablet computer. The Financial Times reported that Apple has rented a stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco in late January, most likely for a product announcement. An Apple tablet, which some speculate might be called the "iPad," is expected to be a cross between the iPhone, with its touch-sensitive screen and numerous useful applications, and the Amazon Kindle reading device, with its much larger screen.

Despite nearly across-the-board gains seen in the semiconductor sector in recent months, analysts said Tuesday that good values still can be found among the lower-profile stocks in the group. "Business is good. It is as simple as that," David Wu of ABN Amro Inc. said. "It looks like it is going to get better next year."