Contact: Paul Coghlan 6:30 EDT Vice President, Finance Tuesday, April 15, 2003 (408) 432-1900 US1 LINEAR TECHNOLOGY REPORTS IMPROVED SALES AND PROFITS BOTH OVER THE PRIOR YEAR AND PRIOR QUARTER Milpitas, California, April 15, 2003, Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ-LLTC), a leading, independent manufacturer of high performance linear integrated circuits, today announced that net sales for its third quarter ended March 30, 2003, were $153,750,000, an increase of 18% over net sales of $130,155,000 for the third quarter of the previous year. The Company also reported net income for the quarter of $60,622,000 or $0.19 diluted earnings per share, an increase of 18% from $51,480,000 or $0.16 diluted earnings per share reported for the third quarter of last year. The Company is increasing its quarterly dividend from $0.05 to $0.06 per share. The payment will be on May 14, 2003 to stockholders of record on April 25, 2003. For the quarter the Company generated approximately $16 million in additional cash and short-term investments, net of spending approximately $39 million to purchase 1,500,000 shares of its common stock. During the quarter, the Company entered into a patent portfolio cross licensing and royalty agreement with Texas Instruments, Inc. for a 10 year period, which terminates existing litigation. The amortization expense for the royalty to be incurred is not expected to have a material effect on the Company's financial condition or results of operations. According to Robert H. Swanson, Chairman of the Board and CEO, "This was a good quarter for us as we grew sales 6% and profits 8% over the previous quarter. We continue to be strongly profitable as demonstrated by our 39% return on sales. We focus our efforts on unique high-performance analog intensive, market opportunities often in the newest generation end user products. This enables us to achieve good financial results during these difficult economic and geo-political times. However, accurately forecasting short-term results remains a challenge. Nevertheless, we had good momentum in the March quarter and consequently estimate that sales and profits for the June quarter will grow sequentially in the mid to high single digits, 5% to 8%." Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements that are dependent on certain risks and uncertainties including such factors, among others, as new orders received and shipped during the quarter, timely ramp-up of new facilities, and the timely introduction of new processes and products. Company officials will be discussing these results in greater detail in a conference call tomorrow, Wednesday, April 16, 2003 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Coast Time. Those investors wishing to listen in may call (913) 981-5508 before 8:15 a.m. to be included in the audience. There will be a live webcast of this conference call that can be accessed through www.linear.com or www.streetevents.com. A replay of the conference call will be available from April 16 through April 23, 2003. You may access this post view by calling (719) 457-0820 and entering reservation #580847. An archive of the webcast will also be available at www.linear.com and www.streetevents.com as of April 16, 2003 until the third quarter earnings release next year. Linear Technology Corporation was founded in 1981 as a manufacturer of high performance linear integrated circuits. Linear Technology products include operational, instrumentation and audio amplifiers; voltage regulators, power management devices, DC-DC converters and voltage references; comparators; monolithic filters; communications interface circuits; one-chip data acquisition sub-systems; pulse-width modulators and sample-and-hold devices; and high frequency devices. Applications for Linear Technology's high performance circuits include wireless and broadband telecommunications infrastructure, cellular telephones, networking products and satellite systems, notebook and desk top computers, computer peripherals, video/multimedia, industrial and medical instrumentation, automotive electronics, factory automation, process control, military and space systems, and high-end consumer products including digital cameras, MP3 players and other electronic products. For further information contact Paul Coghlan at Linear Technology Corporation, 1630 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, California 95035-7417, (408) 432-1900. LINEAR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (In thousands, except per share amounts) (unaudited) Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended March 30, March 31, March 30, March 31, 2003 2002 2003 2002 -------- -------- -------- --------- Net sales $153,750 $130,155 $440,806 $371,525 Cost of sales 39,390 34,518 114,611 107,898 -------- -------- -------- -------- Gross profit 114,360 95,637 326,195 263,627 -------- -------- -------- -------- Expenses: Research & development 22,609 20,127 67,014 58,318 Selling, general and administrative 15,916 15,565 49,345 45,870 -------- -------- -------- -------- 38,525 35,692 116,359 104,188 -------- -------- -------- -------- Operating income 75,835 59,945 209,836 159,439 Interest income 9,548 12,562 30,427 41,399 -------- -------- -------- -------- Income before income taxes 85,383 72,507 240,263 200,838 Provision for income taxes 24,761 21,027 69,676 58,243 -------- -------- -------- -------- Net income $ 60,622 $ 51,480 $170,587 $142,595 ======== ======== ======== ======== Basic earnings per share $ 0.19 $ 0.16 $ 0.54 $ 0.45 ======== ======== ======== ======== Shares used in the 312,782 317,136 313,184 317,359 calculation of basic ======== ======== ======== ======== earnings per share Diluted earnings per share $ 0.19 $ 0.16 $ 0.53 $ 0.43 ======== ======== ======== ======== Shares used in the 320,842 328,526 321,217 329,026 calculation of diluted ======== ======== ======== ======== earnings per share LINEAR TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS (Dollars in thousands) March 30, June 30, 2003 2002 (unaudited) (audited) ---------- ---------- ASSETS Current assets: Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments $1,565,181 $1,552,030 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $1,662 ($1,302 at June 30, 2002) 83,600 81,447 Inventories 31,366 28,942 Deferred tax assets and other current assets 61,456 65,162 ---------- ---------- Total current assets 1,741,603 1,727,581 ---------- ---------- Property, plant & equipment, net 232,991 260,852 ---------- ---------- Other non-current assets 57,099 -- ---------- ---------- $2,031,693 $1,988,433 ========== ========== March 30, June 30, 2003 2002 (unaudited) (audited) ---------- ---------- LIABILITIES & STOCKHOLDERS ' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 7,160 $ 5,098 Accrued income taxes, payroll & other accrued liabilities 83,532 117,731 Deferred income on shipments to distributors 44,926 46,168 ---------- ---------- Total current liabilities 135,618 168,997 ---------- ---------- Deferred tax and other long-term liabilities 97,461 37,982 Stockholders' equity: Common stock 704,495 672,916 Retained earnings 1,080,319 1,108,538 Accumulated other comprehensive income 13,800 -- ---------- ---------- Total stockholders' equity 1,798,614 1,781,454 ---------- ---------- $2,031,693 $1,988,433 ========== ==========