Lattice Semiconductor has a new CEO, news that comes about two months after a lousy earnings report for the company, and several months after the firm’s former chief executive departed for another company.
Announcing the hiring this week of Dr. Ford Tamer as CEO appears to have steadied Lattice. The company immediately earned an upgrade from “Hold” to “Buy” from Stifel, and Lattice’s stock price, which had plunged almost 24% so far this year, had increased about 17% this week after the news broke to more than $52 per share.
Tamer replaces Interim CEO Esam Elashmawi, who took the post in June after Jim Anderson, who had been CEO of Lattice for six years, left to take the same job at Coherent Corp. Lattice’s board said Elashmawi will continue to serve as the company’s Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, a position he has held since September 2018 and maintained while serving as Interim CEO.
A Lattice spokeswoman told Fierce Electronics via e-mail that the company considered both internal and external candidates for the job before landing on Tamer.
A semiconductor industry veteran, Tamer spent nine years as President and CEO of Inphi until that firm was acquired by Marvell Technology in early 2021, after which and until recently he served on Marvell’s board. He also has been CEO of Telegent Systems, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom’s Infrastructure Networking Group, and was co-founder and CEO of Agere Inc.
Tamer said in a statement, “I’m honored and excited to join Lattice at this inflection point in the company’s history. Lattice has created a strong foundation, and I look forward to working alongside the talented Lattice team to drive our next phase of growth. I want to thank Esam for his leadership and look forward to his continued contribution in shaping and executing the strategic vision for Lattice.
The company spokeswoman provided an additional Lattice statement via e-mail which stated, “Ford is a dynamic and transformative leader with a proven track record of building and growing successful companies. Ford’s intention over the next few weeks and months is to meet with and listen very carefully to all of our stakeholders. We are confident that the combination of Ford’s expertise and our talented team strongly positions Lattice to continue delivering industry leading products and value to our customers.”
Upon announcing the hiring, Lattice also said it was confirming its guidance for the current (third) quarter, which includes a forecast for estimated revenue in the range between $117 million and $137 million. Lattice’s second quarter earnings, reported in late July, featured revenue that fell 35% year-ver-year and missed estimates. Lattice is not expected to report earnings for several weeks.