NEW YORK (Dow Jones/AP) – National Semiconductor Corp. reported a large jump in profit for its latest quarter and gave an upbeat forecast for the current period.

The Santa Clara, Calif., chip maker posted net income of $29.7 million, or 15 cents a share, for the three months ended Aug. 24. That compared with earnings of $1.3 million, or 1 cent a share, in the same period a year earlier.

National Semiconductor has a manufacturing plant in South Portland with nearly 600 employees.

Revenue edged up 1 percent to $424.8 million from $420.6 million. In afternoon trading, shares of National Semiconductor rose $2.08, or 7.2 percent, to $30.90, on the New York Stock Exchange.

The current quarter included a $1.9 million charge for a change in accounting standards and miscellaneous gains of $9.1 million.

Excluding these items, National Semiconductor would have earned 18 cents a share, compared with 1 cent a share the previous year on a similar basis.

Analysts had been expecting earnings of 13 cents a share, according to Thomson First Call.

The company said its gross margin improved to 47.2 percent in the quarter, from 43.3 percent a year earlier and 44.6 percent the previous quarter. It cited an improved product mix and increased factory use.

National Semiconductor was a chip pioneer along with Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

While those companies have focused in recent years on digital chips, National Semiconductor relies heavily on analog technology. These chips, which amplify or process real-world signals such as sound, images or electrical power, are used in high-volume devices such as cell phones and computer displays.

National Semiconductor said it expects revenue to grow 4 percent to 7 percent in the current quarter and margins to improve to 48 percent.

AP-ES-09-04-03 1426EDT