Computer chipmaker Xilinx Inc. today turned in a strong fourth-quarter performance, beating expectations by posting a profit of 78 cents per share on revenue of $756 million.

Wall Street had Xilinx down for a 69-cent profit on revenue of $752.5 million. For the full year, the company’s profit was $3.35 per share on a 3% rise in revenue, to $3.16 billion.

Xilinx said its data center group accounted for 10% of its revenue in the fourth quarter and 22% of the company’s overall growth in fiscal 2020. It said much of that growth was driven by increased adoption of its computer chips by hyperscale cloud customers in areas such as compute, networking and storage.

The performance is all the more encouraging considering that Xilinx is one of several U.S. chipmakers to be banned from dealing with China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which was previously one of its major customers.

“Despite our fiscal 2020 being uniquely challenging, particularly related to the U.S. trade-related restrictions with Huawei as well as some COVID-19 impact during our Q4, we were able to deliver another record year,” Xilinx Chief Executive Officer Victor Peng (pictured) said in a statement. “The strength and diversity of our business were reflected in the results of our fiscal fourth quarter.”

Xilinx’s biggest business, its aerospace and defense, industrial, and test and measurement group, accounted for about half of its sales in the last quarter, and saw its annual revenue grow 5%. Meanwhile, its automotive, broadcast and consumer business grew by 8% in fiscal 2020.

The only disappointment was Xilinx’s wired and wireless business, which accounted for 24% of its revenue in the fourth quarter but was down 1% for the year. Xilinx said it was this business that suffered most from the restrictions on doing business with Huawei.

Xilinx said that like most technology firms, it’s expecting to a see a sharp decline in its business next quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic. For the next quarter, Xilinx said it’s expecting revenue in the range of $660 million to $720 million, some way below Wall Street’s forecast of $738.4 million.

“Xilinx did very well considering all the business it does in China,” said Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy. “Fortunately, the company drives a lot of business in 5G base stations, which are still booming.”

Xilinx’s stock was down 5% in after-hours trading after beating the overall market with almost a 5% rise in the regular session.

Photo: Xilinx/Facebook