SAN JOSE - Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. on Thursday said third-quarter profit rose 32 percent from a year ago, but said sales in the fourth quarter would come in far below analyst estimates.

Fairchild, which employs 9,000 people worldwide, has about 900 employees in Maine, including 300 at its headquarters in South Portland. The remainder work at its fabrication facility, also in South Portland.

The maker of power-management chips said it had third-quarter net income of $26.7 million, or 21 cents per share, compared with $20.3 million, or 16 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2007.

Sales of $428.3 million were up 0.4 percent from a year ago. Sales of high frequency voltage regulators, analog switches and load switches for cell phones were at record levels, the San Jose-based company said.

Excluding various items like a loss on the sale of a product line, charges for potential legal settlements and tax effects, earnings were 27 cents per share in the third quarter, Fairchild said.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had on average expected earnings, excluding items, of 24 cents per share on sales of $432.35 million.

Fairchild said order rates were below expectations in September, and its unfilled orders shrank. It expects sales to be down 6 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter from the third, which indicates a range of $377 million to $403 million. Analysts had been expecting fourth-quarter sales of $438 million.

Fairchild expects to maintain the third quarter's gross margin of 29.9 percent in the fourth quarter, helped by lower costs for raw materials.

Fairchild shares closed Wednesday at $6.06, down 73 cents, or 11 percent.