ALTERA REPORTS RECORD QUARTERLY RESULTS

FIRST QUARTER SALES INCREASE 83% ANNUALLY AND 9% SEQUENTIALLY, NET INCOME UP 108% ANNUALLY AND 11% SEQUENTIALLY

San Jose, Calif., April 10, 1996 - Altera Corporation (Nasdaq: ALTR) today reported record levels of sales, operating income, net income, and earnings per share for the quarter ended March 31, 1996.

First quarter sales of $137.1 million were up 83% over the same period last year, and 9% over the previous quarter.

Operating margin as a percentage of sales for the first quarter was 35.2%, up 4.5 percentage points over the same period last year and essentially equaling the record set in the previous quarter. Gross margin as a percentage of sales for the first quarter was 61.3%, up 1.3 percentage points over the same period last year and matching the previous quarter. Gross margin improvements over the prior year are attributed to a greater proportion of proprietary product shipments at higher margins and improved manufacturing yields.

Net income for the first quarter was a record $31.4 million, up 108% over the first quarter of 1995 and 11% over the prior quarter. First quarter earnings per share, on a fully-diluted basis, were $0.66, an increase of $0.32 from the same period last year and up $0.05 from the fourth quarter of 1995.

Quarterly cash activity included expenditures of $57.1 million as deposits for future wafer procurements to TSMC and capital expenditures of $6.2 million. This resulted in a cash reduction of $15.6 million. Annualized return on equity was 46% for the quarter.

Rodney Smith, President & CEO stated, "Altera's revenue growth for this quarter was balanced between the Domestic and International channels. The communications marketplace continued to pace our growth."

Mr. Smith continued, "Our mainstream products are sole-sourced and account for the major portion of Q1'96 revenues. The Company's newest product families, MAX 9000 and FLEX 10K, are being well accepted in the marketplace. FLEX 10K50, the first member of our FLEX 10K family and the industry's first programmable embedded array, began shipping in the December quarter. The second member, FLEX 10K10, began shipping in the March quarter as planned."

Mr. Smith concluded, "Although price reductions on Altera's mainstream products reduced orders by approximately $15 million for the quarter, the backlog grew by over $5 million. However, due to the improved availability on mainstream and new products we expect the backlog to be reduced over the next six months as distributors revert to short lead time ordering."

Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation risks of dependence on third-party wafer suppliers, intellectual property rights and litigation, market acceptance of and demand for the Company's products as well as general market conditions, competition and pricing, and development of technology and manufacturing capabilities. Please refer to the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, copies of which are available from the Company without charge, for further information.

Fax on Demand:

Copies of Altera's quarterly earnings are available from its fax-on-demand service. In the U.S. and Canada to request a copy call 1-800-789-ALTR. International users can dial their local International Access Code followed by 1-408-894-0466.

Altera Corporation, founded in 1983, is a world-wide leader in high-performance, high-density programmable logic devices and associated computer aided engineering (CAE) logic development tools. Programmable logic devices are semiconductor chips that offer on-site programmability to customers. The chips are programmed with tools that run on personal computers or engineering workstations. User benefits include ease of use, lower risk, and fast time-to-market. The Company offers the broadest line of CMOS programmable logic devices that address high-speed, high density, and lower power applications. Altera products serve a broad range of market areas, including telecommunications, data communications, computers, and industrial applications. Altera common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market using the symbol ALTR.