(By Balachander) Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) issued a downbeat forecast for the fourth quarter as macro-economic concerns continue to mute growth and recovery in the semiconductor sector. The chip maker posted mixed quarterly results.
For the third quarter, earnings per share (EPS) increased 31 percent to 67 cents and included 7 cents of charges related to TXN's acquisition of National Semiconductor. EPS also includes a benefit of 22 cents for changes in taxes and a Japanese pension program.
Wall Street analysts, on average, expected EPS of 46 cents per share.
Net earnings grew 30 percent to $784 million.
Revenue declined 2 percent to $3.39 billion, better than consensus estimate of a drop of 3.70 percent for the third quarter. Sequentially, revenue grew 2 percent.
"TI revenue grew sequentially and operations were well executed even though the economy and semiconductor market remained weak and likely will get weaker in the fourth quarter," commented CEO Rich Templeton.
Segment wise, Analog revenue jumped 18 percent. Revenue at Embedded Processing and Wireless dropped 4 percent and 44 percent, respectively.
Looking ahead for the fourth quarter, the company expects EPS in the range of 23 cents to 31 cents on revenue between $2.83 billion and $3.07 billion. Analysts expect EPS of 42 cents on revenue of $3.24 billion.
TXN shares, which have been trading in the 52-week range of $26.06 to $34.24, closed at $27.79 on Monday.