Texas Instruments Inc, the largest maker of analog chips, gave an updated fourth-quarter sales forecast that was in line with analysts’ estimates as customers seek to keep inventory low amid lackluster demand.
Sales will be US$2.89 billion to US$3.01 billion, the Dallas-based company said on Monday in a statement. Analysts on average projected revenue of US$2.95 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. In October, Texas Instruments had said sales would be US$2.83 billion to US$3.07 billion.
UPDATES
Texas Instruments is one of the few technology companies that still issue quarterly updates. The breadth of its customer list — ranging from home-appliance makers to manufacturers of space hardware — makes its forecasts an indicator of demand across industries.
Texas Instruments shares climbed as high as US$30.35 in extended trading following the announcement. They had earlier dropped less than 1 percent to US$29.82 at Monday’s close in New York, leaving the stock up 2.4 percent this year.
Low inventory levels “reflect economic uncertainty and relatively weak demand,” Texas Instruments vice president Ron Slaymaker said on a conference call with analysts. “In general we’re shipping consistent with demand, and inventory levels are low.”
Any increases in demand will force customers to boost buying to replenish their stockpiles, Slaymaker said.
MARKETS
The computing, communications and industrial markets continue to be weak, he said. Consumer markets are mixed, with television makers cutting back on orders, while game consoles and e-book readers are seeing higher demand, Slaymaker said.
Earnings this quarter will be US$0.05 to US$0.09 a share, including a charge of US$0.21 related to a restructuring of the wireless business, the company said. That is down from an earlier company forecast of US$0.23 to US$0.31 a share.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”