(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Shares of Texas Instruments dipped, a day after the leading maker of chips for cell phones said it expected to grow in the second quarter but gave only a middling outlook for first-quarter profit.
Texas Instruments also tightened its profit and sales outlook for the first quarter but didn't change the midpoint of earlier projections.
The company said it expected operating earnings of $0.29 to $0.33 per share on sales of $3.07 billion to $3.22 billion in the quarter. TI had said it expected to earn $0.28 to $0.34 per share on revenue of $3.01 billion to $3.28 billion.
Analysts were expected $0.31 per share profit on sales of $3.15 billion for the January-March quarter, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.
Analysts said many investors were expecting a more upbeat forecast.
'Texas Instruments offered very little new information during its mid-quarter update last night, which disappointed investors looking for numbers to be raised,' Merrill Lynch analyst Joe Osha said in a client note.
Satya Chillara of Pacific Growth Equities had expected that TI might raise the midpoint of its guidance, based on comments from other companies including National Semiconductor and Analog Devices.
In January, executives warned that its customers, companies that use semiconductors to make phones and electronic devices, wanted to carry less inventory. Texas Instruments has also been affected by a shift in the wireless market, in which growth is faster for lower-end phones with less-expensive chips.
© 2007 The Associated Press
© 2007 Dialog, a Thomson business. All rights reserved