Texas Instruments' Outlook Falls Short of Wall Street Expectations -- Update

   By Maria Armental

Texas Instruments Inc.'s (TXN) forecast for the current quarter fell short of Wall Street expectations after demand slowed across most markets.

On a Tuesday conference call with analysts, Texas Instruments executives attributed weaker demand to a slowdown in the semiconductor sector.

"We really can't speak to any macro-driven event here," Chief Financial Officer Rafael Lizardi said on the call, adding that the company expects minimal effects from tariffs or related trade issues.

In response, Mr. Lizardi said, the company will take a series of steps, including reducing wafer starts while building inventory buffers for industrial and automotive--two areas on which the company has been focusing for long-term growth.

"Those are low risk buffers," Mr. Lizardi said in a conference call. "Those parts live for a long, long time and they enable us to then support our customers on the other side of this slowdown."

For the current quarter, the company expects a profit of $1.14 to $1.34 a share on $3.6 billion to $3.9 billion in revenue, compared with the consensus forecast of $1.38 a share on $4 billion in revenue, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Meanwhile, Texas Instruments' third-quarter profit rose 22% to $1.57 billion, or $1.58 a share, just ahead of the consensus estimate from analysts of $1.54 a share and at the high-end of the company's forecast of $1.41 to $1.63 a share.

Revenue rose 4% to $4.26 billion. The company had forecast revenue between $4.11 billion and $4.45 billion, while analysts forecast $4.3 billion.

Shares in Texas Instruments fell 5.2% to $95.09 in after-hours trading.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2018 17:54 ET (21:54 GMT)

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