TI forecasts dull third quarter on sluggish chip demand, China weakness

By Chavi Mehta

(Reuters) -Analog chipmaker Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:) forecast third-quarter revenue and profit below Wall Street targets on Tuesday, bogged down by sluggish recovery in end-market demand that has forced clients to cancel orders.

Wobbly China recovery after the country put an end to its “zero-COVID” policy has also prevented demand from rebounding quickly.

“China was roughly half of sales at the end of fiscal 2022, so China has the largest impact on TI’s business,” said Edward Jones analyst Logan Purk.

The Dallas, Texas-based company saw weakness across all its end-markets except automotive. Its shares fell about 4% in trading after the bell.

Inflation and rising interest rates have eroded spending across sectors, including in the industrial segment, its key market, comprising about 40% of its revenue.

“(Order) cancellations remain at elevated levels… and we believe that customers are continuing to work down inventories to get that more in line with their demand,” said Dave Pahl, TI’s head of investor relations.

Top chipmakers including TSMC and Infineon (OTC:) Technologies also flagged global economic woes denting broader, end-market chip demand, with the former saying even a high demand for artificial intelligence has not been able to offset the widespread weakness.

Texas Instruments forecast revenue in the current quarter to be in the range of $4.36 billion to $4.74 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect revenue to come in at $4.60 billion.

Still, the company’s second-quarter revenue and profit beat estimates.

Despite a demand crisis, the company said it will continue ramping up supply even at the cost of its profit margin, to support long-term demand and create a “geopolitically dependable capacity”.

But that could hurt its gross margin at a time when demand recovery remains elusive, Summit Insights Group analyst Kinngai Chan said.

The company’s earnings per share forecast in the range of $1.68 to $1.92 fell short of expectations of $1.91.