ST says no change to its 2001 outlook
PARIS, March 9 (Reuters) - French-Italian chip maker STMicroelectronics, whose stock was hit with sector peers after another sales warning from U.S. giant Intel (NasdaqNM:INTC - news), said on Friday there was no change to its 2001 outlook.
``There is no change to what we have said so far,'' a spokeswoman said, confirming ST's forecast that it will outpace expected growth of 15 percent in its own markets, which is faster than ST's forecast of eight percent growth for the broader chip market.
``The key thing is that the markets Intel is talking about are different to ST's markets,'' the spokeswoman added.
Shares in ST, which have consistently outperformed the Philadelphia semiconductor index (^SOXX - news) over the past year and by as much as 50 percent in December, were down four percent at 37.89 euros at 0950 GMT.
The stock earlier fell more than seven percent to 37.10 euros, echoing gloom in European peers like Infineon and ARM Holdings (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: ARM.L).
ST, which makes chips for the communications, auto, consumer electronics and computer peripherals markets, has traditionally fared better than its PC-centered rivals which have been hit by a slowdown in personal computer sales.
Europe's biggest chip maker, and global number seven, ST said in January as it unveiled strong 2000 earnings that it saw first-quarter turnover down nine percent, due to an inventory backlog, but on the full year it expected to outperform the market, playing on its lead in flash memory chips which are used in an array of mobile devices. |
