Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Earnings: Semiconductor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SusieQ1065 who wrote (63)	10/18/2001 11:15:12 PM
From: SusieQ1065	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 266

TXN..$29-$26-$28) beats by 1 cent..rev's a little higher than expected...warns for Q4... Wednesday October 17 6:36 PM ET Texas Instruments Posts Loss By Marcus Kabel DALLAS (Reuters) - Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN - news), the world's No. 1 maker of computer chips for mobile phones, on Wednesday slid into the red for the second half of 2001 as world demand remained weak for cell phones and other communications equipment powered by TI semiconductors. The Dallas-based manufacturer posted a pro forma loss of 3 cents per share, or 7 cents including all special items, after profits of 3 cents in the previous quarter and 33 cents a year earlier. It forecast a pro forma loss around 9 cents in the current fourth quarter. TI said it believed an extended decline in semiconductor sales since the end of last year would bottom out in the fourth quarter, but declined to forecast when it would return to profitability. ``We're not ready to predict that ... I can't be that precise at this point about when we'll return to profitability,'' Chief Financial Officer Bill Aylesworth told Reuters. For the third quarter, Texas Instruments posted a pro forma loss of $57 million compared with a profit of $589 million in the year-earlier quarter. The consensus analyst profit forecast was a loss of 4 cents per share, with a range between a loss of 1 cent and a loss of 7 cents, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. Analysts were looking for a 1-cent profit in the first quarter of 2002, 5 cents in the second quarter and 28 cents for the full 2002 year, according to First Call. Texas Instruments shares closed before the earnings news at $29.91, down $1.58, or 5 percent. The shares have lost 36 percent of their value this year and underperformed the broad benchmark S&P 500 index by 22 percent. CLOSE TO BOTTOM The shares fell further in after-hours trade as other techs were flat to lower. On the Instinet electronic system, Texas Instruments shares fell in the aftermarket to $28.30. ``In a weak economic environment, it's hard to make a case that any near-term pick-up in demand for communications products is sustainable,'' said SG Cowen semiconductor analyst Drew Peck. ``We are getting close to a bottom but it looks like it's going to be a long, slow road back,'' Peck said, adding he would have to reduce his revenue estimates for the fourth quarter. Third-quarter revenues were $1.85 billion, down 9 percent from the previous quarter and down 41 percent from $3.13 billion a year earlier. TI said it expected fourth-quarter revenues to decline about 10 percent sequentially, mostly due to normal seasonal declines in calculators as well as continued weakness in semiconductors. But the company said it was beginning to see an upturn in orders for its core semiconductor products after a sharp decline since the end of last year, when world demand for cell phones and other communications devices and infrastructure hit a wall. ``As things stand now, it appears that the third quarter will mark the bottom for orders, and the floor for revenue should be set in the fourth quarter,'' Tom Engibous, chairman, president and CEO, said in a statement. TI said it was trimming research and development spending this year to $1.5 billion pro forma from a prior estimate of $1.6 billion and last year's $1.6 billion. Capital expenditures will remain unchanged from previous estimates for 2001 at $1.8 billion, down about 35 percent from last year. Under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), which include all the one-time charges left out of pro forma numbers, TI posted a net loss of $117 million compared with net income of $676 million in the year-ago period, and a diluted loss per share of 7 cents compared with earnings per share of 38 cents a year ago.