Texas Instruments Forecast Stokes Concern Over Chip Demand
- Executives won’t predict when industry sales surge will peak
- Inventory declined while chipmaker continued to add production
Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg
Texas Instruments Inc. gave a revenue forecast for the current period that disappointed some investors, raising concerns that a jump in chip demand caused by the pandemic will be short-lived. The stock fell in early U.S. trading.
Sales will be $4.4 billion to $4.76 billion in the period ending in September, Texas Instruments said Wednesday in a statement. Profit will be $1.87 to $2.13 a share, the company said. On average, analysts predicted profit of $1.97 a share and sales of $4.59 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Like other chipmakers, Texas Instruments has posted multiple quarters of double-digit percentage revenue growth, boosted by demand for a wide variety of devices that contain its tiny electronic components. The rapid run-up has caused speculation among analysts and investors that some of the orders reflect panic buying by customers who have grown anxious they won’t be able get enough supply. Such behavior in the past has caused crashes.