Chipmaker Texas Instruments on Monday lowered its outlook for earnings and revenue in the first quarter on weaker than expected chip demand and its shares fell as much as 5.5 percent.TI, which makes chips for everything from cell phones to televisions, cut its first-quarter earnings per share forecast to 41 cents to 45 cents from its target of 43 cents to 49 cents issued January 22.
It forecast revenue of $3.21 billion to $3.35 billion compared with its previous target of $3.27 billion to $3.55 billion citing solid demand for its chips.
Analysts on average expected earnings of 46 cents per share on revenue of $3.4 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
The company forecast semiconductor revenue in a range of $3.14 billion to $3.26 billion for the quarter down from its previous estimate of $3.20 billion to $3.46 billion.
Shares immediately fell more than 5 percent to $28.01 in late trade after closing at $29.65 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Before the news TI shares had already lost more than 11 percent of their value since the start of 2008 as investors worried it would be hurt by a slowdown in the U.S. economy.
