Texas Instruments Reveals 4Q Match Views

Texas Instruments Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TXN) fourth-quarter profit rose sharply, driven by sales of analog chips and embedded processors.

For the current quarter, the Dallas-based company said it expects to make 57 cents to 67 cents a share on revenue of $3.07 billion to $3.33 billion, compared with the Wall Street consensus of 63 cents a share on $3.2 billion in revenue, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Founded in 1930 as Geophysical Service Inc., it initially focused on reflection seismography in search for oil.

TI, which makes chips used in everything from cellphones to industrial equipment, has been moving away from digital chips to focus on analog chips, which often command lower prices but can be produced with older equipment at a high profit.

In the latest period, sales of analog chips, which account for the largest share of its revenue, rose 14% to $2.12 billion, while embedded processing revenue, which includes processors and microcontrollers, rose 11% to $670 million.

Overall, TI reported a profit of $825 million, or 76 cents a share, up from $511 million, or 46 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 8% to $3.27 billion.

It had expected 64 cents to 74 cents a share on revenue of $3.13 billion to $3.39 billion.

Gross margin improved to 58% from 54.2%.

Shares fell 1% to $54.47 in recent after-hours trading.