Texas Instruments Inc (NYSE:TXN) stock was on the backfoot in Wednesday’s early premarket trade, down 3.64% at $168, after the semiconductor firm gave a disappointing revenue and earnings outlook.
Revenue dropped to $4.08 billion for the fourth quarter, down 13% from the same period last year, and was broadly in line with expectations.
Net income also fell to $1.37 billion, 30% lower year on year, and on a per-share basis this equated to $1.49, versus consensus estimates of $1.47 per share.
Cash flow from operations was reported at $1.92 billion for the quarter, down 26%, whilst free cash flow was significantly lower still, declining 77% versus the 2022 comparative.
Texas Instruments returned $4.9 billion to shareholders over the past 12 months through dividends and stock buybacks.
Looking ahead, the company gave a low-key forecast for the first quarter of 2024, projecting revenue to be between $3.45 billion and $3.75 billion and earnings per share between $0.96 and $1.16 – with both metrics underwhelming compared to market expectations.
Wall Street analysts had pencilled in $4.05 billion of revenue and $1.40 per share prior to last night’s earnings report.