Texas Instruments lifts lower end of 2Q guidance, cites strong industrial sales

Texas Instruments lifts lower end of 2Q guidance

SAN FRANCISCO — Texas Instruments Inc. lifted the lower end of its second-quarter guidance on Tuesday, citing strengthening demand for its chips in the industrial sector.

TI said after the market closed that it expects profit of 60 cents to 64 cents per share in the current quarter. The low end of the previous forecast was 56 cents per share.

Revenue should be $3.45 billion to $3.59 billion, the company said. The low end of the previous forecast was $3.31 billion.

Ron Slaymaker, the company’s vice president of investor relations, told financial analysts on a conference call that the industrial sector will likely be TI’s strongest market in the quarter, driven in part by sales of high-performance analog chips. He added that the industrial sector has been slower to recover than other sectors but that its has experienced a “powerful” start to the year.

TI’s chips are used in factories and other industrial settings to do things such as control power supplies, manage heating and air conditioning and handle the processing of fingerprint and other data in security systems.

Analysts had been expecting profit of 61 cents per share and revenue of $3.47 billion, according to a Thomson Reuters survey.

Earlier, an analyst with Wedbush Securities had said TI was likely to take a “conservative stance” in its mid-quarter update since strong sales trends are being weighed down by slower growth in Europe. TI’s Slaymaker said the company hasn’t seen a slowdown yet in Europe but is watching the region closely.

Texas Instruments shares rose 21 cents to close at $23.88.