Texas Instruments Beats Estimates, Warns on First Quarter
Texas Instruments posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates, but its guidance for the first quarter was below estimates.

The chip maker expects to earn 24 to 32 cents per share in the first quarter, below Street estimates for 34 cents per share, as the company exits the wireless business. Revenue is expected to be between $2.69 billion to $2.91 billion compared with a forecast of $2.89 billion, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

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"We continue to operate in a weak demand environment," said Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and CEO, in a press release. "Our visibility into future demand remains limited as our lead times are short and our customers are reluctant to commit to extended backlog."



On the conference call, the company's CFO said that customers are carrying low levels of inventory given the uncertainties surrounding Europe, China and the U.S. fiscal situation.

For the fourth quarter, Texas Instruments reported net income of 24 cents a share.

Excluding items, Texas Instruments earned 36 cents per share beating analysts' 34-cent-a-share estimate. Revenue fell 13 percent from a year earlier but was also slightly better-than-expected at $2.98 billion.

Reuters contributed to this report.