TI Narrows Forecast (Update)

SAN FRANCISCO -- Texas Instruments(TXN Quote) tightened its financial forecast for the current quarter, leaving the midpoint of its guidance unchanged despite growing anxiety about the cell-phone market for semiconductors.

TI said business across its major business lines, including wireless chips, have performed according to expectations halfway through the third quarter.

Those expectations were already lackluster, with TI having warned in July that third-quarter sales would be slower than usual for this time of year. Still, the fact that business has not deteriorated further pushed TI's stock up nearly 5.5% to $22.90 in extended traing.

"We came into this quarter with a subdued outlook for wireless," TI Investment Relations manager Ron Slaymaker told analysts in a conference call Tuesday. "It's largely playing out as we expected," he added later.

The Dallas-based chipmaker said it expects revenue in the third quarter to range between $3.33 billion and $3.47 billion, instead of its previous range of $3.26 billion to $3.54 billion.

Analysts were looking for sales of $3.4 billion, which represents the midpoint of both ranges.

The company said EPS will range between 42 cents and 46 cents, vs. its prior estimate of 41 cents and 47 cents. The average analyst expectation called for 44 cents a share.

TI's shares are off 42% from their 52-week high of $37.17. The stock has slipped more than 10% since last Wednesday, following a slew of negative news that has heightened worries about the health of the cell-phone market.