Texas Instruments 3Q Profit, Sales Decline

BARBARA ORTUTAY

NEW YORK (AP) — Texas Instruments' third-quarter profit and sales Monday inched past the improved expectations the chip maker issued last month, and its largest division, which makes analog chips used in digital music players and other gadgets, saw 20 percent growth for the second quarter in a row.

The Dallas company also forecast results above Wall Street expectations, and its stock rose more than 2 percent in after-hours trading.

Texas Instruments Inc.'s results come amid signs in the technology industry that a recovery may be on its way. Earlier Monday, Gartner Inc. said technology spending is expected to return to growth in 2010 after a dismal 2009. Even so, the market will not recover to 2008 revenue levels before 2012, according to Gartner.

Ron Slaymaker, vice president of investor relations, told the Associated Press the company has seen improvement in both of the past two quarters. Though he said he doesn't want to wave too much of a flag that "everything is off to the races," business has been improving since hitting bottom in the first quarter of this year.

The company said it earned $538 million, or 42 cents per share, during the quarter, down 4 percent from $563 million, or 43 cents a share, a year earlier.