TI's Weak Guidance Signals More Uncertainty

Correction: excluding the 6 cent charge for the acquisition of National Semiconductor, Texas Instruments' earnings topped Wall Street's estimate of 41 cents a share.

DALLAS (TheStreet) -- Texas Instruments' (TXN) second-quarter profit topped its expectations after market close on Monday, although its weak guidance signals yet more tech sector uncertainty.

The chip maker announced second-quarter earnings of 38 cents a share, including 6 cents of charges related to the firm's acquisition of National Semiconductor last year and restructuring. The results topped the company's forecast for a profit of 32 to 36 cents a share. Excluding the 6 cents charge, the numbers also topped Wall Street's projection of 41 cents a share.

Texas Instruments' second-quarter sales were $3.34 billion, in line with the company's guidance of $3.28 billion to $3.42 billion, and just shy of the analysts' average forecast of $3.35 billion.

"TI revenue in the second quarter was about as we had expected," said Rich Templeton, the company's CEO, in a statement. "Our Analog and Embedded Processing segments grew sequentially, while our Wireless segment declined."

Templeton also echoed recent comments from the likes of Intel (INTC) about a challenging macroeconomic environment.

"Although we believe customers and distributors have low inventory levels, the global economic environment is causing both to become increasingly cautious in placing new orders," he explained, in the statement. "Our backlog grew last quarter but orders slowed in the month of June and our backlog coverage for September is lower than normal."

As a result of the increased uncertainty, Texas Instruments estimates that third-quarter revenue will be about even with last quarter and below the seasonal average growth rate.

The Dallas-based company expects third-quarter revenue between $3.21 billion and $3.47 billion and earnings of 34 to 42 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are currently looking for sales of $3.54 billion and earnings of 50 cents a share.

Third-quarter EPS will be negatively impacted by about 7 cents from acquisition and restructuring charges, TI said.

For the full year, the company sees R&D expense of $1.9 billion, down from its prior expectation of $2 billion.

Templeton said TI is focused on strengthening its positions in Analog and Embedded processing. "These areas are complementary and benefit from TI's extensive and expanding relationships with customers around the world," he explained, in the company's statement. "As we continue to broaden our portfolio of leadership products, especially our standard catalog products, we enhance our ability to serve these customers."

Shares of Texas Instruments slipped 1.01% to $26.55 in extended trading.

--Written by James Rogers in New York.

Follow @jamesjrogers

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