BUZZ-Chipmaker Texas Instruments down as weak auto, industrial markets hurt Q1 outlook

Shares of analog chipmaker Texas Instruments TXN.O fall ~5% to $190.66 premarket

Stock set to snap 4-day winning streak, if losses hold

TXN after market on Thursday forecast Q1 profit below estimates, hurt by inventory buildup in its key automotive and industrial markets

Company projects Q1 revenue largely in line with estimates; Q4 revenue from auto and industrial markets down by single-digit percentage points sequentially

China automotive market rebound was not enough to offset declines in Europe, U.S. and Japan, says CEO Haviv Ilan

"It feels as if we're still bouncing along the bottom, with trends not getting appreciably better or worse" - TD Cowen analyst Joshua Buchalter

TXN's inventory at Q4-end at $4.5 bln, an increase of $231 mln from Q3; higher inventory levels expected to impact near-term gross margin

12 of 35 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 19 "hold" and four "sell" or lower; median PT is $200 - LSEG data

Shares rose ~10% in 2024