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