Texas Instruments Meets Forecasts, Cuts Guidance

Texas Instruments said its quarterly profit rose from a year ago, but the company lowered its guidance for the second quarter, blaming weak demand for chips used in advanced cell phones.

TI, whose biggest client is Nokia, said profit rose to $662 million, or 49 cents a share, from $516 million, or 35 cents a share, in the year ago quarter.

TI said the latest quarterly numbers included a 6 cents per share tax benefit. Analysts expected earnings of 43 cents a share and a topline of $3.28 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Financial.

Revenue rose to $3.27 billion from $3.19 billion.

In March, TI forecast earnings per share of 41 cents to 45 cents on revenue $3.21 billion to $3.35 billion.

TI, a maker of chips for everything from televisions to industrial products, forecast second-quarter earnings per share of 42 cents to 48 cents on revenue of $3.24 billion to $3.5 billion.

Analysts had forecast earnings per share in a range of 44 cents to 51 cents, with revenue in a range of $3.32 billion to $3.54 billion. (See more on TI earnings in the CNBC video at left.)

"We have become more conservative with our outlook for the second quarter," Texas Instruments Chief Executive Rich Templeton said in a statement.

Nokia disappointed investors last week when it said it expected the 2008 phone market to decline in terms of euros.

Shares of TI , which rose 3.34 percent to close at $30.59 Monday, were down more than 2 percent in extended trading.

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