Apple Supplier NXP Semiconductors Earnings Top On Eve Of Apple Report
Apple ( AAPL ) supplier NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI ) late Monday reported first-quarter earnings that fell a little less than estimates, a day before Apple itself is expected to report declining profit and a sharp drop in iPhone sales. NXP Semi gave guidance that was in line to slightly above forecasts. Earnings per share fell nearly 16% to $1.14 a share excluding various items vs. $1.35 a year earlier. Revenue, fueled by acquisitions, climbed about 52% to $2.224 billion from $1.467 billion a year earlier. Economists had expected EPS of $1.09 and sales of $2.21 billion. Comparable revenue fell 11% vs. a year earlier, NXP said, citing “semiconductor industry weakness that accelerated throughout the second half of 2015.” For Q2, NXP Semiconductors sees revenue of $2.295 billion to $2.395 billion, with the midpoint at $2.345 billion. It expects EPS of $1.30-$1.40, with the midpoint at $1.35. Analysts expected EPS of $1.32 and revenue of $2.34 billion. For the full year, Wall Street had projected EPS of $5.64 and sales of $9.54 billion. NXP Semiconductors is a leading chip supplier for the Apple iPhone and Samsung smartphones. But it’s also a major supplier of chips for the auto industry, especially after its recent acquisition of Freescale Semiconductor. Auto-related sales hit $805 million, up 167% vs. a year earlier on a reported basis, or just 1% with Freescale’s year-earlier results included. NXP will hold its post-earnings conference call before the market open Tuesday. NXP released its results well after the market close, so investors will have to wait until Tuesday pre-market trading to get some indication of how the stock will react. Shares closed down 1.2% to 83.34 on the stock market today . NXP is not in the latest Apple Retina MacBook, according to an iFixit teardown , after having several chips in the 2015 model, while Broadcom ( AVGO ) and Texas Instruments ( TXN ) remain big chip suppliers. Texas Instruments reports earnings on Wednesday. Texas Instruments closed up 0.6% on Monday. Broadcom fell 0.8%. Apple retreated 0.6% to 105.08, approaching its 50-day moving average. Analysts expect Apple earnings to fall 14% to $2 a share and sales 10% to $51.97 billion, with iPhone unit sales down 21%.