AMD, Nvidia lead chips lower as results from Texas Instruments, ASML spurs caution

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AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) were among the weakest semiconductor stocks in early Wednesday trade after industry stalwarts Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) and ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) issued quarterly results that gave investors pause about the year ahead.

AMD (AMD) fell 3.3% while Nvidia (NVDA) declined more than 3%, giving back some of the sharp gains the Jensen Huang-led company has experienced since the start of the year.

AMD and Nvidia competitor Intel (INTC), which is slated to report fourth-quarter results tomorrow, declined 2.3%. A consensus of analysts expect Intel (INTC) to earn 20 cents per share on $14.5B in revenue.

Texas Instruments (TXN) shares fell more than 2% - though off the worst levels of the session - as analysts defended the analog chip giant after it issued a weak outlook for the first quarter of the year.

Jefferies analyst Mark Lipacis reiterated the firm's buy rating on Texas Instruments (TXN) and said it would be buyers of the stock after the fourth-quarter results, as it's likely that a V-shaped recovery starts to happen later this year.

Lipacis said he believes "a 'V' recovery would lead to tight capacity again" by the first-half of 2024, if not the second half of 2023. And, given Texas Instruments' (TXN) capacity additions, Lipacis believes the company can take market share, particularly amongst U.S. and European customers looking to re-shore some of their operations.

For its 2022 fourth quarter, Texas Instruments (TXN) earned $2.13 a share, as revenue fell 3.3% year-over-year, to $4.67B. Analysts were looking for the company to earn $1.98 a share on $4.63B in revenue.

Looking ahead, Texas Instruments (TXN) expects first-quarter revenue to be between $4.17B and $4.53B, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42B. Earnings are forecast to be between $1.64 and $1.90 a share with the midpoint below analysts' $1.87-a-share estimate.

TI competitor Analog Devices (ADI) declined 2.7% in early Wednesday trade.

ASML (ASML) shares fell fractionally as the Dutch semiconductor equipment company said it earned €4.60 per share on €6.4B in revenue during the fourth-quarter, up 28.5% year-over-year. Analysts were expecting earnings of €4.33 per share on €6.35B in revenue.

Looking ahead, ASML (ASML) said it expects 2023 net sales to grow over 25% compared to 2022 and a slight improvement in gross margin, relative to 2022. The company also forecast first-quarter net sales to be between €6.1B and €6.5B and a gross margin between 49% and 50%.

Additionally, ASML (ASML) CEO Peter Wennink said that he expects 2023 China sales to remain in-line with last years, despite restrictions on the country's semiconductor industry.

Other chip equipment makers, including Applied Materials (AMAT), KLA Corp. (KLAC) and Lam Research (LRCX), fell between 2% and 3%.

Also seeing losses on Wednesday were industry stalwarts Qualcomm (QCOM), NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), ON Semiconductor (ON) and Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR).

On Tuesday, Bernstein downgraded AMD (AMD), citing continued weakness in the PC market.