Texas Instruments Guidance Falls Short.

Texas Instruments provided a disappointing revenue forecast below expectations, citing weak demand in most of its markets.

For the March quarter, the semiconductor company reported earnings per share of $1.85, compared with Wall Street's consensus estimate of $1.77, according to FactSet. Revenue came in at $4.38 billion, which was about in line with analysts' expectations of $4.37 billion.

But Texas Instruments (ticker: TXN) gave revenue forecast range for the current quarter of $4.17 billion to $4.53 billion—which was below consensus of $4.44 billion at the midpoint.

"During the quarter we experienced weakness across our end markets with the exception of automotive, as expected," CEO Haviv Ilan said in the news release.

Texas Instruments shares initially fell 1.4% following the release, but later rallied up 1.1% to $171.28 in after-hours trading. The stock fell 3.7% during the regular trading session Tuesday.

On the call, management said it didn't see any significant changes in the economic environment in China during the quarter.

The chip maker sells the basic building-block chips that go into products in nearly every sector of the economy from autos and industrials to consumer electronics. Because of the broad-based nature of the company's more-than-100,000 customers, investors consider the company to be a bellwether for the technology industry, and the economy.

On Monday, Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer reaffirmed his Outperform rating on Texas Instruments stock and raised his price target to $195 from $185. He said that while the chip maker's results later this year may be disappointing, he is optimistic about its business fundamentals over time.

"We see 2023 as a correction year for TXN and the group. Industrial slowdowns likely spread to auto in 2H," he wrote. "TXN remains a premier diversified FCF/return story. We are long-term buyers."

Texas Instruments shares are down about 3% for the past 12 months, roughly in line with the iShares Semiconductor exchange-traded fund (SOXX), which is down about 4%. The ETF tracks the performance of the ICE Semiconductor Index.