Semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings of 18 cents per share, down 38% year-over-year, hurt by lower revenues and weakness in the overall market. The bottom-line was in line with the Wall Street projection.
STM shares were down 0.5% during pre-market trading hours on Thursday. The stock has gained 42% since the beginning of this year.
Q2 net revenues fell 4.2% to $2.17 billion, which surpassed the street projection of $2.13 billion. The top-line was boosted by the strong performance of it’s Analog, MEMS and Sensors Group, where revenues grew 13.2%.
The biggest segment – Automotive and Discrete Group – saw a modest 1.7% uptick, while the Microcontrollers and Digital ICs Group witnessed a 24.4% decline.
Gross margin of 38.2% decreased 200 basis points, mainly impacted by sales price pressure, unfavorable product mix and unsaturation charges.
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Q3 Outlook
For the third quarter, the Switzerland-based firm anticipates about 15.3% sequential growth in net revenues. Gross margin is projected to be around 37.5%, plus or minus 200 basis points.
Full-year 2019 revenues are expected in the range of $9.35 to $9.65 billion.
CEO Jean-Marc Chery said, “Looking at the third quarter, we expect strong sequential revenue growth of about 15.3% at the midpoint. This growth will be driven by engaged customer programs and new products in a softer than expected legacy automotive and industrial market.”