Looking ahead into the first quarter, the company expects revenue in the range of $3.34 billion to $3.62 billion and earnings in the range of $1.03 to $1.21 per share, which includes an estimated $20 million discrete tax benefits. For 2019, the company’s annual operating tax rate is expected to be about 16%.
In core businesses, Analog revenue for the fourth quarter grew 4% year-over-year helped by Signal Chain and Power despite a decline in High Volume. Embedded Processing revenue declined 12% from the same quarter a year ago due to lower demand for Processors and Connected Microcontrollers.
On January 17, Texas Instruments said its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.77 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on February 11, 2019, to stockholders of record on January 31, 2019.
In 2018, the company has returned $7.7 billion to owners through stock repurchases and dividends. Over the last 12 months, dividends represented 42% of free cash flow, emphasizing their sustainability. The company remained consistent in returning to owners all of its free cash flow.
Cash flow from operations of $7.2 billion for the year underscored the strength of the business model. Free cash flow for the year was $6.1 billion, or 38.4% of revenue. This reflects the quality of the product portfolio, as well as the efficiency of the manufacturing strategy, including the benefit of 300-millimeter Analog production.
Shares of Texas Instruments ended Wednesday’s regular session down 1.17% at $95.49 on the Nasdaq. Following the earnings announcement, the stock inched up 0.73% in the after-market session.