Microchip veteran Texas Instruments (TXN -1.23%) just presented a bare-bones view of its second-quarter results. Tucked into the announcement of Chairman Rich Templeton taking back the CEO title again, the mini-report came in well above Wall Street's expectations.
Image source: Texas Instruments.
TI by the numbers
In the second quarter, Texas Instruments saw top-line revenues rising 9% year over year to land at $4.02 billion. Earnings rose 46% to $1.40 per share, including a one-time tax benefit of $0.03 per share that was not included in management's guidance targets.
As a reminder, TI had been expecting second-quarter revenue of approximately $3.94 billion and earnings in the neighborhood of $1.29 per share.
Analysts had set their sights slightly above the midpoint of TI's guidance ranges, looking for earnings near $1.31 per share on revenue of roughly $1.31 per share.
The reported figures exceeded both Wall Street's and TI's projections. The company exited 2017 on a full head of steam and has continued to deliver strong results this year. This update only adds more fuel to the growth fires.
What's going on behind the numbers?
The brief announcement provided no detail on how or why TI achieved these solid results. We will have to wait another week for that level of insight, as TI's full report is scheduled for July 24.
Looking back at TI's normal seasonal patterns, calculator sales tend to be strong in the second and third quarters thanks to back-to-school shopping. Industrial and automotive computing sales don't tend to swing much, but chips intended for consumer-grade electronics usually start shipping in higher volume over the summer as the device makers gear up for the impending holiday season. So it would make sense to see TI's outperformance relying mostly on calculators and consumer electronics.
That being said, the entire food chain behind the telecom industry is preparing for the upcoming move to 5G wireless networks. TI expects to play a large role in that revolution but I don't expect any significant sales to support it yet because the relevant technology standards won't be finalized until 2019. Enough of the specifications have been nailed down to support a small number of specific 5G devices, but there's more work to be done before TI and friends can present their chip-level implementations of the new wireless technology. In other words, 5G will drive growth in the future and might have trickled into the second quarter as well but probably not in game-changing shipping volumes.
TI CEO and chairman Rich Templeton. Image source: Texas Instruments.
What about the CEO change?
As for Templeton's return to the CEO office after just two months on the sidelines, it will largely be business as usual. Ex-CEO Brian Crutcher was let go for allegedly breaking TI's code of personal conduct. Texas Instruments is not actively looking for a permanent CEO replacement, leaving the company in the hands of a longtime leader with a firm grip on TI's operations.
"I can assure everybody I am back in, deeply immersed and very excited about the opportunity in front of us today," Templeton said in an internal message to TI employees.
