What happened
Shares of semiconductors maker STMicroelectronics (STM +0.87%) fell as much as 13% on Wednesday morning, following the release of solid third-quarter results with a side of cautious management comments on the state of global chip markets.
So what
STMicro saw earnings rise 58% year over year to land at $0.41 per share. Revenue grew 18% richer, stopping at $2.52 billion. Your average analyst would have settled for earnings near $0.37 per share on top-line sales in the neighborhood of $2.50 billion.
Looking ahead, management painted a fourth-quarter revenue target of approximately $2.6 billion, or 6% annual growth. Investors were quick to shrug off the strong third-quarter figures to focus on this upcoming period of slower sales growth.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Sales of analog chips and sensors rose 33% above the year-ago period's, followed by 16% higher revenues from automotive products. Microcontroller sales barely moved, held back by "soft market conditions" in China. The Chinese softness also lurks behind STMicro's modest fourth-quarter revenue guidance.
The stock has now plunged 27% lower in 2018 to trade at 10.6 times forward earnings. Today's big drop looks like a mistake in light of STMicro's great automotive and sensor results.
