Texas Instruments Keeps Growing

Texas Instruments' (NYSE:TXN) second-quarter results were strong across all of its product lines, showing that this company has done a great job of focusing its business on growing markets.

The results were complicated by Texas Instruments' sale of its sensors and controls business, a $70 million royalty payment from Conexant (NASDAQ:CNXT), and a $77 million tax refund from the state of Texas, but let's do our best to dissect the results.

Revenue from continuing operations reached $3.7 billion, including the royalty payment and the tax refund. This represented 24% year-over-year growth and 11% growth from the first quarter. Earnings per share were $0.47, growing 34% from a year ago. Excluding the royalty payment and the tax refund, earnings per share were $0.42. Meanwhile, gross margins were very strong. I calculate a gross margin of 51.2% after removing the effect of the royalty and sales tax benefits.

In Texas Instruments' largest segment, semiconductors, revenue rose 7% from the first quarter to $3.51 billion because of strong demand for analog products used in broadband applications. Sales of digital signal processors (DSP), used in mobile phones, were flat quarter to quarter but grew 24% year over year. Lastly, adoption of high-definition TVs drove higher sales in the DLP arena (digital light projection -- chips that have a bunch of tiny mirrors to direct light and create an image in a TV or projector). DLP product sales were up 15% quarter to quarter and 34% year over year. It looks like the overcapacity in the LCD TV space, and resulting price drops, is not causing consumers to shun DLP sets.

Of course, what everyone wants to know is what the rest of the year holds (at least this is what concerned the analysts on the conference call). Because most of Texas Instruments' products are used in consumer electronics, any slowdown in consumer spending could hurt, and there is some evidence that a slowdown is occurring. Last week, semiconductor manufacturer CharteredSemiconductor's (NASDAQ:CHRT) stock was pummeled after management said that business was falling off, particularly its Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox business. Texas Instruments, however, refused to help the bears by claiming that everything looks good and that inventory levels in its distribution channels are normal. It is also worth noting that both Motorola (NYSE:MOT) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) seem to be doing well. This may be the case because a cell phone has a lower up-front cost than a new gaming console and is increasingly seen more as a must-have item rather than a luxury.

I certainly don't have any special insight into what the economy or consumers are going to do over the next year, but this company looks well-positioned to prosper for a while. If the economy does struggle, Texas Instruments is one stock I would love to buy on weakness.

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Chat with investors interested in Microsoft, an Inside Value pick, when you take a free trial to the newsletter and check out its discussion board. And to talk about the industry with other investors, the Fool's discussion boards include Texas Instruments, Motorola, Nokia, Chartered Semiconductor, and Conexant.

Fool contributor Dan Bloom has no financial interest in any stock mentioned in this column. He welcomes your e-mail at [email protected].