Texas Instruments lowers 4Q outlook

Semiconductor maker Texas Instruments Inc. lowered its outlook for its fourth-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, saying demand had weakened for a variety of products that use its chips.

Its shares were down more than 6 percent in extended trading.

The weak economy in the United States and elsewhere has hurt demand for electronic devices that use TI's semiconductors. Dallas-based TI said it saw "broadly lower demand across a wide range of markets, customers and products" except for wireless-applications processors, which are used in smartphones and tablets.

The company said that it expects to earn between 21 and 25 cents per share in the fourth quarter, down from an earlier forecast of 28 to 36 cents per share.

It forecast revenue of $3.19 billion to $3.33 billion, down from a previous range of $3.26 billion to $3.54 billion.

Analysts were expecting the company to earn 35 cents per share on revenue of $3.41 billion, according to a survey by FactSet.

In October, the company reported that third-quarter net income fell 30 percent from the same period last year, as demand for chips weakened and revenue fell in all four of the company's segments.

TI shares fell 75 cents, or 2.5 percent, to end regular trading at $29.92 before the update. In extended trading, the shares fell $1.91, or 6.4 percent, to $28.01. They had lost 8 percent this year, through Thursday's closing bell.