STMicroelectronics Reports 15.8% Higher Annual Net Income in 2018, Future Not as Bright
STMicroelectronics reported its fourth quarter and annual earnings for 2018. The company posted net revenues up 15.8% to $9.66 billion for the year, and its operating income increased 39.3% to $1.40 billion. Net income increased by 60.4% to $1.29 billion.
Jean-Marc Chery, STMicroelectronics President & CEO, commented, "ST delivered a solid performance in the fourth quarter, with net revenues and operating income increasing sequentially 5.0% and 11.5%, respectively."
He said, "Net revenues in 2018 increased by 15.8% year-over-year led by Imaging, Automotive, and Power Discrete."
Chery added, "2018 has been an important year for ST. In line with the objectives we had set, we achieved significant revenue growth across our product groups, as well as a strong expansion of profitability and cash flow from operations."
He looked ahead saying, "Our first quarter outlook is for revenues of about $2.1 billion at the mid-point, decreasing year-over year by about 5.7%. Sequentially, this represents a decrease of about 20.7%, reflecting the combined impact of increased unfavorable dynamics in some of the end markets we serve, on top of normal first quarter seasonality. From a profitability perspective, we expect a gross margin of about 39% at the mid-point."
Chery concluded commenting, "For 2019 our key objectives are to continue outperforming our served market, to balance our end market and application focus and to execute on our strategic technology, R&D and manufacturing programs. Therefore, we expect to invest between $1.2 to $1.3 billion in CAPEX."
