TI officials predict upturn
MAY 8--Officials of Texas Instruments (TI; Richardson, TX;www.ti.com) say the semiconductor company is coming out of a long slump in the technology industry with improving revenue and profits. Its sales grew 23% between the first quarter of last year and the first quarter of 2003. "The momentum is clearly rebuilding," says chief financial officer William Aylesworth.
Texas Instruments lost $344 million last year. The company closed some plants and announced it would shift sensor manufacturing from Massachusetts to China, Korea, and Mexico. Last month, TI reported a $117 million profit for the first three months of 2003.
The return to profitability allowed TI to pare its debt from more than $1.2 billion at the end of last year to $1 billion, and it predicted more improvement in the current quarter. Aylesworth says the company would continue to cut costs and reduce research and development as a share of revenue.