Investing.com -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM)(EPA:STMPA) on Thursday warned of an even weaker first quarter in 2025, signaling continued challenges in the semiconductor market as the industry struggles with soft demand and excess inventory.
Shares of the chipmaker fell more than 7% following its results, which posted declining sales, falling margins, and a cautious outlook for the coming months.
The Geneva-based company expects first-quarter revenue to drop 24.4% sequentially to $2.51 billion, a steeper decline than anticipated, with gross margin shrinking to 33.8%.
“With Q1-25 guidance being slightly below our forecast as well, we expect cuts of 30%+ to come through on consensus EPS estimates. We believe this is likely to be the last major cut to STM's estimates in this downcycle,” said analysts at Jefferies in a note.
The outlook reflects continued pressure from weak industrial and automotive demand, particularly in Europe, as well as ongoing inventory corrections in key markets.
"Our book-to-bill ratio remained below 1 in Q4 as we continued to face a delayed recovery and inventory correction in Industrial and a slowdown in Automotive, both particularly in Europe," said Jean-Marc Chery, chief executive at STMicroelectronics in a statement.
For the fourth quarter of 2024, STMicroelectronics reported revenue of $3.32 billion, a 22.4% drop from the previous year.
The company’s profit took an even bigger hit, with net income plunging 63% to $341 million, compared to $1.08 billion a year ago.
Operating margin tumbled to 11.1% from 23.9% a year earlier, as lower sales and underutilized production capacity weighed on profitability.
The full-year results painted a similarly grim picture. ST’s revenue for 2024 fell 23.2% to $13.27 billion, with net income down 63% to $1.56 billion.
The company also saw a significant decline in cash flow, reporting $288 million in free cash flow for the year, down sharply from $1.77 billion in 2023.
The company has launched a restructuring program to resize its global cost base, aiming to improve efficiency and shift its manufacturing footprint toward newer technologies.
The plan includes an accelerated transition to 300mm silicon wafer production and expanded investment in 200mm silicon carbide wafers, which are crucial for electric vehicles and industrial applications.
ST expects the cost-cutting measures to generate annual savings in the “high triple-digit million-dollar range” by the end of 2027, including $300 to $360 million in reductions to operating expenses such as R&D and administrative costs.