In the context of cooling global automotive demand, especially the challenges faced by the electric vehicle market, ON Semiconductor, a leader in the automotive chip industry, recently announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2023, which exceeded market expectations. Despite facing the industry's winter, ON Semiconductor still achieved 20Total revenue of $1.8 billion exceeded analysts' average expectations of about $2 billion. This performance is particularly outstanding in the industry, in contrast to the recent performance of Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics, which also have deep presence in the field of automotive chips.
ON Semiconductor's success stems from its strategic decision to focus on the automotive CMOS image sensor (automotive CIS) segment. Unlike Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics, which have extensive footprints in automotive chips, ON Semiconductor has focused its resources on automotive CIS, allowing it to maintain strong business growth as demand for these chips remains strong among automakers.
According to the financial report, ON Semiconductor's net profit in the fourth quarter of 2023 was 5$6.3 billion, down 7% year-on-year, but this figure still exceeded market expectations. At the same time, the company's gross profit margin and operating profit margin also remained at a high level of 464% and 303%。On a non-GAAP basis, ON Semiconductor's adjusted net income for the fourth quarter was 5$4.1 billion, or earnings per share of $1$25, which also exceeded the average analyst forecast of 1$20.
For its first-quarter 2024 outlook, ON Semiconductor expects GAAP revenue in the range of $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion, in line with market expectations. At the same time, the company's expected gross profit margin and operating expenses are also within a reasonable range. These positive expectations are further evidence of ON Semiconductor's competitive advantage in the automotive CIS space.
In contrast, Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics, which also have a deep layout in the field of automotive chips, have not performed well recently. Texas Instruments' fourth-quarter sales fell 13% year-over-year, well below market expectations, and sales in the first quarter of 2024 are also expected to fall short of expectations. ST's fourth-quarter 2023 results also showed a 3-year-on-year decline in net revenue2%, well below market expectations, and revenue in the first quarter is also expected to be down 15% from the year-ago quarter.
These differences show that despite the overall decline in global automotive demand, there are obvious differences in the performance of different automotive chip companies in different fields.