By Ozan Ergenay and Nathan Vifflin
(Reuters) -Austrian semiconductor manufacturer ams OSRAM on Thursday forecast lower fourth quarter revenue due to uncertainty over global automotive demand and said it expects a weak first quarter in 2025 followed by a gradual recovery.
Its shares, which have fallen 65.2% since the start of the year, were down 7.6% as of 0812 GMT, the lowest since 2009. The stock sits at the bottom of Switzerland’s mid-cap index.
“The company expects the cyclical weakness in its automotive business to become fully visible in the first quarter, with gradual, steady improvement during the financial year of 2025,” the Swiss-listed sensor maker said in a statement.
Ams OSRAM expects revenue in a range of 810 million to 910 million euros ($870.51-$977.98 million) for the fourth quarter, compared to 908 million euros in the same period a year earlier. Analysts were expecting sales of 924 million euros for the quarter, according to a poll by Vara Research.
“Given numerous profit warnings this reporting season due to weakening auto and industrial demand, the negative near-term message had to be expected,” analyst Juergen Wagner at Stifel said in a note.
Automotive-focused companies such as ams OSRAM, STMicroelectronics, and Aixtron, have been hit by weaker automotive sales, particularly electric vehicles which contain more chips per car.
Ams OSRAM posted revenue of 881 million euros for the third quarter, down 3% from a year earlier and below analysts’ forecast of 875.7 million euros in a poll by Vara Research.
The company, which designs and produces optical sensors used in cars, medical devices and industrial applications, has tightened its cost cutting measures and slashed more jobs.
More than 500 non-production employees will be affected out of its 20,000 workforce. It expects to reap additional savings of 75 million euros, reaching 225 million euros by the end of 2026.
Investors were also concerned about unresolved issues related to ams OSRAM’s cancelled microLED factory, analysts at Jefferies said, adding until these are solved, the stock will remain very volatile.
Ams OSRAM’s $1.4 billion dollar microLED project, an advanced display technology that embeds tiny LEDs in individual pixels, notably used in products of Samsung and Sony, was cancelled earlier this year after an undisclosed major client pulled out of the project.
($1 = 0.9305 euros)
(Reporting by Ozan Ergenay and Nathan Vifflin; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Shri Navaratnam and Sharon Singleton)
