STMicro nearly doubles quarterly profit, sees Q4 sales exceeding $4 billion

Oct 29 : STMicroelectronics reported a third-quarter operating profit above market expectations on Thursday, as demand from AI data centres and satellite operators added to a broader recovery in the chipmaker's markets.

Operating income excluding one-off charges was $429 million, nearly doubling from a year ago and beating the $400.5 million expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

The Franco-Italian chipmaker said it expected fourth-quarter revenue of $4.15 billion, up from $3.76 billion in the third quarter, give or take 3.5 per cent. Analysts polled by LSEG had expected $4.10 billion.

"In an environment where demand remains well above supply, we continue to expand capacity aligned with ST's strategic roadmap," CEO Jean-Marc Chery said in the earnings statement.

STMicro, which makes chips ranging from microcontrollers to sensors and power semiconductors for cars, factories and smartphones, said higher sales of communication equipment, computer peripherals and personal electronics drove the beat.

It had said already in July that fourth-quarter sales would be more than $4 billion. Chery said on Thursday that company-specific drivers, including AI data centre demand and low-Earth-orbit satellite communications, were adding to the cyclical recovery.

The company's gross margin rose to 37.3 per cent in the third quarter from 33.2 per cent a year ago, helped by a higher share of sales from more profitable chips and lower costs from idle factory capacity. STMicro expects the margin to rise to about 39 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Jefferies analysts expect STMicro's growth to continue into 2027, as data centre revenue is set to roughly double from this year to the next, while gross margins see "more significant upside towards the end of next year", they wrote in an early take on the report.