Research will spur this chipmaker

Article Excerpt

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. $164 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol TXN; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 909.3 million; Market cap: $149.1 billion; Dividend yield: 3.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.ti.com) makes analog computer chips, which convert touch, sound and pressure into electronic signals. With the November 2023 payment, Texas Instruments increased your quarterly dividend by 4.8%, to $1.30 a share from $1.24. The new annual rate of $5.20 yields 3.2%. In the fourth quarter of 2023, revenue fell 12.6%, to $4.08 billion from $4.67 billion a year earlier on weaker sales to its industrial and automotive customers. Earnings fell 30.1%, to $1.37 billion, or $1.49 a share, from $1.96 billion, or $1.96, a year earlier. The company earmarks a high 11% of its sales to research, which should fuel its long-term growth. For all of 2024, Texas Instruments will probably earn $5.08 a share, and the stock trades at 32.3 times that estimate. Texas Instruments is a buy. buy…