STMicroelectronics announced on Thursday that its first-quarter sales would fall by more than 15% year-on-year, due to the slowdown in automotive demand and the further decline in orders from the industrial sector.

The chipmaker, whose customers include Tesla and Apple, expects first-quarter sales of $3.6 billion (€3.3 billion), compared with $4.25 billion a year earlier.

This forecast is 11% below the analyst consensus compiled by LSEG.

At 09:43 GMT, STMicroelectronics shares were down 2.05% on the Paris Bourse, while the SBF 120 was down 0.09% at the same time.

Fourth-quarter net sales amounted to $4.28 billion, below analysts' expectations of $4.30 billion on average, according to LSEG.

Quarterly operating profit fell by 20.5% to $1.02 billion.

"In the fourth quarter, order intake from our customers was lower than in the third quarter. We continued to see stable end demand in automotive, a lack of significant increase in personal electronics and further deterioration in industrial," summarized group CEO Jean-Marc Chery in a statement.

Until now, orders from the automotive industry had helped chipmakers offset the impact of trade tensions between the US and China and weak demand for personal electronics, but this momentum threatens to fade.

On Tuesday, US rival Texas Instruments said it expected below-expected sales and earnings per share for the first quarter.

In 2024, STMicro is forecasting around $2.5 billion in net capital expenditure, and is targeting annual sales of between $15.9 and $16.9 billion.

In a note, analysts at Jefferies point out that the annual sales forecast implies a significant recovery in the second half of the year, and believe there is a downside risk. "We remain cautious", they add, maintaining their recommendation at "hold". (Michal Aleksandrowicz reports from Gdansk; Corentin Chappron and Augustin Turpin, edited by Zhifan Liu and Blandine Hénault)