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(Bloomberg) -- NXP Semiconductors NV announced a new chief executive officer as part of its quarterly earnings report and warned that the chipmaker was navigating “a very uncertain environment” due to tariffs.
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CEO Kurt Sievers will retire from the company late this year, the Dutch chipmaker said in a statement on Monday. Rafael Sotomayor, a current NXP executive, will take the president role immediately — on the way to becoming the new CEO on Oct. 28.
The shares tumbled more than 8% in late US trading. They had been down 5.6% this year through the close.
As part of the report, NXP forecast that revenue will decline to $2.8 billion to $3 billion in the second quarter. That compares with an average analyst estimate of $2.86 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
NXP and peers such as STMicroelectronics NV and Infineon Technologies AG have struggled with weak demand for mature chips used in electric cars or smartphones. Customers are still working through stockpiles of semiconductors they accumulated after the Coronavirus pandemic.
Tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump threaten to add further upheaval to the industry, even as it shows signs of recovering.
The company said it has a “cautious optimism” that it can continue to navigate a challenging market. “We are operating in a very uncertain environment influenced by tariffs with volatile direct and indirect effects,” NXP said.
First-quarter revenue fell 9% to $2.84 billion, and adjusted diluted earnings per share in the period were $2.64 a share. Analysts had estimated $2.83 billion in sales and $2.60 a share in earnings.
STMicro said last week that the first quarter represented the bottom of the market and forecast revenue in this period that was higher than analysts expected.
Though tariffs have cast a pall over European chipmakers, the companies could benefit from a short-term boost in demand as customers place orders before potential new taxes are levied.
For the year, European chipmakers including NXP “might see meaningful risk,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ken Hui wrote in a note this month. The Trump administration “reciprocal” tariffs could turn global semiconductor-market growth negative in 2025, he said. Consensus expectations had been for more than 10% growth.