PARIS Reuters -- Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics said its preliminary fourth-quarter revenues were slightly above the guidance given at the end of October, in the context of a global microchip supply crunch.
Sales for the last three months of 2021 increased by 11.2% and came in at $3.56 billion, which was above a company forecast of $3.40 billion. Sales of the full year went up 24.9% to $12.76 billion, higher than STMicro's October 2021 forecast.
We ended the fourth quarter of 2021 with net revenues above the outlook range and gross margin at or slightly above the high end of the outlook range, mainly due to betterthan anticipated operations in an ongoing dynamic market, said Jean-Marc Chery, president and CEO of STMicroelectronics.
He said that our FY 21 revenues reflect a strong performance across all the end markets we address and our engaged customer programs throughout the year.
The global chip shortage has forced automakers and electronics companies to cut production and bottlenecks in the chip industry, which is expected to affect output until 2023, according to several analysts.
STMicroelectronics' Paris-listed shares have fallen 1.1% since the beginning of the year, after gaining 43% in 2021, and will publish its Q 4 2021 earnings on January 27.