By George Glover
NXP Semiconductors stock was finally getting some love from investors on Wednesday after the Dutch chip maker reported strong first-quarter results.
Shares jumped 18% to $271 ahead of the opening bell, putting them on pace for their highest close since July 2024. Futures tracking the S&P 500 were flat ahead of a slew of Big Tech earnings.
NXP reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.05 a share late Tuesday, as revenue jumped 12% from a year ago to $3.18 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $2.98 a share on revenue of $3.16 billion, according to a FactSet poll.
NXP specializes in making chips for cars, meaning it has missed out on the artificial intelligence-fueled rally that has powered many of its peers higher in 2026. Shares were up just 6% for the year through Tuesday's close, compared with a 42% jump for the PHLX Semiconductor Index.
Revenue for the company's automotive segment rose 6% from a year ago to $1.78 billion. Sales for the division were up across all regions -- including China, where slowing electric-vehicle sales have been a worry for investors.
Revenue for the industrial and Internet of Things business jumped 24% to $628 million.
The results suggest that shares are "positioned for broad-based cyclical recovery across geographies and led by auto and industrial," Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer said in a research note, hiking his price target to $300 from $250. That new target price implies shares can rise 11% from the level they were trading at in Wednesday's premarket.
Wall Street hasn't exactly been lavishing the stock with praise lately. NXP earlier this month caught a rare double downgrade from Mizuho, which warned that a tough economic environment could weigh on the auto market.
Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com
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April 29, 2026 06:55 ET (10:55 GMT)
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