PARIS, Jan 27 (Reuters) - French-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics said on Thursday it planned to double its investments in 2022 from a year ago to up to $3.6 billion, buoyed by high demand that drove its earnings to beat expectations in the fourth quarter.
STMicro's investments target increase stems from a global chip shortage that has hit world's biggest carmakers and fuelled inflation for semi-conductors, which are used in anything from the low-added value chips in washing machines to the more sophisticated sensors placed in electric cars and smartphones.
The Geneva-based company said it planned to spend between $3.4 billion and $3.6 billion in capital expenditures this year, compared with $1.8 billion in 2021.
These will include the building of a the first production line a new 300 mm wafer plant in Agrate, Italy, Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Chery said in a statement.
STMicro, whose biggest clients include electric carmaker Tesla and iPhone maker Apple , expects full-year net revenues in the range of $14.8 billion to $15.3 billion in 2022, a 20% annual growth at the top of the forecast.
Annual revenues in 2021 jumped by close to 25% to $12.8 billion last year, thanks to strong performance across all product categories.
Fourth-quarter earnings per share amounted to $0.82, beating Refinitiv's analyst estimate of 69 cents per share.
STMicro, however, expects first-quarter sales to be around $3.5 billion, a drop of 1.6% from the previous quarter and gross margin around 45%.