SAN FRANCISCO: Analog Devices Inc, a maker of semiconductors used in industrial machinery and vehicles, gave an upbeat forecast for the current period, indicating that demand for electronic components is holding up in some areas.

Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue will be about US$3.15bil , the Wilmington, Massachusetts-based company said in a statement. Excluding certain items, profit will be about US$2.57 a share. Analysts estimated sales of US$3.1bil and earnings of US$2.50 a share.

Analog Devices is sounding an optimistic note at a time when many chipmakers are warning of declining demand. Intel Corp, Nvidia Corp and Micron Technology Inc all gave weak earnings outlooks over the last month, signalling that the industry is headed into one of its periodic slumps.

Though Analog Devices acknowledged that a weakening economy is beginning to hurt orders, it still has more demand than it can meet.“We’re very aware of the macro indicators and we’re playing it more conservative because of that, but we’re enjoying strong demand,” said chief financial officer Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah.

 - Bloomberg