STMicro plans to invest up to $3.6 billion in 2022 to meet chip demand

 PARIS: Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics said it planned to invest up to $3.6 billion this year and open a new production line in Italy to meet the high demand for semiconductors.

The Geneva-based company expects full-year revenues in the range of $14.8 billion to $15.3 billion in 2022, compared with $12.8 billion last year.

Fourth-quarter earnings per share amounted to $0.82, beating ​Refinitiv's mean analyst estimate for STMicroelectronicsNV is for earnings of 69 cents per share. STMicro sees first-quarter sales to be around $3.5 billion, reflecting an increase of 1.6per cent from the previous quarter and a gross margin of around 45per cent