New York, Jan 15, 2026, 12:53 (EST) — Regular session
- Texas Instruments shares dropped roughly 0.8% by midday, underperforming the wider semiconductor sector rally.
- Barclays and Wells Fargo raised their price targets but stayed cautious with their ratings; Citi held firm on a Buy rating following a coverage handoff.
- Attention turns to Texas Instruments’ earnings on Jan. 27, with a close watch on demand beyond the AI-focused chipmakers.
Texas Instruments (TXN) shares dropped 0.8% to $191.87 by midday Thursday, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF climbed over 3%.
The divergence is significant as Wall Street recalibrates its outlook for chip sector performance in 2026. Texas Instruments, linked more to steady demand in everyday electronics than to flashy AI hardware, occupies a different niche. Several new research notes landed on Thursday, signaling a potentially volatile stretch ahead of earnings.
Texas Instruments produces analog and embedded processing chips—components that control power, sense and relay data, and manage core functions—with key customers in the industrial and automotive sectors. (Texas Instruments)
Barclays analyst Tom O’Malley bumped his price target on Texas Instruments to $140 from $125 but kept an Underweight rating. (That means he expects the stock to underperform its peers.) Barclays highlighted 2026 as a pivotal year, driven by how close companies are to the artificial intelligence theme. (TipRanks)
Wells Fargo’s Joe Quatrochi raised his price target to $185 from $170, maintaining an Equal Weight rating that suggests the stock will track its sector. The analyst noted updates to the firm’s semiconductor model and highlighted “Industrial and Electrical” signals it monitors, along with AI-related indicators. (TipRanks)
Citi analyst Atif Malik maintained a Buy rating and set a $235 price target after taking over coverage, highlighting “potential upside to consensus estimates.” (A Buy rating usually signals expected outperformance against peers.) (TipRanks)
The broader tape showed strength as SPY and QQQ both climbed, with chip stocks generally outperforming. Within Texas Instruments’ analog and mixed-signal group, Analog Devices jumped roughly 1.8%, ON Semiconductor gained around 1.4%, Microchip edged up about 0.4%, and NXP held steady.
Texas Instruments wrapped up Wednesday at $193.45, climbing 2.6% and ending a two-day slide. But Thursday saw the stock pull back some of those gains. (MarketWatch)
Target changes won’t mean much if the late-month report falls short. Texas Instruments’ demand hinges on customers buying and building; without the expected boost in orders, the company might see factory utilization slip and margins come under strain.
Texas Instruments will release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings after the market closes on Jan. 27. The company will also hold a webcast at 3:30 p.m. Central time, featuring CEO Haviv Ilan and CFO Rafael Lizardi. (Nasdaq)
