By Mackenzie Tatananni

ON Semiconductor was on track to notch its third straight day of gains Wednesday after the chip maker's CEO stressed that things would only improve following a mixed first-quarter print.

Shares climbed 5.8% to $50.11 on Wednesday, on pace for their best three-day stretch since November 2021, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite were up 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

ON Semiconductor jumped 11% Tuesday after CEO Hassane El-Khoury appeared at the Bank of America Global Technology Conference and repeatedly emphasized that On Semi was "expecting growth."

"We feel good about the second half [of the fiscal year]," the chief executive said. "The second half is the first step of, did we hit the bottom, and are we gonna see recovery from there?"

It was welcome news after ON Semiconductor's fiscal first-quarter results, released last month. While adjusted earnings topped expectations, analysts picked up on indicators of weakening customer demand, causing shares to tumble. Total revenue declined 22% in the quarter ended April 4 and decreased across all three business segments.

However, speaking at the conference Tuesday, the CEO emphasized that the company was already starting to see signs of recovery, particularly in the industrial market.

"Based on the outlook that we see, net of any changes in in the environment, we do expect Q2 to be the bottom, even in automotive," El-Khoury said. In other words, brighter days are ahead.

One analyst remarked that it had been a while since the executive had struck such an optimistic tone. "I'm going to talk about what I see, not what I hope to see or wish to see," El-Khoury responded. "When I started talking about the softness in industrial and automotive, I was public enemy number one."

His optimistic stance appeared to be enough for Wall Street, as the stock's gains continued into Wednesday. As of Wednesday afternoon, ON Semiconductor was the top performer in the S&P 500.

At the time of its last earnings report, ON Semiconductor said it expects adjusted earnings per share of 48 cents to 58 cents on revenue from $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion for the current quarter, beating analysts' estimates at the midpoint.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 04, 2025 14:35 ET (18:35 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.