** Texas Instruments TXN.O forecast Q1 revenue and profit above Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, betting on robust demand for its analog chips from booming AI data center expansions

** Shares up 8% to $212.16 premarket

CYCLE REMAINS GRADUAL

** J.P.Morgan ("overweight," PT: $227) says the recovery profile materializing across TXN's end markets is encouraging, as well as the inertia it is seeing in customer bookings

** Jefferies ("hold," PT: $210) says strong data center is a bright spot but analog recovery is stuck in first gear

** Bernstein ("market perform," PT: $205) says the analog recovery seems in progress, but the cycle at this point is not a "rocket ship" and much of the upside is short lead-time orders ** However brokerage adds that "for now perhaps investors will want to run the race"

** UBS ("buy," PT: $260) says TXN is starting to sound better with the revenue bias again shifting to seasonal plus and bookings/backlog commentary turning more constructive

(Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru)

((joeljose@thomsonreuters.com))