Shares of the company, which also announced cost cuts and the closure of a plant, were down 8 percent at $17 in trading after the bell.

The company, whose chips are used in a wide array of products ranging from computers to cars, expects first-quarter revenue to be between $235 million and $250 million.

Analysts were expecting revenue of $274.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company said it would take steps to lower its operating costs to cope with slowing sales.

It plans to close its El Segundo, California, fabrication facility and resize its Newport, Wales, facility. It expects to save about $30 million in expenses every year as a result of the cost cuts.

For the fourth quarter, the company posted a loss of $68.2 million, or 99 cents per share, compared with a profit of $39.6 million, or 55 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company said it incurred 81 cents per share in charges in the fourth quarter, a bulk of which was from a $69.4 million goodwill impairment charge.

Revenue fell 15 percent to $269.7 million.

Analysts were expecting a loss of 15 cents per share on revenue of $261.9 million.

Shares of the El Segundo, California-based company closed at $18.48 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

(Reporting By Aurindom Mukherjee in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency