Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) reported Q4 EPS of $1.02, $0.20 better than the analyst estimate of $0.82. Revenue for the quarter came in at $3.41 billion versus the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion.

Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) sees Q1 revenue in the range of $3.17 billion to $3.43 billion and earnings per share between 78 and 88 cents, versus the consensus of $3.21 billion and $0.75.

Regarding the company's performance and returns to shareholders, Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and CEO, made the following comments:

• "Revenue increased 7 percent from the same quarter a year ago, as demand for our products remained strong in the automotive market. The improvement we saw in the third quarter for the industrial market continued. Demand in the personal electronics market was down slightly from a year ago.
• "In our core businesses, Analog revenue grew 10 percent and Embedded Processing grew 6 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Operating margin increased in both businesses.
• "Gross margin of 62.5 percent in the fourth quarter reflected the quality of our product portfolio, as well as the efficiency of our manufacturing strategy, including the benefit of 300-millimeter Analog production.
• "Our cash flow from operations of $4.6 billion for the year again underscored the strength of our business model. Free cash flow for the year was up 6 percent from a year ago to $4.1 billion, and represents 30.5 percent of revenue, up from 29.6 percent a year ago.
• "We have returned $3.8 billion to owners in 2016 through stock repurchases and dividends, consistent with our strategy to return all of our free cash flow plus proceeds from exercises of equity compensation minus net debt retirement. Over the last 12 months, our dividends represented 40 percent of free cash flow, underscoring their sustainability.
• "Our balance sheet remains strong with $3.5 billion of cash and short-term investments at the end of the quarter, about 80 percent of which was owned by the company's U.S. entities. Inventory ended the quarter at 126 days.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Texas Instruments (TXN) click here.