NXP announces new CEO, warns “environment is very uncertain”

NXP Semiconductors has appointed Rafael Sotomayor as its new Chief Executive Officer, who will succeed Kurt Sievers in October. Sotomayor is currently General Manager of the Secure Connected Edge Business, based in San Jose, California. Ten years ago, he joined NXP from Broadcom as Vice President of Marketing.

NXP also warned that, due to tariffs, the chipmaker is operating in a “very uncertain environment.”

Julie Southern, Chair of NXP’s Board, said, “Rafael has been indispensable in formulating and shaping NXP’s strategy and driving the company’s success. We believe he is the ideal choice for President and CEO of NXP to realize our vision of leadership in automotive, industrial, and IoT edge-intelligence systems.”

She added, “Since May 2020, Kurt has served as a dynamic, visionary, and effective CEO of NXP. He has led and executed our strategy to become a leader in automotive, industrial, and IoT edge-intelligence systems. After 30 successful years with the company, we are deeply saddened to see Kurt retire. On behalf of the entire NXP community, we thank him for his leadership and wish him the very best in retirement.”

NXP emphasized that Sievers’s departure is purely a personal decision, unrelated to any board disagreements or concerns about company strategy or financial performance.

Despite continued weakness in its core automotive-chip business, Sievers remains cautiously optimistic about the company’s performance for the rest of the year.

He stated, “Our Q1 results and Q2 guidance reinforce our cautiously optimistic outlook. We believe NXP will continue to navigate a range of challenging market conditions effectively. We are in a very uncertain environment, driven by tariffs whose direct and indirect impacts are highly volatile. In light of these external factors, we are redoubling efforts to manage the variables under our direct control to ensure robust profitability and returns.”

In the first quarter, revenue was $2.84 billion, down 9% yearoveryear, and secondquarter revenue is expected to be flat.

NXP—and its peers STMicroelectronics NV and Infineon Technologies AG—has been grappling with weak demand for mature chips used in electric vehicles and smartphones, as customers continue to draw down pandemicera semiconductor inventories.

Although the industry has shown signs of recovery, tariffs announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump could cause further disruption.

The company maintains a “cautiously optimistic” stance on navigating these challenges. “Our operating environment is very uncertain,” NXP said, “with tariffs creating unstable direct and indirect impacts.”

Adjusted diluted earnings per share in Q1 were $2.64, versus analyst expectations of $2.60 on sales of $2.83 billion.

Last week, STMicroelectronics said the market bottomed in Q1 and predicted revenue would exceed analysts’ forecasts.

Despite the tariff headwinds facing European chipmakers, some may benefit from shortterm demand surges as customers accelerate orders ahead of possible new duties.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ken Hui wrote this month that European chipmakers—including NXP—“could face significant risks” this year, warning that the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs could push the global semiconductor market into negative growth in 2025, versus prior expectations of more than 10% growth.

Despite the economic slowdown, NXP has been active on the acquisition front: in January, it agreed to acquire Austrian software maker Tech Auto for $625 million to develop software defined automotive solutions; in February, it announced a $307 million deal to acquire AI-application-processor developer Kinara.

Kurt Sievers has served as CEO since 2020; NXP reiterated that his departure is “purely personal and not related to any board disagreement.” Rafael Sotomayor joined NXP from Broadcom in 2014.