Xilinx forecasts fiscal 2020 revenue above Wall Street expectations

(Reuters) - Xilinx Inc, a chip supplier whose products are used in 5G networking gear, said at an investor conference on Tuesday that it expects between $3.45 billion and $3.6 billion in revenue for its fiscal year 2020.

With a midpoint of $3.52 billion, the forecast was slightly above the $3.49 billion that analysts were expecting, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Xilinx is rolling out chips that go into the network gear for 5G, the faster generation of wireless data networks that are rolling out in Japan, Korea, the United States and China starting this year.

The San Jose, California-based company said that it expects operating expenses for its fiscal 2020 to be between $1.34 billion and $1.37 billion, slightly above analyst estimates of $1.3 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

Xilinx shares fell 1% to $112 in after hours trading after the forecast.

Chief Executive Victor Peng said the company was spending more this year to pursue expanded markets for 5G, data center and self-driving car chips over the next five years.

"This year is clearly an investment year," Peng said. "We're executing on this really exciting platform, and we have to complete that."

Xilinx said it expects gross margins of 67% to 69% in its fiscal 2020, with a midpoint above analyst expectations of 67.3% according to Refinitiv data.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Akanksha Rana in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Rigby)