Mobileye shares sink as China EV demand ebbs

(Reuters) -Shares of Mobileye Global Inc fell by more than 30% on Thursday after the maker of autonomous driving technology lowered its forecast for annual revenue owing to a slowdown in demand for electric vehicles from China.

Mobileye, which counts auto parts suppliers Aptiv Plc and Magna International among its customers, reduced its forecast for the annual shipment of its driver-assist system SuperVision.

The move was in response to the decision by the Chinese government last year to end its subsidies for EV purchases in the country, which has weighed on demand.

Mobileye's shares were trading at $33.17 per share, down about 23%. The company went public in October after Intel Corp spun it off in an initial public offering priced at $21 per share.

Mobileye faces intensifying competition in the assisted driving market from chipmakers Nvidia Corp and Qualcomm Inc that are trying to make inroads into the space. Intel, which reports its first quarter results after markets close on Thursday, still owns more than 90% of Mobileye.

Jerusalem, Israel-based Mobileye projected annual revenue to come in between $2.07 billion and $2.11 billion, down from an earlier forecast of $2.19 billion and $2.28 billion.

For the first quarter, Mobileye posted revenue of $458 million, slightly above analysts' average estimate of $454.7 million, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Excluding certain items, the company earned 14 cents during the quarter, compared with estimates of 12 cents per share.

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru and Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Anil D'Silva and Nick Zieminski)