New York, January 24 (FinanceEnquiry.com) - About 1,000 workers will be laid off because Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) is planning to close down two of its plants manufacturing older computer-chips. One of the plants to be closed is in Houston and the other is in Hiji, Japan. The move was announced by the company on Monday in its fourth-quarter earnings report. Topping analysts’ estimates, the company made a moderate forecast for the first quarter of 2012.

The earnings and layoff announcement raised Texas Instruments’ stock by more than 3 percent, or $1.11, to $34.30. As of September 30, Texas Instruments employed 34,800 workers. It hired about 5,000 workers four months ago when it acquired another chip maker, National Semiconductor. The planned closure of the two factories will result in annual savings of $100 million for the company.

The plant in Houston is 42 years old, whereas the factory in Japan was established 32 years ago. The plants will be closed over the next 18 months and the production in these factories will be shifted to other Texas Instruments factories.

The fourth-quarter earnings of the company amounted to $298 million or 25 cents per share, against a net income of $942 million, or 70 cents per share in the same period in 2010. Wall Street had estimated earnings of only 23 cents per share. The closures of the two factories will mean $215 million in charges for the company, out of which $112 million has already been absorbed in the fourth quarter. The balance will be distributed through 2013.