TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, forecast strong revenue growth in the first quarter after reporting a surprise 13% drop in fourth-quarter profit.

Foxconn, whose businesses include manufacturing iPhones for Apple ( AAPL ) and artificial intelligence servers for Nvidia ( NVDA ), booked October-December net profit of T$46.33 billion ($1.41 billion), missing the T$54.4 billion average of 15 analyst estimates compiled by LSEG.

The decline was Foxconn's first since the second quarter of 2023 when it fell 0.9%. Foxconn did not elaborate on its performance ahead of an earnings call at 3 p.m. (0700 GMT).

In January, Foxconn said October-December revenue jumped 15.2% to a record for that quarter on strong AI server sales.

The company, formally Hon Hai Precision Industry ( HNHPF ), on Friday said first-quarter revenue from consumer electronics is likely to grow significantly and that sales from cloud and networking products would grow strongly, without giving numerical guidance.

An escalating global trade war has complicated prospects as Foxconn has a major manufacturing presence in China and Mexico, two of the biggest U.S. trading partners facing increased import tariffs under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Apple ( AAPL ) said last month it will work with Foxconn to build a 250,000 square foot (23,200 square metre) facility in Houston to assemble servers for data centres that power Apple Intelligence.

Foxconn's share price has fallen 8.7% this year, hit by concern about the impact of U.S. tariffs and trade policy.

($1 = 32.9550 Taiwan dollars)