May 1 (Reuters) - Monolithic Power Systems ( MPWR )

forecast current-quarter revenue above estimates on Wednesday

due to strong demand for its power control modules and hardware

used in artificial intelligence applications.

Shares of the Kirkland, Washington-based company rose about

1% in trading after the bell.

Analysts expect Monolithic Power ( MPWR ), which makes power control

modules used in servers and data centers, to benefit from higher

budgets being allocated to data centers for artificial

intelligence applications.

The AI boom is expected to offset poor demand from a

beleaguered automotive industry, which has seen sales of

electric vehicles slow down due to high-interest rates.

The company expects second-quarter revenue between $480

million and $500 million, compared with estimates of $471.8

million.

Revenue for the first quarter stood at $457.9 million,

compared with analyst's estimates of $446.3 million, according

to LSEG data.

Sales to enterprise data customers, the largest segment for

Monolithic Power ( MPWR ), more than tripled to $149.7 million in the

March quarter.

Profit on an adjusted basis was $2.81 per share in the first

three months of the year, while analysts expected a net income

of $2.66 per share.