April 29 (Reuters) - Chipmaker Onsemi beat Wall

Street expectations for quarterly revenue and profit on Monday

and reported a stable gross margin due to lowered costs, in the

face of weakening electric vehicle sales.

"The structural changes we have made to the business over

the last three years have enabled us to sustain our gross margin

despite challenging market conditions," said CEO Hassane

El-Khoury.

The company had said in February that the monetization of

fabrication plants it divested in 2022 would be accretive to

gross margins.

However, the company forecast second-quarter revenue and

profit below analysts' estimates, fanning concerns of a delay in

the recovery of automotive chip demand as a softening EV market

and excess inventory at customers are expected to hit orders for

Onsemi's chips.

Onsemi supplies chips that go into drive trains of electric

cars and help with driver-assistance systems like cameras and

sensors. The company's silicon carbide chips also help extend

the range of electric vehicles.

The company, whose clients include European automaker

Volkswagen reported first-quarter revenue of $1.86

billion, beating estimates of $1.85 billion, according to LSEG

data.

It reported gross margin of 45.8%, compared with 46.8%,

a year ago

On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.08 per share for

the quarter ended March 29, compared with expectations of $1.04

per share.

Onsemi forecast second-quarter revenue in the range of $1.68

billion to $1.78 billion, compared with estimates of $1.83

billion.

It forecast adjusted earnings per share of 86 cents to 98

cents per share. Analysts on average expected $1.01 per share.