Aug 21 (Reuters) - Synopsys ( SNPS ) forecast its

fourth-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street estimates on

Wednesday, a sign of steady demand for its software to design

complex and AI-compatible chips as businesses race to adopt the

lucrative technology.

Growing computing requirements for artificial intelligence

systems have triggered demand for custom design of more powerful

and complex chips, helping companies such as Synopsys ( SNPS ), as they

provide software and hardware used to design cutting-edge

processors.

For the past five decades there has been an inflection point

for the industry and "right now that inflection point is AI",

CEO Sassine Ghazi told Reuters in an interview.

"It's not hype, it's real and it's driving silicon

complexity and building out of infrastructure and data center

and training at a pace the industry has not seen before," Ghazi

said, adding that Synopsys ( SNPS ) launched its first AI product in

2020.

Shares of the Sunnyvale, California-based company, which

partners with chip firms including Nvidia ( NVDA ), Qualcomm ( QCOM )

and Intel ( INTC ), were up 1.2% in extended trading.

Revenue from the company's design automation unit - its

largest segment, which includes digital and custom integrated

circuit design software - rose about 6% to $1.06 billion in the

third quarter.

Synopsys ( SNPS ) competes with companies such as Cadence Design

Systems ( CDNS ) and Siemens AG's Siemens EDA in

electronic design automation software, which is used by

engineers for designing semiconductors.

Semiconductor firms also turn to Synopsys' ( SNPS ) AI-powered

electronic design automation suite, Synopsys.ai, in a bid to

improve complex chip designs.

Synopsys ( SNPS ) expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between $1.61

billion and $1.64 billion, the midpoint of which is above LSEG

estimates of $1.61 billion.

It forecast adjusted earnings per share between $3.27 and

$3.32 for the quarter ending Oct. 31, versus the estimate of

$3.23.

Third-quarter revenue rose about 13% to $1.53 billion.

Excluding items, it earned $3.43 per share, beating estimates of

$3.28.