NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI) did the thing companies are supposed to do Tuesday after the close: it beat on revenue, beat on earnings, and announced a $5 billion share buyback. And the stock is down 8.09% to $233 in after-hours trading anyway. Welcome to earnings season, where the beat is table stakes and the guidance is the whole ballgame.

NXP Q3 Financials

For the third quarter, NXP reported revenue of $3.786 billion, up 19% year-over-year. That topped a Street consensus estimate of $3.760 billion, according to data from MarketDash Pro. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.20, ahead of the $4.09 consensus.

CEO Rafael Sotomayor credited the quarter to the company's own growth engines rather than a broad market tailwind. "Our performance was driven by accelerating contributions from our company-specific growth drivers in automotive and industrial as well as continued momentum in data center infrastructure," he said.

Then there's the buyback. NXP announced a new $5 billion share repurchase authorization, which sits on top of the $1.3 billion still remaining under a previous plan. That's a lot of capital headed back to shareholders, and normally it's the kind of headline that props a stock up.

What's Next for NXP Semiconductors?

The problem is the fourth quarter. NXP expects revenue between $3.75 billion and $3.95 billion, which works out to year-over-year growth of 12% to 18%. Solid growth, sure, but a step down from the 19% the company just posted. That deceleration is likely what's weighing on shares Tuesday.

On the bottom line, the company is forecasting fourth-quarter earnings per share of $4.14 to $4.58.

Sotomayor is still pitching the long game. "We see significant opportunities as software-defined vehicles drive increasing demand for our next-generation solutions, while data center infrastructure and Trusted Physical AI applications create new vectors for long-term growth," he said.

So the story here is a familiar one: the quarter was good, the outlook was merely fine, and the market priced the difference immediately. NXP stock is down 8.09% to $233 in after-hours trading, against a 52-week trading range of $183 to $339.95.