Atlas Copco sends chills through industrial sector with third-quarter miss

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Atlas Copco reported lower than expected third-quarter order intake on Friday due to weaker demand in its vacuum gear business and forecast softer overall demand in the final months of the year, sending its shares tumbling.

Industrial companies have been under pressure in recent months due to worries over slowing global growth, not least in China where purchasing managers indices and auto sales have slipped amid a tariffs stand-off with the United States.

Atlas Copco has taken an additional hit over fears that the semiconductor industry may be entering a slower phase of capital spending following years of booming demand.

The maker of compressors, vacuum pumps and industrial tools said order intake came in at 23.4 billion Swedish crowns ($2.59 billion) in the quarter, down 1 pct year-on-year on an organic basis and well below the 24.4 billion seen by analysts.

Atlas Copco shares fell 8 percent at 1025 GMT, dragging Nordic industrial peers such as Sandvik and SKF lower.

"There are more uncertainties in the global economy and that has affected some customers' investment decisions," Atlas Copco CEO Mats Rahmstrom said in a statement.

"As expected, the semiconductor business had a negative order development in the quarter."

The company said it expected overall demand to be "somewhat lower" in the fourth quarter versus the third, mainly driven by slowing semiconductor and automotive industries.

Atlas Copco, which sells to major chip makers in its vacuum technique business, in July forecast lower third-quarter equipment demand from the semiconductor industry, citing a pause in spending at some of its biggest clients.

Operating earnings rose to 5.26 billion crowns in the third quarter from 5.00 billion in the year-ago quarter, lagging a mean forecast of 5.46 billion in a Reuters poll of analysts.

($1 = 9.0249 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom; editing by Niklas Pollard)