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Cirrus Logic Gains on Report Facebook Held Talks to Acquire It

Cirrus Logic Gains on Report Facebook Held Talks to Acquire It

(Bloomberg) -- Cirrus Logic shares gained after a report in The Information said Facebook Inc. held talks to acquire the semiconductor company earlier this year.

The shares gained 2.4% at 10:48 a.m. Thursday in New York, reversing earlier losses. The report said Facebook considered buying the company, which makes audio processors that are used in consumer entertainment products such as smartphones, tablets and digital headsets, but no deal transpired. Facebook is doubling down on hardware, according to the Information, by building or acquiring the necessary parts it needs to run devices it plans for the future, such as augmented reality glasses. The social media company has its own team dedicated to making proprietary custom silicon chips, an artificial-intelligence -powered voice assistant and technology that could decipher human thought.

Facebook has more than $52 billion of cash on hand that it can use to make acquisitions and advance its hardware ambitions. The company is working on its own artificial intelligence glasses, scheduled to debut in 2023, according to the Information. Facebook has also been on the hunt for acquisitions, having held talks to acquire Fitbit earlier this year but losing out to Google, according to the report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Molly Schuetz in New York at mschuetz9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Robin Ajello

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