(Adds CEO quote, results detail)
    BERLIN, Feb 4 (Reuters) - German chip maker Infineon
 IFXGn.DE  hiked its annual outlook on Thursday after reporting
forecast-beating results for its fiscal first quarter, as it
contends with a snapback in demand from the automotive industry.
    Infineon said it will bring forward the launch date of its
new power semiconductor plant in Villach, Austria, to late
summer - responding to capacity shortages that have hobbled
manufacturers emerging from a pandemic-induced slump.
    "Semiconductors are needed more than ever," Chief Executive
Reinhard Ploss said in a statement.
    Results at the leading supplier of chips to the automotive
industry beat market expectations across the board in the
quarter, with revenue up 6% on a sequential basis at a time of
year when it typically declines.
    Segment result, management's preferred profit measure, grew
29% to 489 million euros ($587 million), beating consensus
estimates of 414 million in a survey of analysts published by
the company.
    Segment result margin came in for the first quarter at
18.6%, an improvement of 3.4 percentage points from the prior
quarter. Infineon forecast a margin of 16.5% for the second
quarter. 
    For the fiscal year to Sept. 30, Infineon slightly raised
its revenue guidance to a midpoint of 10.8 billion euros and
forecast a segment result of 17.5%, driven by momentum in its
Automotive and Power & Sensor Systems divisions.
 ($1 = 0.8324 euros)

 (Reporting by Douglas Busvine, editing by Kirsti Knolle)
 ((douglas.busvine@tr.com; +49 30 220 133 562;))