By Adriano Marchese 



  TE Connectivity Ltd. swung to loss in the third quarter as net sales fell in the period, but the company expects a rise in sales in the next quarter. 


  The connectivity and sensors solutions company reported Wednesday that it has a quarterly loss of $41 million, or 12 cents a share, compared with a profit of $757 million, or $2.23, for the same period last year. 


  Excluding items, TE Connectivity reported an adjusted profit of 59 cents a share, beating analysts' forecasts of 41 cents a share, polled on FactSet. 


  Net sales fell to $2.55 billion from $3.39 million. 


  Looking ahead, the company said it expects fourth-quarter net sales to rise around 10% sequentially, driven primarily by an increase in its transportation-solutions business. 


  However, TE Connectivity isn't providing guidance for the full year, due to the limited visibility of the pandemic's effect on future demand. 


  "We believe the quarter we just ended is the low point for our business, and we have seen improvements in orders and we expect sequential revenue and margin improvement into our fourth fiscal quarter," Chief Executive Officer Terrence Curtin said. 


  Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com