by millionairemind » Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:52 am
Futures up strongly on this news
October 14, 2009, 6.44 am (Singapore time)
Intel quarterly results beat Street, shares rise
* Q3 revenue US$9.4b vs Street view US$9.06b
* Sees Q4 revenue US$10.1b, plus or minus US$400m
* Sees Q4 gross margin 62%, plus or minus 3% pts
* Shares rise 6.6%
SAN FRANCISCO - Intel Corp blew past quarterly expectations and forecast revenue for the current quarter well ahead of Wall Street targets, sending its shares up more than 6 per cent.
Intel chief financial officer Stacy Smith said on Tuesday the technology sector was leading the way out of the economic downturn, and shares in other tech companies also rallied.
Intel reported a net profit in its third quarter ended Sept 26 of US$1.9 billion, or 33 US cents per share, compared with US$2.01 billion, or 35 US cents per share, a year earlier.
That exceeded the 28 US cent per share profit expected on average by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Intel forecast fourth-quarter revenue of US$10.1 billion, plus or minus US$400 million, and said fourth-quarter gross margins should be 62 per cent, plus or minus 3 percentage points. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, on average, expect fourth-quarter revenue of US$9.5 billion and a gross margin of 56.86 per cent.
Revenue fell 7.8 per cent in the third quarter to US$9.4 billion from $10.2 billion a year ago, but surpassed the US$9.06 billion expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Chipmakers like Intel have suffered in the global downturn as corporations have slashed IT spending and demand for electronics has collapsed, forcing companies to dial back production and lay off workers.
But there are signs of a sector-wide recovery. Despite lagging their year-ago figures, global chip sales posted their sixth consecutive monthly increase in August, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. Analysts say September chip sales likely rose more than 6 per cent from August on anticipated holiday demand, as well as chip orders ahead of the upcoming release of Microsoft Corp's Windows 7 operating system.
Stock in arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc rose 5.4 per cent after hours.
Several chip makers have raised current-quarter forecasts.
Intel chief executive Paul Otellini said in September he thought personal computer sales would be flat to slightly up from a year ago - a signal end-demand was strengthening.
'It (Intel's results) just reinforces our view of how important technology has become in people's lives and I think it's one of the reasons we're leading the way out of this downturn,' said Mr Smith.
Industry tracker Gartner in September estimated worldwide PC shipments would fall only 2 per cent from 2008, an improvement over earlier forecasts. Global revenue could grow 10 per cent next year to US$233 billion after two years of sharp decline. -- REUTERS
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