INTEL CORP reported a 44 per cent surge in first-quarter revenue and delivered a current-quarter forecast ahead of Wall Street expectations, boosting the chipmaker’s stock by 4 per cent.
Intel said its gross profit margin in the first quarter was 63 per cent, and forecast margins of 64 per cent – plus or minus “a couple of percentage points” – in the current quarter. The company said yesterday that net income totalled $2.4 billion or 43 cents a share in the three months ended March 27th, up sharply from $629 million or 11 cents a share in the year-ago period. That exceeded average expectations for 38 cents a share.
Revenue rose to $10.3 billion, above the Wall Street target of roughly $9.84 billion.
Intel forecast revenue for the current quarter of 10.2 billion, plus or minus $400 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, on average, expect current-quarter revenue of $9.68 billion.
Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based company rose 4.1 percent to $23.70 in after-hours trading after closing yesterday’s regular trading session at $22.76 on Nasdaq.
“They’re very strong numbers,” said Cody Acree, an analyst at Williams Financial Group in Dallas. He has a “hold” rating on Intel shares. “It’s well above what anyone was expecting.”
Customers aren’t building up excess stockpiles of chips, a sign the industry isn’t at risk for a supply glut, said Stacy Smith, Intel’s chief financial officer, in an interview.
“When we look through the supply chain, what we see are healthy and appropriate inventory levels relative to how we see demand,” he said. “It was an incredible first quarter for us.” – (Reuters/Bloomberg)
