Intel Corp's fourth-quarter profit plunged 39 percent as the world's largest chip maker endured a painful price war with smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc and continued to pay for a massive restructuring.
Still, Intel said on Tuesday it sold record numbers of microprocessors and flash memory chips and the company managed to beat analysts' tepid expectations.
Intel said net income for the period ended Dec. 30 was US$1.5 billion, or US$0.26 per share, versus US$2.45 billion, or US$0.40 per share, in the same period a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter was US$9.7 billion, down 5 percent from US$10.2 billion a year ago.
Excluding one-time charges, Intel said it earned US$1.7 billion, or US$0.30 per share, beating analyst estimates.
Analysts were expecting the company to earn US$0.25 per share on US$9.44 billion in revenue for the quarter, a survey by Thomson Financial showed.
"Intel's product and technology leadership yielded a strong fourth quarter with higher selling prices and record unit shipments in the fastest growing segments of the market," Intel CEO Paul Otellini said in a statement.
The company said it expected revenue for the first quarter of this year to be between US$8.7 billion and US$9.3 billion and that gross margin for the full-year is expected to be about 50 percent, plus or minus a few percentage points. Analysts said the margin forecast came in slightly lower than expected.
The results were announced after the stock markets had closed.
In after-hours trading, Intel shares fell US$0.20, to US$22.10. Earlier, the companies stock gained US$0.17 to close at US$22.30.
For the year, Intel said revenues were US$35.4 billion, and it earned US$5 billion, or US$0.86 per share.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source