Intel Corp, the world's largest semiconductor maker, raised the low end of its sales forecast for the first quarter on Thursday, citing stronger demand and reduced manufacturing costs.
The midquarter update came as a relief to investors still reeling from Intel's spotty performance last year, when the company missed important deadlines and ultimately adjusted its strategy. The new outlook, analysts said, points to an upswing in corporate technology spending, with most of the demand coming from the market for notebook computers.
The company, based in Santa Clara, California, said it expected revenue for the first quarter to be US$9.2 billion to US$9.4 billion, compared with the previous range of US$8.8 billion to US$9.4 billion. It said its gross revenue would be at the high end of expectations.
In its first quarter last year, Intel reported revenue of US$8.1 billion and earnings of US$0.26 a share. Analysts have forecast on average that Intel will report earnings of US$0.28 a share and revenue of US$9.15 billion in the first quarter, according to a survey by Thomson First Call.
The company's gross margin in the first quarter is expected to be about 57 percent, plus or minus a point; the company's previous forecast was about 55 percent. Intel attributed the improvement in margins to lower-than-expected start-up costs for the manufacture of 65-nanometer chips, a new process that will start turning out products next year, as well as lower overall production costs.
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