Despite the economy weakness triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis, Intel has posted a strong second quarter earnings.
The company's second quarter earnings per share soared to 28 cents from 22 cents during the same period a year earlier. Intel posted US$9.47 billion in revenue, up from US$8.68 billion. In after hours, Intel shares were jumping on the strength of the forecast of between US$10 billion to US$10.6 billion in sales. The company also foresees gross margins at around 58 percent, plus or minus a couple of points.
In the current quarter, however, gross profit margins came in at 55.4 percent. Although that was up from 53.8 percent in the preceding quarter, it still remained just shy of the midpoint of earlier expectations. Not a huge surprise considering what's happening in the market--in particular the competition with Advanced Micro Devices for a bigger share of the lower-priced notebook PC business.
Intel received a big lift from the ongoing shift from desktop to notebook computers. In its release, the company noted that mobile microprocessor and chipset units both set records.
"Intel had another strong quarter with revenue at the high end of expectations and earnings up substantially year over year," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "As we enter the second half, demand remains strong for our microprocessor and chipset products in all segments and all parts of the globe."
This article was first published as a blog on CNET News.com.
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