See Search Box
lower down this column for searches of Finfacts news pages. Where there may be
the odd special character missing from an older page, it's a problem that
developed when Interactive Tools upgraded to a new content management system.
Welcome
Finfacts is Ireland's leading business information site and
you are in its business news section.
We
provide access to live business television and business
related videos from: Bloomberg TV; The Wall Street Journal;
CNBC and the Financial Times. Click image:
On Thursday, Intel, the global chip giant, became the first major tech company to post Q4 2009 earnings, and reported that revenue rose 28% to $10.6 billion in the fourth quarter, and the company earned the largest gross profit margin in its history. Net income was $2.3 billion, or 40 cents a share, up 875% from the $234 million, or 4 cents a share, it earned in the last quarter of 2008.
Earlier this week, IT research firm Gartner, reported that worldwide PC shipments rose 22 percent to 90 million units during the fourth quarter, which compared with a very poor comparable quarter for business in in 2008.
Besides PC-related sales, Intel's results also included a 42% rise in microprocessor sales by its data center group, which indicates demand for costly server systems purchased by businesses is also recovering.
Intel said its gross profit margin was 65%, compared with a projection in October of about 62%. The latest quarter included the deduction of $1.25 billion to cover a payment to rival AMD to settle an antitrust suit.
For 2009 Intel posted revenue of $35.1 billion. The company reported full-year operating income of $5.7 billion, net income of $4.4 billion and EPS of 77 cents. The company generated more than $11 billion in cash from operations and paid cash dividends of $3.1 billion.
"Intel's strong 2009 results reflect our investment in industry-leading manufacturing and product innovation,"said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "This strategy has enabled us to generate unprecedented operating efficiencies while growing our traditional businesses and creating exciting new market opportunities, even in difficult economic times. Our ability to weather this business cycle demonstrates that microprocessors are indispensable in our modern world. Looking forward, we plan to deliver the benefits of computing to an expanding set of products, markets and customers."
In early 2009, Intel’s board approved investment of $7 billion in new chip plants in Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico.
“As you can imagine, there was a lot of uncertainty in that January board meeting,”said Jane E. Shaw, the chairman of Intel’s board and former chief executive at the pharmaceutical company Aerogen, in an interview.
Bellwether Intel's bullish results bode well for the tech sector. Kevin Landis, co-founder and CIO at Firsthand Technology Funds says it is an example of a well-managed firm that has great operating leverage to the upside coming out of a downturn. He speaks to Oriel Morrison of CNBC Australia:
