Transcripts

The Financial Chips Are Stacked in Intel's Favor

SUZANNE PRATT: Shares of Intel rose as much as 8 percent in after-hours trading after the chipmaker posted better-than- expected revenues. Intel's revenues jumped 9 percent to $9.7 billion, beating analyst forecasts. Intel matched Wall Street's profit target of $0.25 a share, after warning last month that a glut in flash-memory supplies could hurt earnings for the period. The company also issued an upbeat forecast. It now sees second-quarter revenues of as much as $9.6 billion, well above the $9.25 billion the Street is expecting. Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith says Intel's recent chip launches should continue to help sales.

STACY SMITH, CFO, INTEL: And by being able to bring those new products to the marketplace on time last year, and then take advantage of the ramping new process technology, that really gives us competitive advantage in the marketplace. And then looking forward, what we launched in the first quarter was the Atom processor, which is our low-cost, low-power processor. And that's part of what is driving the strength we see over the course of the rest of 2008.

PRATT: Smith also said Intel was raising its gross profit margin forecast, and says its improved outlook is aided by heavy exposure to markets outside the U.S.