INTC Off 4%: Q4 Revenue In-Line, EPS Beats; Q1, Year Rev Views Light

Intel (INTC) this afternoon reported Q4 revenue in line with expectations and profit per share that topped analysts’ expectations, and a forecast for this quarter’s revenue slightly below estimates.

Revenue in the three months ended in December fell 3%, year over year, to $13.5 billion, yielding EPS of 48 cents.

Analysts had been modeling $13.52 billion and 45 cents.

Gross margin in the quarter, on a GAAP basis, was 58%, a point higher than the mid-point of Intel’s forecast for the quarter, and down from 64.5% a year earlier. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin came in at 59%, down from 65.4% a year earlier.

Intel’s “PC Client Group” saw revenue fall 1.5%, quarter over quarter, and drop 6%, year over year, to $8.5 billion. The “Data Center Group‘s” revenue was up 7%, quarter to quarter, and up 4%, year over year, to $2.8 billion.

PC client units fell 4% compared to Q3, and 6% compared to the year-earlier period, while average selling prices rose by 2% from Q3 and were flat with the year-earlier quarter.

Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini remarked that the quarter “played out largely as expected as we continued to execute through a challenging environment.” Otellini said the company’s “strong product pipeline has us positioned to bring a new wave of Intel innovations across the spectrum of computing.”

Further details of the quarter are available in the review by chief financial officer Stacy Smith.

For the current quarter, the company projects $12.7 billion in revenue, slightly below the $12.9 billion analysts have been projecting. Gross margin is expected to be flat with last quarter’s 58%, plus or minus two points.

For the full year, the company sees revenue rising by “low single-digit percentage,” which would imply $53.8 billion to $54.4 billion, below the average $54.3 billion estimate of analysts. Gross margin is expected to decline from last year’s 62.1% to 60%, plus or minus “a few percentage points.”

Intel projects this year’s capital spending at $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, which would be up from $11 billion in capital assets purchased last year.

Intel management will host a conference call with analysts at 5 pm, Eastern time, and you can catch the webcast of it here.

Results may have leaked, it would appear: Bloomberg was reporting results before the official press release hit the wire.

Intel shares are up 43 cents, or 1.8%, at $23.11 down 88 cents, or almost 4%, at $21.80 in late trading.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are also lower this evening, falling 5 cents, or 1.8%, to $2.69. Shares of competitor Nvidia (NVDA) are unchanged at $12.25.